The St. Johns herald., 1889-04-11
The Market Situation.


 mark among producers and sales men alike, these days. The price of all classes of cattle Is so low that hope soems to have fled.
 The clouds have hung dark and portentous over the cattle industry for nearly three years, but the time has now come when the light of truth, penetrating this blackness of darkness, will cause it to scatter as the nists give way to the glorious sunlight.
 There is no effect without cause, either in nature or in the affairs Of men. The great depression in cat tie values is traceable to direct cause that may be easily understood and understood, easily remedied. Beginning in 1881 tidal wave of prosperity swept over the land from one extreme boundary to the other, carrying every class of business to its acme. Everybody had money and all wanted beef. The demand was so great that prices rapidly ad- vanced to a point where the year ling heifer that brought but four dollars and half in northern Tex as in the spring of 1881 was eager Iy sought for in 1881 at twelve dol lars. During 1881 and the years preceding, she cattle formed a libe- ral share of all shipments to mar ket, and the local butchers of the whole country depended to a great extent on this class of cattle for their supplies. Beginning in the latter part of 1881 and continuing up to 1886 the heifer portion of each herd had changed places with the steer portion-had a higher market value. The local butchers everywhere were forced to buy steers for slaughter and the shipment of COWS to the market centres was con- fined to barren ones. Less than five per cent of the receipts at the great markets was she cattle from 1882 to 1886. Ranchmen in the west and farmers in the east saved every animal that in the remotest degree gave promise of dropping a calf.
 This withdrawal of previously marketable animals stimulated the advance in beef and was a prime factor in holding up prices. Add to this the other fact that cattle raisers were all making money rap idly, and in consequence thousands of new men were anxious to get into the business on the basis of the high prices, offering better mar ket than the consuming centres, and it is readily seen why beef values held up after all other agricultural products went down.
 Time, however, which equalizes all things, brought change and when the mechanics stopped buy ing beef because of the lack of em- ployment, beef cattle cheapened, Holding their breath during 1886. large and small producers discov- cred that there were too many cat tie and that values must recede. As a result in 1887 they began the pro cess of unloading. Ranchmen from Texas to Montana commenced to ship COWS, heifers, two-year-olds and calves to market. They had bought in at the top and when the turn came were crazy to get out at any sacrifice. Everything must go, and everything went. Day after day, week after week and month af- ter month all through 1SS7-'SS and thus far in 1889, sixty to seventy five per cent of the thousands of cattle on the Kansas City, St. Louis and Chicago markets were she cat lie, saying nothing of the hundreds of yearlings offered
 An actual count of the cattle bought and slaughtered in Chicago hv the four large dressed beef and