Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1888-06-15
TIE BOSS ..TRUsT.,,
(For Phillips County only.(

In so far as Kansas and Kansas interests are con
cerned-and, IN a broader sense, all western inter
ests-the most infamous and harmful trust ever or
ganized IS what is known as the Chicago Lave
Stock Syndicate" This combination Of thieves, 1T IS
believed Is behind the bill introduced In congress,
to establish Bureau OF Animal Industry, ana 70
facilitate the Expectation of Live Stock and their
Product" The senate having this bill under con-
sideratiOn, Senator Plumb attacked 1t with vlgOr
and earnestness. He said, IN substance:
In his. opinion the worst combination IN the cOun-
try was the combination of beef and pork packers.
There was no trust or combination, the Standard
Oil trust the sugar trust, the copper trust, or any
other trust that had SO powerful or so banefu an
effect as that combination.
For years the price OF cattle to the producer hSd
been going down, they had gone down he thought
so per cent In the same time the prices OF meat 70
the consumer had gone up, and every single dollar
Of the difference had gone into the pockets OF that
combination, and so perfect was their conUol ~lHC
they knew absolutely, not how many cattle We're 70
arrive each day in Chicago but over what railroad
they were to come, where they had been shipped
from, their character and the men who shipped
them When the cattle reached Chicago the syndl-
cate representative was sent to review and put
price them and that price at which they SOLD IN
less it was made lower No cattle commission man
dared to set up for himself in Chicago.
By the operation of the trust prices OF cattle had
declined unnecessarily and destructlvely 1t was
safe to say that on every steer of three years old
and upwards, raised west OF the Mississippi river
during the past five years, the market Value nau
been by this combination reduced not less Uhe P4O
a head
The damage to the state of Kansas during that
period of time had been more than G4OsuOUsOOO. anu
the wealth of the syndicate had grown proportion
ately.
| They had committee there now, having in their
pockets the money of this 'stOck ring" to get con
gress to give them control Of the question OF cattle
quarantine With that control Chicago would be
made "Open water and st. Louis could be quaran-
/ tined against Practically there was the same IN
/ auence In Kansas City and st. Louis
/ This combine has allies in the railroad maL-
agers they had allies IN the railroads; they made
railroad officials partners IN their stock yards, part
ners in their feeding stations and given them sops
out of all the profits derived by them from the time
the cattle were shipped until the cattle reached the
abattoir In New York or elsewhere Step by step
they had come to the final condition where they
had actually fixed the price of cattle just though
they were the men who raised them When he
considered that they then proposed to have congress
rivet the final chain the cattle industry IN their
behalf he was lost between admiration and lndlg-
nation at their audacity.
/ The Senator said he believed the commissioner OF
agriculture would do as well with the powers given
in the bill as anybody else. He had great conf.
dence In him He would trust him a thousand fold
before he would anybody in the combine" He be-
lieved in giving to the commissioner OF agriculture
all the powers proposed to be given to the commits
sion, and would not vote for any measure that
would detract from the power and dignity OF that
department Champion