Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-06-05
THE BEEF MONOPOLY.
5bs OK ihs LsajsHs ,snAm.u OF the
Country Explains WY tail.e
xie Worth so L:,.ls
While the % SINNER 10 Compelled tc Pay 60
Much for His Meas-sinughrer
OF E'iaeaseo Outfits.

Reports from oil ever the cattle rarg iDg
| section Of the state OF Texas this year sre
| to the q c. that the stockmeD are erj2y-
| Ing prosperity Unknown heretofore for
years. Uadfr the benign il f1erce Of
prcfuse rsias, the grass On the plains has
sprung up with luxurisnce beyond any
thing ever before seen in the country, and
the range cattle that fer years have beer
he thin by having SO isr to travel for
pastusge, are this year. scarcely sbla to
| move shout for tie fetnees thst weighs
them down ard tie masses Of high forage
grass that blocks their progress
Under such conditions 1t would seem
out natural thst the csttlemsn should
wear his btoadest smile ard &c 0rt him-
self in his most sstit fed msnner; bu'
such Is not the case. His fat cattle ar &
Little BEN D. to him II he cannot ob'sin
remuneratige prices for them, sri ths
markets this year have not been such d.
would tempt him to put his cattle there
or unless compelled so to do by stress OF
some sort.
With view 10 ascertaiDing what the
c3u es Of the depression In the cstt!e
market m ght be, and what were the
chances Ct relief, = GAZETTE nsn yester
Say interviewed Msjor A. W. Hliliafd,
VICE precedent OF the International
RsDge Association, and his statement Is
here gwen.
Everyone who has any knowledge OF
Inc facts, said Mr.. HI I'd, must ad-
nit thai at the present time the business
4 pcoduCing cattle is rot prosperous;
10 other words that the money invested
in cattle is u It paying remuDeTs:ive In
ttrest. Locking back few years TO tie
time WHEN there Wss money il cattle
raising, it can be seen that cattle then
were Sent from the producing fields OF
iae far wess to the consuming cen
5ers OF the east where they
we're purchased by butchers
sud competitive ruyers. at the present
much as they did ), " raj years ago W En-
ne producers received a third or s half
mere for their cattle than they do noW.
Something must be wrong or the present
sIoEalous condition Of sff.irs coud moi
exist. The average western beef piOdu-
Ger is ignorant to great extent Of mod
err commercial methods which enable
monop0ljsts TO dictate prices 10 both con-
sumer and producer, and they have beer
creeping around il the dark
for reasons to account for the
present low prices they are receiving for
heir csFtle. Msny people attribute the
depression to production, but care
'ul Investigation determines the fact that
there are NO more cattle in the United
States to-day, per cspits, than there vert
st The time when The cattle producers
were receiving satisfactory prices for
their protucts. IL Is reasonable to De
ieve that 8 return to the conditions
which prevail ed when cattle " valuable,
when the Cattle owner received rem1Der-
atlve prices for his animate, would
insure the return OF sstis
factory prices. With the use OF
improved stock cars in which cattle cep
be fed and watered and carried in sepa-
rate compartments, they can be taken
from.tne western producing f Ids to the
markets and slaughtered in good copdi-
ZION; and IL they were taken direct TO
poin.s where required tor consumption
ne producer would be correspondinely
be1sf ed It has been repeatedly SAID In
i've STOCK journals recently that there Is
6 large over production OF cattle, and
that It is owing to this condition Of
the business that values are SO depressed {;
and the ], csipts on the Chlcsgo m,lket
are often pointed TO ss proof Of the over
p,oducricn. Il frs quentiy haplen that
the IunoeT of cetIie received at thai
point Gur,nE month OF this yesr Is
greater tbeR during c1rre pending months
Of previous years, and this is cited as
pronf Ct Inc ovsr-pfoduction. A few
we; ks ago the national stock yards at
S. Lens received only fifteen carloads
oi cattle, Wh..e the tame day 600 car
loads we've tAEen into Chcs-
go. The whole reason for this
safe CT ihirGs Is tbst large
numbers Il cs.tle that fern erly went
from Tex,s aid oGhsr western States and
territories 10 New Osleaus, L title r OK -,
Memphis, St L mis- and that were dlst!ib-
uted from those poin.s 10 CiGctitari,
| PitfsbGrg spd Orhgr consuming ceo iers,,
are Row taken largely to On c.go .nng
those markets that were iurmerl, sap-
Piled With cattle on hoof, dira CT from the
pl,ce OF production, are p0w supplied.
| 'gith the dressed product from C1icsgo
The butchers OF the Uaited States are
| endesvoring to hgve laws passed in
| The various states prohibiting
tie sale Of beef which is not made fElD
cattle inspected within the borders CT
,h0se Sa,es, on h9Cf, AID found to be
| hesithy. 1t is impossible TO tell from the
meat Ct an animal after it IL killed
whether the animal was diseased or t.
Il is claimaG by the butchers that big
| jAwed estJle aud cattle affected with
lever are frequently killed and their meal
J Pit On the msrket. The measures pro
posed will be enforced under tie police
powers Ct the vsrIous ststes; in order TO
protect the public from eating diseased
meats. II is clsimed Ihat il
these sanitary laws were passed by all
the states the consumption OF beef woulf
be LARGELY increased among the people Of
tee country, for the reason that there
would 5econfdence felt by the pubic In
the beal.hfulness Of the meats offered f11
sale, which is not now the case. Cattle
producers have been Impoverished during
the last few years by low prices to such
an exteu: tdst it is almo-t impossible for
them to rsise the necessary money
| to establi.h dressed beef plants
Of Their owo to compete with tie. con-