Weekly independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 1887-1914, 1904-02-05
4 PUBLIC

lne nlgn price Oi Weat 10 the man
who buys il from the retail dealer and
the low price paid to the cattle dealer
and farmer by the packers have re.
minded u and producers
again Of the advantages of IN abattoir.
The producers have been driven into IA
pen or chutes like those the manage
men OF the stock yards erect for the cat.
tie. Out Of these pens there is n wide
opening into I'm alley which rapidly con.
verges. The cattle un~suspiciously take
this wide opening. other animals follow
them until the foremost are pushed into
double file and then into single tile.
The crowding Is uncomfortable, but the
steer in the lead yields t. the pressure
Of the push behind and tu get more
room walks up to the mau .with the
sleGge hammer. The hammer falls on
the steers temple und he drops dead.
The object lesson Of the stock yards and
the slaughter Of their four-footed occu.
pants has been Incorporated into the
system developed by the packers.
Tit farmer and stock raiser has been
forced to sell exclusively to the stock
yards. The retail butcher, who used to
kill his " animals which he bought
from the farmers and Gtockmen in his
W region IS now forced to buy his
meat exclusively Of the packers. The
history OF getting the retail butchers IN
to the first pen Is Il long one and took
al XnTHl NpnFa IN nRnnIn nI1EI Thn
butchers who refused to buy their meat
OF Armour or Swift or Cudahy, or one
of the other packers were forced to yield
Ia u competition whose continuance
would drive them out Of business, There
Is no question but that III the old way OF
isolated elaughtering tine was u great
economic waste Of material, Huois,
hair. marrow, bones, blood and horns
were thrown away rs waste mnterinl.
Now they are valuable ~by.pruGucts Of
Strengthening. But ill the days when
farmer and butcher slaughtered their
own meat the farmer and butcher were
content with u modest profit. The
packer, who saves or sells every par; OF
a beef animal demands IA larger margin
than ever The butcher and stock dealer
asked. But having entered the pen pre-
pared for him by the packer, the butch
er cut himself off from the stock deal
er and tie farmer from whom he was in
the habit OF buying punches OF cattle.
lie coul only buy from the pack crs
and when the few packers made an agree
mentt to sell meat at n certain price the
butcher has no and the con.
sumner pays the difference, though the
butcher makes no larger profit thar he
did before tlIe plot succeeded, The per.
fectlng OF their plans has taken years.
II arrangement has been four-sided;
1t includes the butchers, the consumers.
the stock dealers and the packers. An
understanding, concerted action and
good faith among the packers them.
selves are necessary to the success OF
the conspiracy which has absorbed the
margin OF profit that belongs to the
farmer and tho retail butcher.
Tho butcher, the consumer and the
stock dealer are in the pen which has
only IL opening and that one leads
into the slaughter house where the man
with the steel mallet stands and strikes
the endless procession dead. Like cat.
tie, the producer, butcher md consumer
have been driven into the pen and each
individual recognizes the object OF good
faith when he sees the man with the
hammer and hears the dead fall OF the
one ahead Of him. Tho aggregate of
cattle killed in n day il the Chicago
packing houses is thousands; but each
anima has ono moment OF agony when
he sees the man with the hammer and
realizes why he has becn crowded IN To
that point. The individual pays the
price and the tyranny OF the packers
II their enormous profits will be nm.
interrupted ms long us the individual
continues to walk into the pen the ppck.
erS have built for him-Lincoln(Nebl
Newe.