The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1906-06-29
MEAT SCANDAL WILL
HURT ST0CKCROWERS
CONSERVATION Rife Among the
"Cow Men" of Western
South Dakota.
WILL BE a GREAT LOSS
Packing House Scandal Has Caused
Market to Fall OFF and Many of the
Large Dealers Will Go Under
in the Crash.

Deadwood, S. D., June 25-Amon
The cattlemen and large stockmen of
this region consternation is rife, as
the brunt of the loss on account OF
upon them. 1t is estimated that 25
per cent. loss in the cattle trade for
This season is not an overestimate, and
that the bulk of this will touch tho
cattlemen there is no question. Against
The proposed Beveridge amendment
they felt especially bitter. as they knew
that If the cost of inspection was
charged up to the packing houses it
would really be paid by the stock rails
er. AS conditions now are there will
be notable falling off in the demand,
both at home and abroad, for Amer
lean meats. The packing house people
will not feel this so much as they will
buy less stock and do business on a
smaller scale, but the cattleman him.
self, who has stock that he must sell,
and who is obliged to sell on a poor
market, will shoulder the trouble.
AS consequence of these conditions
btockmen throughout the west are feel
ing distinctly antagonistic towards the
administration. When the recent or
ders for the removal of fences went
into effect there was considerable an
tagon1sm to the president then noticed; !;
when the government agents fnade ar
rests for these and other infractions
grew. and when packing house condi-
lions We're suddenly made public, with
disastrous results to these same men,
;he hitherto repressed feeling among
many of them took the form of active
opposition.
They claim, in the first place, that
hey are familiar With conditions liz
packing houses, and that affairs have
oeen much exaggerated in the reports;
.urther, as this public scandal has re-
1cted upon the legitimate business OF
an entire country, they are embiltered
over what they consider the unneces-
sary publicity of the matter. II have
often been through the various packing
houses of our country said ore well
Known cattleman. and they are as
clean as any such institution could
possibly be; they are in every way SUI
perlor to the small shops throughout
me land" As the market has already
saisers feel sure that they will be
obliged to market their stock this
coming fall for from $3 to 81 less per
head than last year. AS prices have
been low for two seasons past, this
will be disastrous to many.
There seems to be no doubt but that
The day of the large stockman who
ran thousands of head of cattle over
Uncle Sans domain, is about to come
to an end. This packing house inves-
uSatlon Is only the last blow to an
already well shattered system. The in
crease in the number of settlers has cut
up the range so that but small part
of it is available, the order to remove
fences on government land was an
other blow to the industry, and now,
with the fall in prices that is sure to
come, there is nothing left for the
large dealer but to go out of the BUSH
ness or else to own his land and to
become a stock raiser instead of a
Cow man. Many large firms that
have been operating for the last quar-
ter of a century in this northwest will
go out of business this fall; some 9TH
ers will conflne themselves to sections
where they own land and feed cattle.
and still others will have no course left
open to them but to '.go broke"
The cattlemen have no quarrel COM
ing with the matter OF inspection; in
deed, they are eager for it, Knowing
that 1T will protect their interests as
we'll as those of the people. Further,
there has never been any trouble in
this section with tubercular cattle.
They do object, however, to the pos
sibility of the inspection fee being
charged UP to the packers who will in
turn take it out of the pockets OF the
cattle raiser