New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1907-03-10
Not in administration
China or Russia, but in
Our Own Wealthy Land
Greed the Cause.

By Dr. William o. stlllman: Of Abany \ Y. PRESIDENT
o; American Humane Association
las | write these words there literally mill
ions of cattle on the great ranges OF the West from
Texas 10 Montana which are on the extreme verge
OF starvation. They VIII continue star.e slowly
until spring. Hundreds Of thousands Will die, and
the rest OF those already starving VIII almost Gle.
but not quite. This happens every year. Stockmen
count regularly a certain percentage Of loss
from starvation, thirst and cold. These sub
stantialy the words Of expert Western in
vestigator OF stock abuses who is thoroughly fam
liar with the subject and has lived in that region
all his life.
There IS a disposition the part Of many peo-
pie in the West and a few people in the East 70
affect to believe that statements Ike the above are
OF sentiment rather than by real conditions OF suf
fering. The ant!-cruety crusade is past the stage
OF maudin sentiment Misrepresentation Is not
necessary in cases like this The actual condition
Is toe unutterably and uEbelievably bad.
Let me quote the statement Of another Western
man concerning these conditions. The following
was written by exUnited States Senator Paris Glib
son, Of Great Falls, Mont: Add together all the
states the fortunes inflicted upon horses dogs ana
o,, ne ~ @ beasts OF held and city streets and
70 equal one-half the sufferngs of the freezing and
starving cattle on our Western nlaine ,,nn ,h
COME -, sI' l"s'i5 NHeh the
from securing food and shelter ~ '''
s,,fSi ailah Inind can comprehend the degree of
Sres tens OF thousands Of skeletons Of cattle upon
So, aiG thls picture only family tells the
a thSt GOD alone realizes in its awful truth and
According to the report of the I-nitod S,a,as D.,
a. 0ea ooa animal Industry there were in 1874 over
mules in The United States not TO ~ Coo ana 40
TTTR ana a. 10000 hogs giving the figures in
range stock To be range stock means tbat cat,Ie
l4st TAKE care OF themselves as best fbo,, car fr
DsGeInoer 10 April. when the ground is coyared 81
win snow and there is shelter and not dTon o9
Matef 10 drink In nearly all cases not a ,o,,nf -
FeQlr ef4cl
well rs it any wonder thar s ~ Shed; or even
n est are now openly making statements thar tn.
The winter Of so2Os on sneI OF ra Their herds? In
$SOtU9 worth OF cattle died One large stoct, n,
averaging in value SIS - Spe cattle on his
10 census estimates, expects 10 lose from " "a 81
;t every where during this terrible winter
The range cattle business I'm the Tinted s,.+os
CSsefS ABOUT is'O0c00 square miles This IL oInost
tnlriy times the size OF all New England rreat
ls occupied by IL The value of the ran,Ie sto IL
III ~ o over SSOoO09 not 10 mention nearly
such are the conditions which confront humani-
,,Tl o =. ~, US H1nch the same forty years ago.
worse IMAM they were then Streams have hsan
fenced off by barbed wire fences and much ~ tbe
land mas Deen Fenced in. Ten times the numhor ~
eatue are now dependent upon the same soil Water
prairie grass is trampled under foot and 90
me ground by starving mouths. And Vet the rInn.
or blind stupidity If you prefer the term
Just the same while their losses Increase Tbe-
anyway. u il becomes from % to 20 sr t - r.
merely bad year. The number OF Skeletons dot
they represent dollars and cents Tiey nate mo no
s1orSs to improve conditions. This helish work
ss gore on year atter year, and IL time thar the
voice OF civilization and intelligent hurSait, Sbi6
s pe neaIo Inc owners OF these range cattle cen
IS pleasant thing fo- them to have three meals
them 10 have their helpless beasts 5s,,snS TOT
sOseo 70 eoAciIohs whers lingering death must in-