The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1908-09-29
LIVE STOCK
MARKET FARCE
AND FAILURE
PRICES FOR HOGS LOWER THAN
IN CHICAGO, DUE TO A WORK
ING AGREEMENT" HERE AMONG
BUYERS.
BY n. n. MACK.

troit Is not only q idiiuTe Out IL is
bowling farce that Is costing Michi-
can drovers hundreds of dollars every
week In feed bills, shrinkage and the
stalinx-ofY Of copsignments before
thew are sold. Prices paid on the hrst
dav are not reliable because not
enough buyers are present to make
market. Drovers who purchase stock
on A basis of quotations given out on
wednesday are almost certain TO lose
money.
When conditions warrant. The
Times delights In giving hearty COM
mendation to local enterprise; only as
last resort will this paper publish
anything that will tend to divert busi'
ness from this city. Our motto Is:
Detroit, last and always. We recog-
nize. however, the obligations which
we are under to our readers to give
them the truth concerning local mar
ket conditions. We believe 1t Is our
duty to recommend or criticise local
markets when they deserve 1t and we
are convinced that the current Detroit
market for live hogs Is deserving OF
outspoken criticism. or more than 10
years the writer has labored conscien'
tiously in the effort to asst In estab-
fishing creditable live stock market
at this point and nothing could be
more distasteful to him than to be
Obliged to advise shippers to shun
the Detroit market.
Proof In Comparison Of Prices.
A comparison Of pyices for live
hogs which have maintained IN De-
troit and other marketA during the
last six weeks. proves conciusiveiy
that local hog buyers are not deserv-
ing of the patronage which they seem
SO eager to secure. At the solicitation
of local packing firms, the managers
of the Michigan Central stock yards
decided to establish a three-day mar
ket. They were assured by these buy
ers that much better prices could be
paid, provided hog receipts were dis
tributed more evenly through the
week. The experiment has been tried
and at present writing seems to be q
hopeless failure II an improvement In
prizes was the end desired
The three-day market began with
the first week In September and GER
tainly local hog prices were never
more completely out OF line with other
points than they have been during the
current month. On Wednesday, Sept
%. top hogs made q new high price
OF $3.50 In Chicago. On the same day
$3.50 was high in Detroit. Owing to
its favorable location. near the east
ern seaboard, hogs are usually about
80 cents per cwt higher In Buffalo
than IN Chicago. Detroit being To-
Gated midway between these two
points. local buyers should be able to
at least equal Chicago prices for hogs
OF similar quality. For example,
prime hogs should sell for as much In
Detroit as In Chicago, but a differ
ence Of 81 per cwt, on the same day,
In favor Of the latter point does not
speak well for the Detroit market.
Local hog buyers, as has been their
habit In the past, will without doubt,
argue that top hogs in Detroit are not
worth as much as the best hogs that
come to hand In the Chicago market.
They will urge. perhaps. that Michi-
gan. having very little old corn on
hand, Is sending her hogs forward in
an unfinished condition. A glance at
market reports will show. however.
that Michigan feeders are not doing
differently from those of other states.
Corn Is scarce and high and all mar
ket arrivals OF live stock show the
need Of more Of II. A few prime
hogs find their way into all markets
every week and we submit that fat
hog should sell for as much In De-
troit as in Chicago. At least while the
present great difference In price be-
tween these two markets, continues,
friends Of the Detroit hog market will
find 1t dificult to prove their case.
working Agreement" the Cause.
While II Is probably true that tire
hogs received In Detroit will hardly
average az good quality az those that
come to hand In the Chicago market.
II IL not this fact that Is responsible
for the uniformly low prices that are
paid In this market For several
years. local packing firms have been
operating under working agree
ment" that has practically abolished
even the outward semblance OF COM
petition and sellers are completely at
the mercy of one of the slickest COM
binations that Yankee ingenuity ever
devised.
IL On market days, buyers represent
ing the different firms confer and care
fully divide the arrivals, assigning to
each buyer, the hogs belonging to GER
tain shippers and commission sales
men. After this little understanding.
the schedule Is put through without
break and the active competition,
which is SO marked In all other
branches of the Detroit live stock
trade, Is completely stified In the hog
division. II would be hard to find q
better market than Detroit In which
to sell cattle. calves. sheep and lambs
but until conditions change In the heg
department, dealers In live hogs will
do well to cut Detroit OF their list.
Before the experiment was made,
the friends and promoters of the three
day market confined almost exclusive
ly to the local packing contingenD
urged that the amount OF money that
Michigan drovers would receive for
their stock would be greatly increased
i by the new arrangement. The oppo-
site has been true. Shippers Of hogs
to the Detroit market have been
known worse September. Not only
have the checks which they have re-
ceived for their hogs been smaller but
their yard expenses and shrinkage has,
In many cases. almost doubled under
the new order.
Nearly all Michigan drovers deal In