The San Francisco call., 1906-11-07
September.
1904. 1905.

All other slaughter house points
Breslau. fChemnitz, Magdeburg. Ham
burg. E1berfeld, Cologne. Munich and
Nuremburg-th highest prices all
went up, in some instances Il cents per
fifty Kilograms, during the present
month. At a few cities, like Dortmund.
Essen. Frankfort on the Main and
Mannheim, prices remained stationary
and only at Dusseldorf was small
reduction recorded. On the whole the
upward tendency appears to be strong
enough TO hold the present gains in
prices all over Germany. Conflicting
statistics are presented by the advo-
Gates of the maintenance of the pres
ent barriers to increased importations
embodied in the new tariff and in
exceedingly stringent cattle and meat
inspection methods applied with re-
strictive force against importations-
and opposed to these by the anti-agrar-
ian interests, which seize upon these
high meat prices as an argument for
the revision of the tariff on meats and
encoura cement of foreign competition
for the sake of lower prices.
While per capita calculations are
produced. claiming to prove a reduc-
tion within the last twelve months in
consumption of meat in Germany,
amounting to four pounds per capita.
or sixteen per family of four members.
attention has been called to the fact
that the reduction has principally taken
place in the consumption of pork
American Consul Britain dwelt upon
this fact in a recent report, stating
that during the first quarter of the
present year the greatest decrease was
shown in the consumption of pork per
capital, falling within one year from
11-59 pounds per capita to 1907.
It appears that the pork feature is
the worst part of the present German
meat situation, and because of its in
ternational aspect is receiving serious
attention from agricultural economists
The agrarisn interests, in their effort
to Justify the gradual rise of the pork
price from Sl3.5s in 1904 to s1s21 per
fifty Kilograms live hog in 1906 (Au-
gust). point to il as an Inevitable in
ternational drift. They call attention
to the fact that Southeastern Europe
is not the 'motherland" of the hog any
more and that the latter's market price
is no longer determined in that section
Of the world. Italy and France have no
influence on hog prices today because
they can barely supply their home de-
mand. Switzerland, Spain and Norway
were compelled to Import, and there
were only two countries left in Eu-
rope today able to export at all, these
being Denmark and ireland, each of
which send about 10000 pieces of
swine out of their country every year.
all going to England. This anomalous
situation enables them to emphasize
the commanding position occupied to-
day by the United States. They recall
the international meat scarcity in 1902,
and claim that it was utilized by Amer
icsn controlling interests to drive the
price of the hog and correspondingly
of lard to big profits.
All these arguments lead up to the
prediction that in the near future the
immensely growing United States will
absorb its own entire hog production
and the steadily growing price, now
already controlled in a measure by the
Americans. will reach fabulous figures.
All of which is to justify the high price
demanded in the German market by
the agrarian.
The arguments of both advocates and
opponents of the present high duties
on meats agree in pointing to the
American competition" constantly,
one side hoping for resurrection of
Germany's former agricultural inde-
pendence, the other declaring all such
hopes as futile because of the indus
trial development of the FatherIand.
which could not be turned back to con-
ditions Germany had outgrown
Hence these anti-agrarian interests
desire speedy removal of all impedi-
ments TO foreign competition in the
German meat market, in order to ldwer
the high figures now paid The execu-
tive committee of the German Butch