Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1888-11-28

cattle we're much greater than was ex-
Dected.
O.: suppose the Chicago or Kansas
City buyers were ignorant, unsophistI- |
Gated men, who didn't keep posted on
these things2 A.: Far from il; they
were simply mistaken in the supply.
O.: Were they mistaken to an extent
sufficient TO cause a huctuation of 33i
per cent? a: / should think not; but
was mistaken myself in the large re-
ceIpts.
John Osborn, division freight agent
of the Wabash railroad, was the next
witness. 1t was perhaps a fact that a
combination of the large Chicago hous-
rs controlled the market, but no one
house could. But whether there was
any such combination no outsider knew.
The effect of such large receipts of in
terror cattle from Texas and the North
west was depressing upon the stock
raising of certain sections of Illinois,
and the state of the trade there was one
OF great gloom and depression. There
was an advance in cattle quotations in
Chicago. beginning IN May after the APP
pointment of the senatorial investiga-
ting committee of 81 per 100 pounds.
Since October about half of the advance
had been lost. His opinion was tina.
the advance was caused by the appoint
ment of the committee, as no one eyer
before knew cattle quotations to ad-
vance through the summer when the
increased consumption of fruits and
vegetables lessened the demand for beef.
Large receipts accounted for the subse-
quent decline.
j. G. Beatty, of ElPaso, Texas, testi-
fled as TO his connection with the refrig-
orator business in Texas as follows:
About 10 years ago L was interested
in that business with company having
a plant which cost S75, 900. We ran it
for SIX months, Strengthening and selling
to large trade in the town and at
many other places, and furnishing a
very excellent quality of meat. PreSi-
dent +. >. Newman went to California
and made contracts with retail butch
ers to furnish so much per week. When
he came back we were Strengthening 50
head per day, and this made a good
market for cattle. | was selling cattle
to the company and getting u cents per
| pound for steers. Newman continued
business until the railroad company re-
fused 20 give him cars to ship his meat
to Los Angeles. San Diego and other
/ places, having at first put him off from
time to time, until finally the Santa Fe
and the Southern Pacific told him that
their contracts with Armour were of
such nature that they dared not fur
nish him cars. This was told me by
Mr.. Newman. In consequence of this
the refrigerator company failed, and the
| plant is now used simply to supply ice
! About February /, 1883. Armour COM
menced shipping dressed beef in refrig-
orator cars TO various points, where
butchers had formerly had the trade.
and sold so cheap as To destroy the mar
ket for cattle on the hOOf. forcing us to
ship to Chicago and Kansas City and
sell at loss, while the beef was no
doubt afterwards shipped back 1.S00
miles To be sold at the same points.
The price of beef is lower now in Los
Angeles than when there was market
there. l have been told that while they
sold dressed beef at the beginning at 2
cents per pound to freeze out cOmpeti-
ton, their price at the various places
from which they frOZe us out rs "A cents.
Brewster Cameron said he had been
engaged in raising cattle on the open
range in Arizona since the spring of
1888. The conditioned the cattle trade
was depressed. Chicago was the princi-
pal market and controlled every other
market IN the country except those of
California. After cattle once got 10
Chicago or Kansas City the producer
has practically nothing TO do with il,
and ii is disposed of principally to the
dressed-beef trust. Other buyers, butch
ers, etc, have no chance. The range
men do not complain so much of the
| low prices as they do of there being no
competition, and they want a genuine
market where buyers Will honestly COM
pete. There are many rangemen almost
ruined financially, who could have
saved themselves years ago, but they
| believed the cattle market was regula-
ted by supply and demand and hoped
for better times. They now know TO
the contrary. The only shipment | ever
made to Kansas City was of SIS head of
cattle, divided off according to grade
and age. L sold one lot for s.. 60 per
100 pounds, and was offered 1925 for
the other, which l refused, and was go
ing to reshlp TO Chicago, but several
men told me it would result in heavy
loss If L did, as they had tried the same
thing and lost money by it. 1 finally
had TO sell in Kansas City at $500 per
head, as the buyers kept dropping on
me. l then went East and tried to
make some arrangements to sell cattle
there. Together with several large
Eastern feeders we investigated the
matter and found that Armour was sell
ing dressed beef of the best grade for
less than the beef could be produced, SO
that 1t was an impossibility to ship to
those markets and sell for anything like
enough TO pay us out Commission
merchants are afraid to buy for butch
erS, as they would incur Armour's dis
pleasure by so doing. Butchers have
10 pay scalpers SIS per car to buy for
them on this account. No individual
can afford to compete with the trust as
it can afford to lose enormous sums To
gain control of a market. They open
their shops alongside of an outside
butchers and undeTsell until they close
him out, and pursue this course until
they have undiSputed control Of a mar
ket. The methods of the trust INJURIES
every farmer in the country. The far.
mer has no home market and is Obliged
to ship his cattle away to sell. l have
no personal knowledge of the existence
of the combination, except that | have
been told of it by thoroughly RESPONSE
BILE men, and my own experience con-
vinces me that it does exist. / own one
ranch 20 miles square. and am i'm CON-
pany which owns one II miles square
| sell now only on the ranch. Don't
know how many cattle l own.
q. G. Slaughter. stock raiser and
banker of Dallas. Tex, testified:
/ ship to Chicago and Kansas City. Chica.
go principally. | believe there is a
combine in both places, because If
ship to Kansas City and refuse theiI
, price. deciding to Teship To Chicago. the
fact Is known there before my arrival
aud only the buyers of the same house
as those | refused to sell TO in Kansas
City make me bid, and 1 would have
10 sell at their price. There is no com
petition. The men to whom my cattle
were sold were invariably some of the
big Four