Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1897-06-06
NO BEEF TRUST.
kansas CITY Packers Deny Statements
From New York ns tn the cause
of "a RnIse in Prices.

According to press dispatches from New
York the retail prices of beef In th3t city
we're advanced yesterday from TO . cents
ner Mound. New York dealers assigned as
their reason for raising prices that me
Western beef trust has been holding BACK
cattle, thus creating a scarcity OF the prou-
uct. II was thought that the cattle were
being held back in order that the beef
trust might get the advantage OF changes
in the tariff law affecting hides.
lust what the Western beef trust is the
hackers of Kansas City claim they do not
know. They elevate their eyebrows in sur
prise when asked if there is such a thing
as a Western beef trust.
If there is such a thing said Kirk Ar
mour last night. Il never heard of 1t, and
know nothing about it. So far as 1 know,
there has been no movement among local
hackers to hold back cattle, either live
stock or carcasses. On the contrary, the
movement of beef has been greater during
the past few months than for a long time.
The shipments prove this fact. 80 lar from
holding back cattle, the reverse Is lIue'
We are shipping more cattle at the pres
ent time than we ever dfu Ihefe mas peeh
no advance in prices IN TINS CITY. n tho
J.. Martin Jones. general manager OF Ine
jacob Dold Packing Company, talked freely
of the local situation.
Jones. in surprise. Il don't know OF any
such thiug. If there is such a trust or
combination / don't know anything OF II.
OF course there is the big four, that act
somewhat in concert, but they cannot con-
troll the market and especially the New
York market. Unless all the packers act
i'm concert. il Is impossible for prices to
be arbitrarily lowered or raised. / know
that there has been no concerted action on
the part of the local packers to put up
prices in New York. That market is af-
fected more readily by Kansas City than
by Chicago packers. While Armour and
Swift are in Chicago as well as here,
Schwarzschild q Sulzberger are firmly es-
tablished in the New York trade.
IF prices have been advanced, il is owing
10 the cool weather of the past few weeks,
which has prolonged the period of con-
sumption and created a greater demand for
beef. We have felt the effects of the same
cause in our trade here. The demand for
beef during the past six months has been
greater than for the same period during
the seventeen years of my connection with
the bold Packing Company. It is not
true thai local packers are holding back
cattle. The figures prove differently. Last
year at this time we had from l2,0OO.O90 to
100000 pounds of meat products in our
house. At the present time we have not
more thai 5.u00.000 or 100000.
las to holding back cattle for the sake
of taking advantage of the tariff on hides,
a moments thought will show that ii is
much more reasonable to suppose that We
would get rid of our hides as fast as posi-,
BILE before the market is glutted with i'm
ported hides If the tariff is very low. The
figures prove that this superstition is cor
rect. We have no hides to speak of. Prices
are very good. and we are selling our hides
as fast as possible. The other packers are
doing the same. If high duty is placed on
hides, of course. the foreign hides would be
shut out and the home product would be
back of hides and there is no holding Sach
| of cattle at ALL