The herald., 1895-10-18
Many Ports to Be Opened for
Importing Cattle
SAN DIEGO IS ONE OF THEM
Farmers Will Now Find Use for Their
Surplus Fodder
President Cleveland Determined to Break
the Power of the Beef
Barons

=
United States for the purpose of being
fed and faJtened on and after the 22d of
this month, says the New York Herald.
Had there been any doubt of the import
anceiof this order The protests of Texas
cattle raisers against the order woul
have swept it away. They evidently have
an irritating effect on DR.. Saloon, chief
of the bureau of animal industry.
asked DR.. Salmon today how many cattle
would come in from Mexico to BIZ fed on
United States corn as result of this
order.
. swell, to judge by the howl" said DR..
Salmon, with some appearance of heat,
as he very evidently ran over the cattle
raisers' protests III his mind, Ito judge
by the howl, l say, of such cattle kings
rs Abner Taylor, late Republican re pre-
sentative from Illinois, l should suppose
two millions
. The order opens the ports of San Diego,
Nogales, Ell Paso, Eagle Pass, Browns
vile and the sub port of Laredo to the
coming of the cattle. The upland ranges
of chihuahua anu Sonora. the two north
ern provinces OF Mexico, from which the
cattle will come, are heavily stocked. and
the price OF these cattle on foot is low
enough to justly the sale of every head a
stock buyers, considering that the char.
acter of the order consents to the cattle
being fed and fattened in the United
States, will dip heavily into the purchase
of the half fat Mexican cattle, which
nigh come through three ports for the
purpose of,immediate slaughter full 200,
600 head of feeders will be brought in also.
The coming of this grand army of hun
CRY Mexican cattle to be fed in the United
States IS and ought to be cheering news
to the Western farmers, with their heavy
corn crops. In fact, th9 order of the
secretary of agriculture admitting these
Mexican cattle for feeding and fattening
purposes was meant to come to the re-
lief of the farmer, and was brought about
by virtue of the heavy crops of this year.
While it will have a direct bearing on the
price OF beef, and should tend to make it
lower to the consumer. to accomplish
lower beef prices was, after all. not the
purpose of the secretary of agriculture.
MY purpose in making this order,
said Secretary Morton to me, was to do
something for the farmer and help him
to get rid of the giant corn crop Of this
year at respectful bic figures. l wanted him
TO get the profit in it, too, and not have
it go to corn buyers and spectators.
. The western farmer can now take these
. thin Mexican cattle and fatten them on
this corn. He can thereby reap hand =
some profit, which we're the cattle kept
.
''In feeding cattle corn" explained
; Secretary Morton, lit is also necessary
to feed double the nun Der OF hogs The
arrangement IS carried on with two en-
closures. In one is kept say 1000 head of
cattle; in the otner, 1000 head of hogs.
; 10 thoroughly feed out corn you feed
, twice as many hogs as there are head of
cattle. You never feed the hogs any
original corn; it is all fed first to the
cattle. The cattle, however, waste so
much in their feeding. shell off SO much
oorntwhich falls to the ground, never to
be picked up by them, that you need the
hogs to come after the cattle and clean
up what they waste. 1t is a sort OF sec
ond table affair. Cattle eat at the first
table, the hogs at tho second, which is
pretty good table for hog under all cir
cumstances."
pate, there will, in addition to the Mex
lean fat cattle, come by virtue OF the sec
rotary of agriculture order 200, 900 lean
cattle, 1t is also evident from what Secre-
tary Morton says that the market mus
also count on fully 400 600 hogs to be fat
tened IN Conjunction with the cattle.
This would all make a notable beginning
to the nations winter supply OF meat
and consumers might reasonably hope,
under honest circumstances, for "a consld-
cradle reduction in meat prices. But 1t
is the absolute belief of Secretary Nor
cultural department involved in the late
investigation of the beef com bine, that
honest conditions do not and will not
surround the beef market of next winter.
1t is believed by officials in Washington,
who should know the most concerning
it, that arrangements are now being
made by the beef combine of Chicago,
that is, by the Armours, the Swifts, the
Hamm onds, the Morrises, and others, to
put the beef market OF next winter at
robber figures again, Just as it was last
February and March and April.
Secretary Morton is perfectly con.
WINGED of the existence OF this robber
beef organization in Chicago. He knows
the men who compose it. He says the
cattle situation is entirely within its
grasp. Its mbers pay what they
choose for live cattle, eXtort what they
please for dressed beef, which being true,
it would then occur that, no matter how
many fat cattle were thrown on the mar
ket, whether they came from Mexico OF
We're native to American soil, the ques-
tion of the price at which they were SOLD
would be settled entirely by the b1yers,
that is, the Nom oers of the beef com bi ne
OF Chicago. The farmers and cattle rails
ers who fed, fattened and sold the cattle
would have nUthing TO say about it. They
are according to Secretary Morton, b e D.
less in the hands OF Morris, Arm our,
Swift, and the balance of the beef ring.
Win tue Dttl III buCH com pIelt
control of the situation as is described by
Secretary Morton and Dr. Salmon, and
as shown by their investigations las
summer, it needs only to be said that il
is entirely within the power of the com
bine to fix the price of beef to the con.
tBumer as it is the price OF live cattle tt
Che cattle. seller. They have the bee
market under their thumb, these mem
hers OF the buef com bine. and paving
what they please for cattle, will alsC
charge what they please for dressed beef
This rather gloomy outlook preclude,
any hone that the consumer will be ben
1efited by lower beef prices by this infiu,
of Mexican beef cattle, under the inhu
ence OF the secretary $ order, which goe
rinto effect October o. 1t will help til,
farmer dispose of his corn, but it will no
7chelpthe retail buyer of beef to lowe
Sprice. New York and other markets will
Spay as high price for beef as the com
gbine of Chicago see fit to fix. 1t will Ger
ztainly be as high. and if the anticipa
4ions of the agricultural department turi
out correct, be much higher than it wa
ever before. Under conditions whicl
should directly lower the price of bee
TO the consumer, it will not be lowered a
al and will almost certainly go up
tbanks to the energy of the com bine an,
the completeness of its Iobber arrange
ment. The coming of cattle from Mex
ico will only tend, SO far as the consume
IS concerned. to make the robbery IN ia
vor of the beef combine greater than
ever was before.