The evening times., 1899-08-14
meat PRICES WILL GO UP
Scarcity of Cattle on the Ranges
the Cause.
Representatives of the Great West
ern Slaughtering and Packing
Companies Deny That There Is N
Combine to Advance Charges.
Opinions of the Local Dealers.

Meat prices are going up. Beef, lamb,
and pork will be marked up in the Wash
ington market from 1 to cents a pound.
and this advance will come within day
or two Wholesale prices have been ad-
vanced by the Big Four-that is, by Ar
mour Co.. Swift & Co., Nelson Norris
& Co.. and the Cudahy Packing Company.
1t is held by the representatives at
Washington of these great slaughtering
and packing firms that the price Of hoof
| cattle. sheep, and hogs have moved up
ward from IL TO l cent a pound. Ihey
explain this on the ground that England
| is buying more meat from America than
at other times, despite the war beef scan
| dals and the predictions made by many
| that they would kill Americas export
| business in such products. The exports
during July, as shown by the statistics of
| the Treasury Department, were very
| large many millions OF pounds larger
| than during July, 1898. II is also stated
! that the increasing prosperity Of the
country, the higher wages paid TO labor
| ers in many cases, and the fact that labor
| is moIe generally employed, sayr t.seatly
| increased the demand for beef an. other
| fresh meats
The local meat dealers do not accept as
| true all the reasons for the advance which
| have been set forth by the packers They
maintain that the packers through their
, Western buyers regulate the price OF cat
tie on the hoof. The cattle raiser, they ar
firm, is, and for years has been, at the mer
cy of the buyers for the packing houses.
He can get only slim margin OF proht on
his investment. The Washington meat
men hold that there is no truth in the
claim that beef cattle are scarce en- the
p,rt hn mi l.
ers also say that high grade native bcet
cattle are comparatively few, and that
prices for this stock have gone up.
Position of the Packers.
A representative of one of the big meat
houses, in speaking with a reporter for The
Times today, said:
Beef at wholesale costs US from 1-2 to
S-4 of a cent pound more than it did
year ago. We pay here on basis of the
selling price in Chicago. The supply in
Washington is fully as large as ever, and
the advance is wholly due to the advance
in price of cattle at the West. 1t is
natural shortage in the herds that causes
this, coupled with the fact that the great
supplies of corn in the West and the pros
pective great corn crop have induced the
farmers to pick up the lighter cattle for
fattening purposes, and this enhances the
price of other cattle.
My books show that whereas beef this
week sold on an average at $3.50 the hun
dred pounds, for the corresponding week
of the year previous it averaged only $7.S1.
You might also see by reference to the
books that whereas We are paying $500
hundred pounds for beef in Chicago, We
are selling it here at but $3.50 the hun
dred, although the cost of selling, plus
the price OF transportation, must be added
to the Chicago price. In fact, the beef
averaged us a loss of 45 cents on every
hundred pounds We sold Such a loss is
generally attendant on rising market.
OF course, we are not in trade for philan-
thropic purposes, but to make money. So
this is simply a temporary condition that
confronts US. Beef has risen in price,
and / think it will rise still further. The
same is true Of pork loins. You can't at
present buy them anywhere in the West
under cents a pound. 1t is particular
cut, averaging not over twenty pounds to
the hog, and just at present an enhanced
demand for that particular cut has elevat-
ed the price, as there is no especial search
ty.
"All this talk of Nelson Morris & Co.,
Swift G. Co., and Armour & Co. forming a
beef trust is the veriest buncombe, and
am speaking whereof / know. If anyone
believes that a combination exists among
these houses to do away with competition
let him appear as a prospective buyer of
meats in any place where they are all rep
resented"
No Reason for Scarcity.
Another representative beef man in
speaking with a reporter for The Times,
said:
1.-The full extent of the agreement be-
tween the great packing houses is that
credits shall be but for seven days. OF
course, under this rule, if the retailer did
not pay, we would suspend his credit, but
it does not necessarily follow that he
would be forced out of business, for he
could then buy for cash. No one would
refuse to sell to him on that basis. The
report that there exists beef trust or
that there is one in contemplation, is un-
true. Competition is as active now as ever.
The reason for the rule is that we have
to pay spot cash for the beef, and In our
turn we want our money when we sell.
1.-The seven-day agreement has been for
some time in contemplation, and is now
being pushed into force. 1 cannot speak
definitely as yet as to what is likely to be
its effect, but / should be able to give an
opinion after, say, a week or ten days.
No other agreement of any kind has been
entered into by the rival packing houses,
nor is any in contemplation. This seven
day agreement is in force in the West and
other places, and has proved in it's results
as good for the retailer as for the whole
saler.
"The reason that the price of meat has
gone up Is the scarcity of the commodity,
and because the market warrants 1t, and
is not the result OF mutual agreement of
the great houses, or anything of that kind.
There Is, and has been for some time,
more or less scarcity of cattle in the West,