Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1892-03-08
WHY IT is so.
A Cow and Sheep Man Talks
About the Big Four.
ALLEGED OVER PRODUCTION.
he is in Sympathy with the Movement to
Establish Bureau of Statistics
and Information in Cattle
Growing States.

HE GAzETTE's voung man encountered a
group of prominent visiting stockmen in
the lobby of an uptown hotel last evening
discussing the question of prices and the
cause Of the recent depression in same, and
singing one out, sized him If ne thought IL
was true that the big Four We're IN the
habit of holding cattle in the interior for
the purpose of manipulating the market.
There is very little doubt in my mind
rbut such is the fact" he replied, s.and
FhaTe recently learned that Armour & Co.
have already purchased largely in Texas.
ana 1t IS presumed he has made purchases
In other states as well An agent of Swift
q Co. is said to be in San Angelo at the,
lsnesent moment for the purpose of CONTRACT
ing for mutton and, unless the object is to
manipulate the Kansas City and Chicago
markets this season by forcing these pur-
classes upon the market whenever it is to
t1z8interest of these gentlemen to do SO. [
cannot well understand the movement
You see, both Swift and Armour are
compelled to have a regular supply of live
soak to carry on their business profitably
sf1ed IL they were to depend upon the legiti-
mate shipment from ranchmen and feeders
they would sometimes be in a corner, and
would be forced 10 bid up in order TO induce
Sal pmentS upon scale TO meet their wants.
e 81 is very easy matter for them to be
independent of the regular shippers by be-
ing shippers themselves, and so they do
not hesitate to do so. When the sheep mar
5et broke down last summer and nearly
.ruined every interior shipper of mutton
there is good reason to believe that Swift
& Co. were the cause Of it.
Il will wager that Swift & Co. owned
and controlled more sheep last year in every
state that ships TO Kansas City than any
ten regular shippers of mutton in the coun-
try. Now is it reasonable to believe that
they would make their shipments in such
enormous numbers so as to glut the market
unless they had some object in doing so?
They could just as well send in enough to
do them from day to day as to send in
enough for week or two at a time But
you see if they had done that the high
prices that were prevailing at the time
would have been maintained, and as they
knew they would require a very much
larger number of sheep than they owned in
the interior they decided to demoralize the
marlsst BY shipping in largely at one time.
ssat least, is my opinion"
s1s''Well. what remedy do you see to coun-
teract this?" asked the news gatherer
The only way is to have a bureau for in |
formation in each state, to inform US Of the
number of sheep and cattle en- route to diff
ferent markets.
I read the interview you had with Col |
Black a short time ago upon this subject, |
and think the colonel is quite right, and |
unite with him in hoping that some action |
will soon be taken by congress to relieve US |
of this most outrageous condition II will |
checlzmate the Big Four, and can |
not see any other practical way of doing it.
by the way, you know that the Big |
Four attribute our low prices to over
production of cattle Now is it not a little |
singular that Armour & Co. would take the |
trouble to buy such large numbers of cattle |
in the interior and ship them to market |
themselves, if there was any overpro-
duction9'
The reporter acknowledged the force of
the gentleman's argument, and excused
himself, seeking another victim. The gen
tlemen, however. said he proposed to have
to say in the convention upon the
subject upon which he had just expressed
himself, and that he was assured others of |
the cattlemen shared his views upon the
same.