El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1899-10-25

it means immense profits to the actual
producer.
AN ENORMOUS INDUSTRY.
Few people have any realization of
the enormous volume of the cattle bus I
ness, or how many persons are Affect
ed by an improvement in conditions.
In general every farmer is stock-raiser
although possibly on q small scale. On
January 1. 1892 according to the stat
iscian of the Department of Agricul-
ly A 900, 900 head of cattle, OF which
about Is 600, 900 were milch-cows. At
q valuation of S29. 66 for the COWS and
1922. 70 for other cattle, the total prop
erty would reach the enormous sum of
over 81, 100, COO, 600. OF this. Texas is
the heaviest sharer: then comes Iowa,
corn corr and Wheat raising are great
industries, but they pale in COMPARE
con with the cattle business. A years
crop of corn in the United States has q
value of about $500, 600, 900, and that of
wheat, $4OO. 600, 900, more or less, but
there never is full crop on hand.
the wheat and corn, and the exporter
bsgins to send them out of the country,
as soon as the harvest is over. The
value of both wheat and corn on hand
at any one time, then, is only q very
small percentage of the value of the
cattle on hand.
WIDE SPREAD EFFECTS.
1t will be seen. therefore, that the
return of good times to the stock. man
means much wider distribution of
the fruits of prosperity throughout the
country-indeed, q much more favor
able condition all over the nation
N a n1o nnnd NH
cotton crop. AID not only is the cat
tie man himself profiting by the rise
in prices, but the railroad man Is do
log more business, for after bringing
the lean cattle to market he may
freight them out to the farmer to be
fsttened, and then back again to the
market, whereas in ordinary times he
might move them only once.
La the came way the
boom in cattle means better business
for the slaughterers and packers
and for the great numbers of men en-
gagged in the business. In Chicago
alone $1,000 men are employed in the
nusl output is valued at more than
$3.50, 0OO, 900. And the farther the
price goes up, the more money will
flow in to the country, for we feed half
the great nations of the earth from our
surplus. During 1898 we sent abroad
nearly 100000 lead of cattle. to say
nothing of 81 900. 600 pounds Of canned
and nearly 100000 pounds of salt
beef. One London agency of
1898, 42s, 7e9 quarters of beef,
IL, 725 .O45 pounds of pork product, and
70. 100 pigs, bringing upward of S1O,-
900, 600, nearly all from Great Britain
and ireland. The cable advices of late
tod oh
steers in the London and Liverpool
markets at IL and ID cents per pound,
estimated dressed weight, compared
with 81 to 1O4 cents for the correspond
ing week of 1898. Two and . half
cents a pound advance on the millions
of pounds exported means an enormous
increase of money flowing into the
producer.
A GREATER FUTURE.
And with more money and
more business activity the wages of the
ordinary workman and the non produc-
or must 60 up, as they actually have
been going up for months past-some-
times at the end of q strike, but more
often without it. A nd with more wages
the workman can buy more good meat
even at q higher price. Beefstesks
cost more than they did year ago, but
the country can better afford to pay for
them. Thus the great chain of pros
perity Is completed in another line.
And the end of the advance is not yet
in sight. The cattle raiser has much
profit yet before him, and the
packer will yet be instrumental In
bringing still larger sums of money In
to the country from foreign lands. The
well-known authority, The Breeders
Gazette, says of the present condition
of the cattle industry:
"With excellent export markets, a
home demand that is almost unprece-
dented, and constantly decreasing sup
plies, those who study the conditions
most closely can see nothing hut high
prices for some time in the FUTURE
RAY STANNARD BAKER,
In Harper's Weekly.