The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1903-11-26
ELDER ON BEEF COMBINE.
Veteran Populist and Reformer Dis
cusses It.

P. p. Elder, the veteran Populist of
Ottawa, has written an open letter on
the subject of the beef combine. AS is
well known, the price of fat cattle is
two cents a pound less than a year ago,
yet the price of beef has not been low
cred at all, either to the retailer or to
the consumer. 1t his letter Governor
Elder says:
More than fifteen years ago I wrote
many singing articles in the Chicago
Drovers' Journal against the growing
and ruinous methods of the beef COM
bine until that Journal refused to pub
fish them and dismissed me by calling
me a Kansas pessimist' 1 then turned
to the DrOverS' Telegram in Kansas
City and received the same foul treat
ment. I then saw looming up in the
near future the ruin of the cattle and
hog interests. And after So years of
feeding and shipping cattle and hogs
I retired from the business in 1894. But
none too soon. If the Kansas City Star
and other metropolitan papers had been
moved by the interests of their numer-
Gus readers to use the drastic and bold
language they do now in explaining the
packers ruinOus designs there would
have been no such formidable and dis
astrOus beef and pork combines as exist
today, running the cattle and hog
trade.
Were the combines not able to die
tate and control their rates for freight
and rebate for the transportation of
their goods all over the country, there
would have been no meat combine or
Standard Oil trusts
The method of attacking these mon
sters is by law, made and executed by
sincere and honest legislators.
The immediate relief for Kansas
stockmen, farmers and consumers lies
in their preparing to kill and cure
their own meat and raise it for the
trade Of their tOWnSpeOple.
Build smokehOuses to cure their
meat, not only for their own cOnsump-
ton but to sell to butchers. This will
to some extent counterfeit the combine S
fatal practice of lowering the price of
cattle and hogs on their market, but
will also prevent their practice of rails
ing the price of cut meat to the trade.
when the thoughtful farmer sees
cattle and hogs growing lower in price
and cut meats growing higher, he must
turn his wits and energies to some other
method to save him from the loss of all
profits in his calling. There's ample
provision of law to control these COM
bines, if the state and nation had honest
and sincere officers to execute and apply
the law to their case.
What good to the consumers and
farmers has been the civil prosecutions
of these trusts? They have been fined
$1,000 each in Missouri and they have
paid it. They have also raised the price
OF cut meats two cents a pound, to the
trade everywhere Who pays these
fines? Why not have a president, gov
ernor and attorneys who will prosecute
under the criminal provisions of the
law, convict and send them to the peni-
Tertiary. as the officers are doing in
Missouri
The evidence is everywhere to be
found-but no public functionaries TO
prosecute meantime raisers and feeders
of beef and pork, as well as consumers
are losing millions of dollars in Kansas
every year, while they are struggling
against such merciless land pirates In
atead of enforcing the criminal laws
against these public enemies the ReDub-
lican officers from the highest to the
lowest in half of the states of the Union
are stealing and defrauding the states
and the helpless people, as is manifest
in more than ten states today"