Evening star., 1902-08-06
BEEF TRUST SCORED
Retail Dealers Adopt Meas
ures of Reform.
SESSION HARMONIOUS
IMPORTANT BUSINESS TRANS
ACTED WITHOUT DIssENsIoN.
Tariff Reduction - State Bounty for
Anti-Bankruptcy Law
Sunday Closing.

TWO days of the business sessions of the
National Retail Butchers and Meat Dealers
| Protective Association have been accom-
| plished. Three Of the most important
| things pending have been fayorably acted
upon to the end that the beef trust has
been attacked through a recommendation
| that the tariff on beef be abolished: the
| states will be asked to create a bounty for
the raising Of beef cattle in the east and
! middle west and the bankruptcy bill now
pending in Congress was condemned Be
| sides this. side issue affecting the Dis
| trict of Columbia was acted upon, TO the
effect that the association is in hearty
| sympathy with the Sunday closing move
ment for all places of business, and espe-
| cially the 20 per cent of the meat-selling
| houses which remain open on that day.
! The morning session of the association
/ lasted from O'Clock until j today, and
each one Of the propositions was discussed
! most freely, as the sessions of the conven-
tion are held behind closed doors. The poll
! tics of the convention are said to be NIL
Each one of the questions presented is With
out reference to the political color 1t may
| present, and the discussion and vote on the
same is said to be with this understanding
| in view. There Is said to have been but
| one reference to politics made in the morn
1 ing's discussion, and the man who precip.-
| tated this was met with good-natured sug-
| gestions that he was 'out of order.
Five Steers to Be Eaten.
This afternoon FIVE steers will be eaten,
| after having been properly roasted whole at
| Benning race track by the members of the
association who are the guests of the local
| organization at this occasion, and the enter
| tainers have made every effort to make the
roast popular gathering for the residents
| of the city. Two of the steers will be ready
to serve this afternoon, and three OF them
| will be done to a turn this evening. Sports
| and a general out-of-door carnival will be
| in progress during the whole day and even
ing. and great turnout Is expected.
The fight against the beef trust which
| is being made by the retail dispensers OF
meat Of the country is the one topic on
which the delegation to the convention is
most enthusiastic. The results achieved at
the sessions of last night and this morn
| ing have been so eminently satisfactory in
| this direction that the entire success of
! the convention is assured without Ques-
tion.
What remains to be done at the session
| tomorrow morning is the selection of Off
GERS for the ensuing year. and also the Sc
lection of a meeting place for the next
annual conclavc. While this feature of an
annual gathering is always an important
| one. the preliminary meetings have been SO
much to the liking of the delegates that
the details OF the election are regarded
as unimportant ir comparison.
The delegation was increased by several
members today. and still more, it Is said,
Will arrive tomorrow, which will include
representation from many of the states of
the Union.
The request for a state subsidy for the
raising OF cattle Is intended to apply par
ticularly to the states of the east and mid
die west, where this industry has Of late
years been on the wane on account of the
large cattle ranges of the west. The re-
apparent that the cutting off of the east
ern beef raiser has made q material diff
ference in the market situation as regards
the price of beef to the consumer. and this
factor has made a decided impression on
the retailer Of meat
Yesterdays Two Sessions.
The afternoon and evening program OF
the butchers yesterday was characterized
with the same vigorous movement as the
opening session in the morning. The play
spell came first. when the delegates went
down the river to Mount Vernon. The trip
was enjoyed hugely, and the opportunity
of forming personal acquaintances was
taken aScantage Of
In the evening business was taken up
again. Soon after the delegates assem-
bled in the banquet hall of the Raleigh
fiash-light picture was taken of the group.
During the session which followed, and
the most important questions before the
convention settled-a resolution was
passed unanimously urging the govern
ment to remove the tariff of cents
pound from beef.
This recommendation was made by Presi-
dent Wagner in his opening address, to-
gether with long list Of other sugges-
tions, all Of which were referred to a COM
mittee The committee lost no time in Sc
lecting and reporting on the suggestion
which. to their mind, was the most neces-
sary to deal blow to the beef trust. The
report Of the committee was unanimous
adopted it with a unanimous vote and en-
thusiasm which left no doubt as to the
certainty it feels in the position taken.
The resolutions will be engrossed and
transmitted to the President of the United
States and to Congress at it's next meet
ing.
Effect Of Removal Of Tariff.
In an explanation of just what the re-
moval of the tariff would do toward Grip
pling the beef trust President Wagner said
to a Star reporter after the meeting that
while the removal Of the 2-cent tariff would
seem only to effect a reduction in the price
of meat to that extent, that it's operation
would be much more far-reaching than this
result.
1.-The removal Of this tariff" he remarked,
would open the country to the cattle herds
of countries which under present conditions
find no market in this country. With these
cattle coming in the beef trust would have
a new 1aCtOr TO zeal WIN, ana one WHICH,,
in my opinion, would make it practically
impossible for 1t to monopolize and control
the beef product Of the country and the
beef-raising industry Of the country.
"In other words, 1t would bring the busi-
ness of supplying the American people with
meat back to open competition, with conse-
quent lower prices and freedom of trade
There Is positively declared to be not the
slightest tinge Of politics in the tariff dec
laration made by the convention. I'VE are
of all shades Of political faith" declared
the secretary. "Our action in this matter
Of the tariff is simply step which, from
our knowledge of the meat situation Of the
country, leads US to the inevitable conclu-
sion that drastic measures should be adopt
ed to break the influence of the trust. The
removal of the tarin. we believe. will do this
very thing, and we shall present these views
to the government, and not to any political
party or organization. It is non-partisan
action absolutely SO far as this association
Is concerned"
Besides the tariff plank adopted, the con-
yention busted itself with discussing mat
ters pertaining to its revenues. internal reg