The Greeley tribune., 1906-03-29
HOME TRADE MOVEMENT.
ID, M. Carr Tells How It Would HiA.
der Building Up of Trusts.

d, M. Carr Tells How 1t Would Hin.
der Building Up of Trusts.
It is gratifying to notice that the To-
cal home trade movement is becoming
more and more In evidence throughout
the United States, says d. NJ. Carr in
Home Trade Advocate. The knowledge
of the ways and working Of the trusts
is becoming widespread through the
numerous articles published the past
few months in the leading magazines
and newspapers, and the masses are
becoming better informed us to the
evils of trade combinations and the
concentration of capital.
Discomfort over the operations of
combines in various lines of trade, the
oppression of the laborer and the pro-
ducers in general Is beginning to have
its effect, and reaction Is setting in.
There is one safe rule to follow. 1t is
to keep as many Of your dollars In
circulation in the community where
they are earned US you can" 1t is the
concentration Of the surplus wealth Of
the country in the large cities that
opens the way for the promoters of
trusts. OF late we have heard much of
the beef trust" which an official in-
vestigation failed to find was u reality.
Yet there can be no doubt that less
than twenty men control the beef pack
ing industry Of America. 1t has been
shown by the Investigation carried on
that fully 80 per cent Of the beef busl-
ness is controlled by these few men.
Fifty-three per cent Of the population
Of the United States reside in the
smaller towns. Then it is evident that
the greater part of the business Of the
packers is in these towns.
How the home trade movement
would operate in the meat industry
can be easily figured out. Cheyenne is
the center Of a large cattle growing
section. In fact, cattle raising Is Its
principal industry. There are several
thousand people who eat meat, and
this meat is supplied by the large pack
ing houses in Kansas City and South
Omaha and elsewhere. What Is the re-
suit? The beeves are grown near Chey
enne. They are shipped to the big pack
ing center. There they are sold to the
packers through commission houses.
Slaughtered, the meats are sold through
travelling representatives or branch
houses to the proprietors Of meat mar
kets in Cheyenne and by them sold to
consumers. 1t Is evident from this that
there are profits that might as well be
kept in the Cheyenne district. These
are the cost of freight to the market
the profit Of the commission man, the
cost Of labor in killing, the cost Of sell
ing the beef to the retailers and the
freight on the same to its final destina
ton. All these profits could be saved
to the Cheyenne community If the local
butchers would buy their beeves on the
hoof from the stock raisers, do the kill
ing by local labor and thus eliminate
the charges that accrue through the
beeves being shipped, sold and slaugh
tered Mt another market.
The rule holds as we'll in other lines
as in the meat business 1t is to the
advantage of the community to utilize
to the greatest extent the manufactur-
ed products from the materials produc-
ed within its limits. When wheat is
shipped to distant market, made into
flour and then reshipped to the orig
inal point, the place where the wheat
was grown, there are lost to the COM
munity the employment of labor in its
manufacturing and the cost of market
ing and the freight cost both ways.
The thinker can easily reason out
that If the home trade principle be
closely adhered to the building up of
such combines as are complained of
would be impossible, and still there
would be room for the employment of
vast capital in the handling of surplus
products needed in the large cities and
for tho export trade.