Truth. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1901-1908, 1906-02-10
THE PACKERS AND THE CATTLE
MEN.
By j. Ogden Armour.

ket for cattle. They have large
plants. which if allowed to lie idle
do so at great loss. AS long as they
pay the top price-always with an
eye to the selling market for the pro-
duct on the other side of the slaugh-
ter house-they get their choice of
the cattle. But If buyers for the large
packers should combine to depress
prices, what would happen? The mo-
ment prices went to point that prom
ised little extra profit on the slaugh-
tered product, the buyer for small
packers, for shipment and for specu-
lation, would sweep the market, and
back prices would go over the heads
of badly ratified combine"
There may be an impression that
the buying capacity of all except re-
representatives. of the large packers is
too limited to have much effect on the
market. The best answer to that lies
in the official figures. In 1904, the re-
ceipts of cattle at the Chicago Union
Stock Yards were 3,259,1S5 head; of
these, 1,326,332 head were reshipped
to feeders, the seaboard packers,
to Buffalo, Cleveland, Cincinnati,
Pittsburg, Indianapolis, other cities
and to Europe. During the past year,
1905, receipts were 3,411,O29 and the
shipments were 1,405,70S. Thus more
than 40 per cent of the cattle received
were bought for shipment.
1t is important to remember in this
connection the fact that there is not
slaughtering establishment in this
country that is regularly run at its full
capacity. See what this means so far
as the control of the cattle market by
any combine" is concerned. The in
slant cattle prices became depressed
so that there was an attractive mar
gin the smaller packers and killers
would jump in, get the cattle and kill
extensively. There are hundreds of
these smaller houses which make
business of waiting upon the turns of
the market for the hour of opportu-
nifty, killing at certain times two,
three and four times as many cattle
as they do when prices rule above
certain low point.
If the packers could regulate the
cattle market they would prefer to
have steady market with an even
inflow of cattle-about the same num-
Der each day. Their profits depend
upon the rapid turning of the money
invested, upon shortening as much as
possible the period between the mo-
ment when steers arrive and the time
when their beef is sold. When their
plants lie idle they lose. Every man.
ufacturer's aim is to keep his plant
in even and continuous operation.
Right here it should be remembered
that the large packer must have,
every day, certain amount of high
grade cattle. The only way he can
get this is to go into the market
when it opens. If he were to hang
back he would get left on this imper-
alive material; he would get only the
tail ends" His only protection in
this particular is to buy early. The
sort of buying methods attributed to
trust buyers" would leave him in the
lurch on this score.
An important chapter in any COM
prehensive history of the development
of the cattle business would be the
chapter on cattle loan companies.
These companies assisted to develop
and stimulate and make business OF
cattle raising in measure difficult to
overeslimate. Among the first one OF
these was the Omaha Cattle Loan
company, organized nine years ago
by Thomas B. Mcpherson. The pack
ers backed it with their money and