Norwich bulletin. [volume] (Norwich, Conn.) 1895-2011, 1910-03-12
A FARMERS TALK TO FARMERS
The Trust Maqnates and the FarmersTh= Price of Pork
Why Farmers Stopped Raising Hogs-How the
Human Hogs reat the Farmer and the Consumer
The Real Manipuators of Prices Always Keep In Out
of the Wet

(Written Specially for The Bulletin.)
These are the days when the pesky
farmer Is catching it hot from Such
disinterested fellows as the meat pack
ers. the trust ma gnates, the railroad
presidents and other emident and
spotleSs saints of unselfishneS s.
They've all boosted the prices OF their
own productions; this they'll frankly
admit But they haven't wanted to;
oh dear mol Every time they've added
fresh cent TO the price of their meat
or their shovels or their boots or their
all wool cotton and jute cloth,
they've done SO with tears in their
eyes. They have simply hated to put
on that extra cent. They have lain
awake nights sleeplessly seeking
schemes TO obViate the necessity of it.
There isn't one of them but would
gladly cut down his automobile bill
from s4o0 a month to S399-9S if he
could avoid it. But he can't. 1t must
be that he can't, for he himself says
50. He doesn't want to raise prices; it
tears his tender heartstrings to tatters
that he must; but he is compelled to.
And it - the greedy. gloating. wealth
absorbing. face-of-the-p poor grinding
farmer who makes him do it, at the
point Of pitchfork-
whats the smallest wholesale pack
age Of salt pork | can buy?" l asked a
city jobber the other day. Two hum
dred pounds" he replied, and it'll cost
You just a million dollars" OF course
he was aggerating- trife-but
those who have to buy pork, either salt
or fresh. will forgive him for it.
Dye see" he went out, that the
price OF live hogs to the farmer has
touched s1O-15 a hundred? How do
you expect to buy pork at a living
price. when we have to pay such
killing price for hogs? If You farm
ers'u sell your pigs for less we'll sell
the pork for less Sounds straight
enough. doesn't it, Looks very much
as II Old Hayseed from Hogtown Cor
ners was at the bottom Of the high
prices, doesn't il? Let the packer and
his agents tell the ctory. and you'll
always find il looking just that way
They are wholly helpless, of course; all
they can do is to pay whatever out
rzgeOus total the grasping farmer man
demands and then try to get their
money back from somebody else If
the consumer sWears about it. they II 4
out-cuss him. having had wider expert
ence IN that form of argument; if he
Ehimpers about il. they'll 90 into the
back room with him and weep a
-nackersl pail full of tears TO his pint,
IN Borrowing sympathy. But they will.
either profaneIy or wailfully, as the
case may be, adhere to their marked
I'D price and point TO the farmer as the
sole cause OF II all.
Il Is perfectly evident that this rural
aristocrat, staggering around in his
costly cowhide boots and his eXtrava-
CANT denim overalls and his priceless
antique hat OF the vintage of 1893
It IS perfectly evident that he is be-
coming very unpopular with such de-
Tenders OF the poor as these ] have
alluded to- Furthermore, they are do
ing their utmost-and said utmost is
cutie Z lotto make him unpopular
with all consumers I've Just been
reading. in so sane q magazine as The |
Outlook. q letter from a ChicagOan in /
which he explains how the cold storage /
pl3nts have for years been bidding up !
the price of such meats as they want !
to carry over for a few years. and how
the establishment of the packing trust |
has made il possible for the small beef
and pork men TO hold out for and Sc
cure a higher rrice for their meats |
each year" Just think of that state |
Eeut for q minute Consider what
the establishment OF combination
among buyers with unlimited capital
behind them, has enabled the unor-
Eanized and disorganized sellers ito
hold out for and secure higher prices
for their meztst' Oh, St Ananiasi
In both cases the net result has been
70 fill the pockets Of the farmer
That's the very way he puts it in his
very words
Now ! don't pretend to be sta
tlstfcIzn; nor do feel myself COM
p~tent to take q continent survey
OF all social and economic conditions.
But I happen TO know something about
pork production on one little New
England farm and I knew Exactly why
there are hah a dozen less hogs to go
On the market this season than used
TO go on ii. I've always been an in
cuirins kind OF critter; always have
wanted to be shown always have tried
TO find out whether my work was pay
ing nc wages or not Some years ago
when I owned q small dairy and had
lots OF skim milk I used TO fatten a few
pigs Two years running I kept a COM
pie-e account with those pigs; set
down against them every cent of cost /
except labor and skim milk. and every
cent OF income I had to buy the
young pigs, paying market rates; 1 had
% buy bran to keep them growing dur
ing the warm weather. I fed them