The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-04-08
HIGH PRICE OF BEEF.
kingan q Co. Resent SO-CaIIed Sense
less Newspaper Criticism.

Concerning the increase in the price of
beef an accredited representative of Kingan
& Co. said yesterday:
1.-The old adage, Cater to his stomach
and you capture his reason and good WILL
has been amply verified by the senseless
attack which the New York city news
papers especially have been making in the
past two weeks on the American meat in
dustry. 1t is a senSeless attack, because
the alleged facts 90 not exist; the state
mentS made are not true. Such utilization
does not cheaper meat nor ease conditions,
because the price of cattle makes the price
of meat, and cattle during January, Feb
ruary and March of this year have aver
aged higher by l cent TO cents per pound
live weight. and topped the market I'm indi-
vidual sales higher than any year but one
during the last twenty-five years; yet the
slaughterers are accused of not bidding
against each other.
''Such reckless and unfounded vilifcation
OF our meat industry is senseless for the
further reason that it does no good and
does a vast amount of harm abroad. Mar
ket conditions make themselves, starting
with the raising and sale of live stock. The
stockman is reaping his long-waited-for re-
ward in prices.
mo competition? Do not bid against each
other? If our daily newspapers would place
a joint representative at the Union stock
yards, Chicago, or any other live stock
center, he would be struck by the keen
bidding for good live beeves. 1t is this COM
peting temper which makes a carload of
as they stand. That means, as any packer
or any well-posted retail butcher knows
121b-cent beef in the carcass, even after the
wholesale price for the refuse and by-prod-
uct stock has been realized and deducted
In the same way a 6-cents-per- pound 'on
the hoof' steer means at least 1OA-cent
beef ON the hook at profit
THE average price for good average
beeves during the first three months of
this year has been around 619c per
pound live weight. That should mean lie
o..
steers. But this meat has not. UP to last
week, been sold at over 1O12c per pound.
Then the packers lost money on their car
cass stuff? Most assuredly they did as
strangely as that may seem.
THE National Provisioner has seen the
actual invoices of hundreds of carloads
of beef shipped to New York from Chicago.
On these invoices was the figured loss on
the price at which 1t was invoiced for sale
to the Eastern houses. This loss ran from
IS to 80 cents per 100 pounds. To this had
TO be added the further shrinkage of about
four pounds per carcass at the New York
or Eastern end. Those the facts as
they exist.
''Why does the packer kill and sell his
meat at loss? 1t is simple. Cattle are
high. Hence, meat must be high. Trade
experience shows that the consumer will
not buy at above a certain figure. This
experience it teaches through the butcher.
The packer must run his abattoir to keep
his machinery from lying idle, rusting and
getting out of order for an expensive over
also, 70 set the by-product materials for
his dozen or more by-prOduct factories.
1t is on the output of the by-product fac
tories that he makes up his loss and saves
himself He enhances the character and
gives high commercial value TO bones, hair,
hoofs. horns, entrails every part of the
viscera. juices fluids. blood. offal and other
wastes which are cheap and virtually
valueless in their raw state.
IF IL we're not for these medicines 10
the packing house business our meat bill
would indeed be high. 1t would seem that
the papers should look into such things
and carefully weigh them, instead of going
of at half cock in a TRADE of senselcss
abuse while in ignorance.
The assertion that the same grade Of
beef that is sold here is sold cheaper 10y
our people in Europe Is not true. The
London contemporaneous market reports
show that our meat of the same grade
sells there at sc 10 &c per pound higher
than IL does here. That makes the English
market net 19c per pound better market
than the American market and accounts
for the high price here of what is known as
export beef, and pulls IL abroad. Such
/ wild cat journalism as jumped into our
/ public press lately Is TO be regretted. be
4 cause of the absence OF facts 10 justify
it. and because also OF the harm IL does our
meats abroad s-As Is harm TO eur export
! Co.