The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1902-04-18
QUICKLY EFFECT
!. A REORGANIZATION
In Order to Protect Local inter-
osts as Far as Possibie.-
Strenuous Meeting Held
Il. and Plans Discussed.

The Canton Butchers association
held meeting Tuesday night to take
action upon matters of vital interest
to the members and the people of Can
ton as WELL
A serious proposition has confront
ed the meat dealers of the city. The
situation has been forced upon them
by the beef trust. The great question
thC.t IS before them is whether to con-
tinuo or quit business. The trust hes
again raised the price of meat by the
carcass, and the best beef is selling at
10 or 10 1-2 cents pound. wholesale.
while the price of pork wholesale Is
13 cents a pound. This is a condition
that has never been approached tefore
in the history of the country. 1t is
nearly double the ordinary price.
The butchers have raised the price
of meat recently because compelled
to do SO by the packers. and now that
a second raise has been made. the
question of meeting it has forced it.
self upon the retailers. 1t is either
meet the demand, sell at loss or 80
out of the business. This is what the
butchers were discussing at their meet
ing Tuesday evening.
GETTING LINED UP.
For some time the interest in the
butchers organization has been lag.
ging. but the present sit latlon has
gotten the members together to lock
after their common interests. At the
meeting officers were elected for the
coming year, as follows: Jacob liioss.
president; Henry Gotshall treasurer;
August Schufennecker trustee.
=; These are the officers SO far as has
been learned. The grocers. for some
reason, do not desire the proceedings
+ of their meeting to be made known,
SO that the full proceedings could not
be ascertained
Enough was disclosed, however, to
! reveal the fact that the meat dealers
: are at the mercy of the trust and are
| attempting to devise some way Of get
ting out of its clutches. The meeting
was spirited one and the feeling
n manifested showed that almost any
thing would be resorted to IL it prom
ised relief One of the butchers said:
"rhe question we are trying to de-
eide is whether or not the trust is try
ing to force us all out of business 20
that 1t can control the retail as we'll
as the wholesale market. We are SIM
ply helpless in the hands of the big
combine"
KILLING CONSIDERED.
The proposition to do their own kill
ing was considered. 1t is said that
this to some extent might bring re-
lief. but could not accomplish very
much for the reason that the fact that
the trust has advanced meat rates has
become known all over the country
and farmers are aware of the fact that
they can demand 6 or Z cents a pound
for beef on foot and get it. That price
makes a good steer sell for as much as
horse. A steer that will weigh
S1,50O will bring 800 on foot With
these rates, even If beef is butchered
at home, the retail price could not be
shaded very much.
Every few days the trust moves up
the price. Local butchers have hesi-
tated about any further advance. II
Is not known whether the meeting de-
termined upon an increase in rates
but 1t Is presumed that slight In
crease was determined on some grades.
The people of Canton are protesting
vigorously. They do not blame the
local butchers, but they are complain
ing that the government allows the
trust to continue to rob the people OF
the country so persistently. They
sigh for the times when every meat
dealer was his own butcher. Now the
term butcher Is mlsnomer. No one
does the butchering or slaughtering
who does the selling. 1t Is all done al
central points, principally at Chicago
Some go as far as to insist that a
great deal of the meat Is embalmed SO
that It will not spoil.
In tho earlier days slaughter houses
surrounded the city. Farmers brought
their cattle to Canton from radius OF
thirty or forty miles. The meat was
fresh killed. The money remained al
home. Advances were made In price
only as the scarcity of beef cattle
demanded them. They are now made
at the dictation of the combines.
There is possibility that the Local
xtrh Al oh n nj M d
on their own account. When the Ar
vnouro aud othara sta rtad ont m oa.