The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1889-09-26
The Live Cattle and Dressed Beef
Trade

Beef consumers will read with no littl
interest the following article, from tn
| american Economist, tending to shov
that there is combination between tn,
dressed beef interests and the bee
slaughterers to keep up prices TIL,
Economist says: In the United States OF
January 1, 1889, there were so, 331 ,O0t
cattle of all kinds, including ,5s5, S21 il
the six New England States, 1920, O5S il
the four Middle States, 7,941 1926 in Ohio
Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan
together, 7, 242, 700 in the States of Mary
land, Virginia, North Carolina. South
Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama
Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, West
Virginia and Louisiana, q, 213, 1873 in the
States and Territories between the Rocky
Mountains and the Mississippi river and
2,00S,51S in the Pacific Coast States
Texas alone is reported as having 1923,
1877 head OF cattle, being more than one
quarter of the number west of the Mis-
sissippi river
Texas is the great breeding State, from
which cattle are driven or transported
periodically to the more Northern States
and Territories for fattening for Eastern
markets. The consuming population for
beef is about IS, 100000. Besides the sup
ply of cattle, there are AZ, 500, 079 head of
sheep and so, 301, 592 head of swine. The
meat supply OF the country is drawn from
the cattle, sheep and swine. The deliv-
cries OF live stock annually at the cities
OF New York, Baltimore, Philadelphia
and Boston aggregate nearly 100000
head, including 100000 CATTLE 3,571, 900
sheep, 3, 100000 swine and 241 600 calves.
The receipts of live cattle at these four
cities have been declining since the
n nnC hnn DO
There are between the Mississippi river
and the Atlantic sea-board hundreds of
cities, villages and towns that obtain
their meat supply partly from the terri
tory in their immediate vicinage and
partly beyond the Mississippi River, via
st. Louis and Chicago. This interior
meat consumption is probably more than
double that at the four sea- board cities.
The Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, the
Pennsylvania Railroad, the New York
and Western Railroad, the New York
Central and Hudson River Railroad and
the Boston and Albany Railroads are all
equipped for the transportation of live
stock, which is nearly one-quarter of
their East bound tonnage.
Along the lines of all these railroads at
various points are large, commodious
paved yards, provided with sectional
~ 'A'AOAN'f "eeoOI, .COlIl3 OdUS ttl1O
meal. There are such yards at Omaha,
Kansas City, st. Louis, Cincinnati, Chi
cago, Toledo, Cleveland, Pittsburg, Buff
falo, Albany, Boston, New York, Phila-
delph1a and Baltimore, where the live
STOCK is unlOaded from the ears and plac-
ed III the yards for rest, water and feed
ing. AT these yards most owners of the
livestock offer the stock for sale, where
local buyers from outside interior towns
and villages congregate as competitors
for purchase. Chicago takes the lead as
a livestock interior market. There is
also large trade done in selling live
stock, where purchases are made for the
interior cities OF New York State, for the
coal and iron districts OF Pennsylvania,
as we'll as for the New York, Boston and
Philadelphia livestock markets. At all
these stock-y yards for resting and feeding
purposes there is no combination appar-
emily, so for as the public know 1t APP
pears as free from combination among
buyers as the grain business is on the
New York Produce Exchange. The
dressed-beef firms deny that there has
ever been any combination among them
for buying cattle cheap at Chicago. Some
OF the large packing firms employ as
many as $500 men, and have a good
many men all over the West to report by
telegraph daily about the corn crop, the
hog crop and the movement of the live
stock toward Chicago. If on any partic-
ular day the receipts of cattle promise to
be large, it is a tip for them to be at the
livestock yards to buy at some reduc-
ton in price. The shippers from numer-
Gus points to Chicago cannot we'll act in
concert to regulate the supply to come
on the Chicago market ON a given day.
In this respect the buyers have the adj
vantage. There are a good many cattle
from the great corn growing
regions of Illinois and Iowa, where large
farmers of capital buy Texas cattle, to
which they feed their corn, and secure
twice the price for the corn when it is
converted into beef.
The dressed-beef interest in the last
two or three years has displaced he live
cattle receipts at the sea board by nearly
100000 head annually. The interests OF
the sea-board slaughterers do not har-
monte with those engaged in the dress
ed-beef interest. They are competitors
as sellers in the board markets, which
would tend to cheaper the price of beef
to consumers. The displacement by
dressed beef of 100000 head of live cattle
at the sea-board would diminish
the buyers at Chicago as well as the com
petition for the purchase of live cattle
there, from which the dressed beef firms
might derive some advantage as buyers
OF live cattle, of which they would not be
slow to avail themselves.
The price of live cattle at Chicago in
the years named has been 1874. rs in
1880, $3O51 in 1881, $35. o5 in 1852. SIS. ee
in 1888, $50. 20 in 1884, $28'4 in 1885, 1923
in 1887, $19.8S in 1888, and $1S. O4 in 1889,
but the price OF beef to consumers seems
to be no cheaper than in 1880 to 1884,
The railroads transport dressed beef at
less price than they transport live cattle.
They can afford to do SO, as there is no
delay IN movement over the road as in
the case of live stock, which stops several
days on the way in the run from Chicago
to New York. There is still the impor-
tant fact to the consumer that while the
price of live cattle at Chicago has de-
clined from $38 66 in 1883 to $19.04 in
1899, the price of beef to the consumer is
as much as in 1883.
The very logical conclusion at which
the consumer arrives is that there is a
combination to keep up prices and that
the combination Includes the dressed
beef interest as well as the beef slaugh-
terers at the sea-board cities. The CON
sumption OF beef in the region north of
the Ohio river and between the Missis-
sippi and the Atlantic sea-board cannot
be far from 100000 head of cattle per
annum, which means that the combina-
ton is receiving in 1889 about $62, 900, 600
more than they got in 1883 for the beef
they sell, and this sum goes into the
pockets of the combination, instead of
being retained in the pockets of con
sumers.
The Senate Committee which has been
holding session at Chicago, has been
trxvI frf nd = i L.
firms there, why, with live cattle fifty
per cent cheaper than six years ago,
there is no reduction in the price of
dressed beef, but were unable to secure
the attendance before the committee of
any of the persons who could tell.
What is the difference between Swiss
mountaineer and dandruff? One scales
the Alps and the other ails the scalps