The Washington herald., 1907-10-15
Butchers and the Price of Beef
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN.

It is a far cry from ~ cents a pound
which the cattle grower gets for his cattle
on the hoof to the % cents pound which
the retail butcher gets for porterhouse
steak The public would like to know
where the difference goes but thus far
no one has offered a satisfying explana-
ton. The average workman spends Z
ceuts of every dollar he earns for beef
Few Americans are vegetarians. and few
are too poor to eat beef, high though the
price may be. The Bureau Of Corpora
tiOns investigated the part the beef trust
plays in the making Of prices. and de-
elared that the trust was not responsible.
The report was laughed at. and the pub
lie did not consider the question an
swered. Who gets the big profit?
An examination Of trade authorities in
the retail butcher business shows that
the retailer gets his full share. although
no one who handles the beef from the
time the steer is killed until the steak is
broiled does it for his health. The aver
age price Of dressed beef for one week
recently was $50 cents a pound wholesale
in Washington. Taking Washington as a
representative market, one may consider
the wholesale price Of beef cents a
pound. According TO the retail meat au-
thorities, when the price Of beef Is z
cents. loin steak should sell for IA cents
a pound to insure the retailer a profit OF
% per cent. But In the Washington mar
ket, with beef at the wholesale price Of
cents, the Ioin steak IS actually sold at
from 20 to 26 cents a pound. The same
proportion Is maintained down through
the cheaper cuts. In other words, the
butcher sells lOin steak for 2 cents that
cost him a little less than II cents. show
ing a profit 10 the retailer Of 100 per cent.
These figures, vouehed for by a trade
authority. are. in turn. explained by the
retailer, who counts against that profit
the expense Of his establishment outside
that incident 70 handling the beef, which
is allowed for in the original calcula-
ton. He points to the demands OF sharp
competition. yet It is hard to find a re-
tail meat dealer who viii undersen the
market. 1t IS easy 70 fnd that when the
wholesale price OF beef goes uD ! cent
the price OF a steak or roast will mount
cents. Yet there are many butchers.
and they are not all millionaires. In
Washington. for example. dressed beef
is less than a cent higher than Il was
a year ago, but round steak sells for
IS cents, instead Of l. cents, a pound, as
il did q year ago.
The utilization OF by-products in the
slaughtering industry has been the great
est Of boons to the meat consumer, as
well as a fortune builder for SONG. prom
inent miIlionaires. In 1874, when New
York was the great beef center and West
Albany the leading 1--we stock market
good cattle sold for cents a pound or
the hoof and the dressed beef for over
y cents. Now, with cattle al ~ cents,
the dressed beef is sold for Z, whole
sale The difference is made by the
by-pToducts. Under the old regime the
dressed beef to-day would have 10 be
soid for 9 cents wholesale 20 permit
the packers 10 break even.
In making every atom Of a carcass
count. the scientific slaughter house has
done many things 70 the average steer,
and taken heavy tolls OF him. It has
boiled him. baked him. ground him.
liquefed him. filtered him. evaporated
him, compressed him into tablets, run
him into capsules and bottles. and has
even placed him IN the pharmacopoeia.
All these things It has done IN the utHi-
zation OF the parts which for generations
went to waste. The operations net the
people who do 1t about $50 per steer.
4 prominent packer once told a deIega-
ton that if they would give him the
alone, not including the hide
and the butter fat. he would slaughter
their cattle and make money.
Formerly the only by-products Of the
beef animal to which the dressed meat
producer paid any attention were the
hide, tallow. and tongue. The remainder
was sheer waste. When ingenuity saw
the opportunity, glue works. fertilizer
factories. soap-naking establishments. /
and oil and tallOw factories sprang up i
along the flanks Of the packing-houses. |
Then the packers took up this work /
themselves.
In the olden days the lean meat trim /
nings were thrown away Now they are /
reated and go into sausages. The hair
vas thrown into the scrap heap. Now II l
s saved and goes at a good price per /
on. The horns. at one time considered |