The Yellowstone journal. [volume] (Miles City, Mont.) 1893-1901, 1894-04-03
THE X
Those of Custer County Hold Their An
hual Convention.
SESSION.

AT the afternoon session, AlonZo Nc
Neill and II. A.. Smith, not present al
the morning session, reported.
On re~assembling President Truscott
suggested discussion in regard IT, com
mission houses and the methods EN-.
ployed in marketing wool. Mr.. Smell
being called upon to open the ball, stat.
ed that in his opinion the sheep men
were paying too much in this direction.
When wool was bringing a high price,
we paid 6 per cent on gross sales,
amounting at that time to about | Ii
cents per pound: now with wool down
we still were charged 6 per cent. or if a
specific rate was demanded IL cents per
pound. He thought the charge shosld
come down with the wool. Personally
he favored an al rdiorem rate. rather
than a specific one
Mr. Mackey addressed himself more
particularly to the matter OF grading.
and said with much earnestness that the
woolgrowers must he set down as
chumps If they did not make some IF.
fort for protection in this respect. He
thought that the grading Of wool should
be in the hands OF some government or
state officer to the end that grades made
here would be recognized in the eastern
markets. II the wool could be reliably
graded at home, il would cover a good
many defects in the present system OF
marketing.
Mr.. Gallagher. representing a Boston
commission house. was called upon to
explain the grading practiced by the
commission men. and in reply said that
il was a hard thing to grade wool to the
satisfaction OF the woolgrower. As a
matter Of fact. every fleece consists Of
mission men. while they grade all wool
received, are aware that every manufac-
turer prefers TO grade his own wool. and
buys it on that basis. He referred to the
failure u the Billings wool securing
plant. 10 which a large amount Of money
was invested. and which was all ready
for business two or three years ago. but
never turned a wheel. and which was
recently disposed Of piece meal and
shipped away. Ii was thought that 10y
securing at home. the woolgrower would
not only arrive more definitely at the
grade Of his clip. but save largely in
freight by dropping dead weight q
grease and dirt. but il was never oper.
ated because II became apparen. that
the sale Of home secured wool would be
very slow, for the reason that manufac-
turers wanted the wool ia the grease.
Referring 10 the commissions charged by
the commission men for handling and
too high. il any. The charge Of 6 per
cent was fixed when wool was selling
here for - and - cents. and at the
present greatly reduced price the 6 per
cent charge did not leave them any mar
gin to speak OF. He called attention t.
the fact that the commission men were
not only the woolgrowers' agents. but
they were their bankers also. As be
tween a specific and an I'D rdlorem
charge. he favored the latter. Mr..
Mackey thought that a specific charge
of IL cents per pound was too large a
proportion of what the woolgrower got
for his clip. Mr.. Gallagher replied that
the commission man should not he con
sidered as an employees OF the woolgrower,
the same as a herder. He was not re.
quired to take chances on the state Of
the market, like the man who was grow
ing the wool. Ii cost just as much to
sell d clip Of wool at a low price as it did
at a high price, and the lower the price
the less the commission man got out Of
IT at an dd rdiorem rate. Tom Barry
cast some discredit on the reliability of
market grading by relating hat he had
had returns made him showing sales of
buck and black wool. when he had not
had a buck or a black sheep in his ship
ment. This was supplement by Chris
Ramme exhibiting an account Of sales.
showing the sale Of los pounds only Of
buck wool in a shipment that had con
tanned the tieeces OF AZ bucks, some Of
which clipped as high as % pounds.
Mr.. Smell summed up the matter by
stating that the complaint was that un-
der present conditions, shippers could
not know from year To year what grade
Of wool they were offering, and did not
know whether they were getting fair
treatment or not, and Tom Barry put
the climax on by sententiously remark
ing that he ~despaired Of being in any
other position than at the mercy Of the
commission men.
At this point, it being thought advis-
able that the opinions Of the woolgrow
ers should find expression in sppropri.
ate resolutions. on motion Of Mr.. Msckey
a committee consisting Of Aessrs. Smell,
Wiley and Gordon, was appointed to
draft . series Of resolutions expressing