The Emporia weekly news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1881-1889, 1889-08-08
SMASH THE CATTLE COMBINE.

Inc cattle men or THIS county are
waking up. They have lost and are
losing money. Last winter when our
jay legislature was tearing its linen
in frantic effort to do nothing that
would injure the cattle combine, the
NEWS urged repeatedly the passage of
the meat inspection bill. The combine
suffered the bill to pass the house, and
then took handful of money into
the senate, and bought that body as
Falstaff did his regiment, so much per
head and the bill died. Precisely
the same thing occurred in
the legislatures of Missouri,
Ohio, and several other states last
winter. Several other Kansas papers,
and notably the Atchison Champion,
urged vehemently the passage of the
bill, until it began to appear that it
would be defeated, when they too be-
gan to weaken and display their SER
vile and truculent character. The
Champion was not one of them, we are
glad to say. 1t denounced the dressed
beef and cattle combine to the last, as
the most dangerous the farmer has to
deal with.
There will be, we are informed, a
meeting of special senate committee
at Chicago August % to investigate
the cattle and dressed beef question.
1t is said that Senator Plumb is a
member of that committee. 1t has
been suggested that the Lyon county
Live Stock association get together
and name delegates to go to Chicago
and state the case of the cattle raisers
of Kansas to the committee and urge
the necessity of remedial action by
congress. The suggestion is good
one and ought to be carried out by all
means. Unless the farmers and cattle
raiserS wake up and do something they
will be reduced to beggary and starva-
ton. They are already nothing more
than herders or cowboys for the Big
Four, which refuses even to pay them
decent wages for their seEyile labor.
Free Americans wonder at serfdom in
Russia. A Kansas cattle raiser or
beef consumer is really more abject
slave to the cattle combine than is the
Russian peasant to the cZar. The
combine robs the farmer at one end,
and the consumer who buy sits dressed
beef at the other. While the price of
cattle has gone dowd 100 per cent in
the past five years, the price of
beef shows no decline whatever.
How can suclI an unnatural condi-
fifnr, of hn bot no
of the well known laws of trade? Only
a dumb fool or knave will contend
that it can. 1t is bold and naked rob-
berry, villainous brigandage, daylight
plundering and looting-and the cattle
man is blind to it all! Or if he sees it
has not the pluck or manhood to rise
up and wiring the political head from
any legislator that refuses to do his
duty in Staying the Hydra headed mon
ster.
What happened the other day?
Knowing that it would soon be inves-
tigated, the combine engaged all the
available cattle room on the outgoing
ocean steamer for several months to
come on the pretense that it wishes to
relieve glutted home market! This
scheme of pre-empting all available
space in the Oceac steamers is only a
ruse to deceive the public. 1t will be
paid for but not used, and the Kansas
farmer will make up the loss to the
combine in another cut in prices. The
result of this latest scheme is that in
dividualshippers to Europe are shut
out for want of transportation, and the
cattle market at home becoming glut-
ted, will sustain further decline in
prices. How long are the people going
to put up with such infamous rapacity,
UGH unmasked highway robbery?
And this is only one of innumerable
trusts and combines organized for
theft and plumber.