Los Angeles herald., 1910-09-06
SAVING Of SOIL
IMPORTANT T'-HILL
Magnate Says Conservation of
Food Is Greatest Item
of Program
PORTLAND FAIR IS OPENED
Speech of Railroad Man Read by
President of the Live
stock Association
PORTLAND FAIR is OPENED
Associated Pressl

ASSOCIATED Press>
PORTLAND, Sept. 5.-The third an
nual exhibition and speed meeting of
the Portland Fair and Livestock as
sociation opened here today. The ex-
hibition of cattle, horses, sheep, swine
and goats is the finest ever shown on
the Pacific coast and is typical or the
wonderful growth of the livestock in
dustry in the Pacific northwest dur
ing the past few years.
The opening exercises were brief and
included a paper prepared by James j.
Hill. It was expected that Mr.. Hill
would be in attendance at the opening,
but owing to business engagements he
was unable to be on hand and the
paper was read by President Paul
Maris of the Portland Fair and Live
stock association.
A paper by James j. Hill was read.
The paper follows in part:
"a nation that means to preserve its
prosperity and control its own destiny
must make sure that its food supply
is adequate and will continue to be so.
To reverse our movement toward in
dustrial dependence, food scarcity and
permanent high prices, which has al
ready gone far, is the item of the con-
servation program more important to
means conservation of the soil. 1t re-
qures no expensive machinery, no
subordination of local to federal inter
ests, nothing but industry, intelligence
and willingness to follow the teachings
of experience. To insist upon 1t is es-
pecially the duty of all who, like those
gathered here, have interests insepara-
bly, connected with the preservation
and increase of soil productivity.
ted Af liUASfnnR n tw0-
fold relation to the food supply OF any
country. Directly, it furnishes the
meat diet, and indirectly, as the most
valuable of all aids to the cultivation
of the soil and the growing of crops,
it helps to furnish the bread diet. Inc
interests which you represent may,
therefore, be said to act doubly upon
the agriculture of the country and con-
tribute twice to its welfare.
NEED TEACHES LESSONS
"Since people learn mostly by the
pressure of some neeed, the sharp rise
in price of all kinds Of meats mas
turned attention to the state OF the
livestock interest. Retail prices, IN
some cases double what they were a
few wears ago, stimulate inquiry. In
vestigation shows that livestock pro-
duction has not kept pace with the
demand upon 1t.
"The receipts of all kinds of livestock
at the Chicago stockyards for the year
1909 were 1,544, 997 less than in 1sOS' al
though the total valuation increased
over Sc, 100000. The receipts of hogs at
thirteen principal markets In the
limited states were 5,5S6,312 less in 1909
than in 1908. The total number or cat
tle in the country has declined 3,OOO,0O0
in the last three years and OF hogs
1000 900.
NECESSARILY prices have gone up.
The breakfast table of the rich ana
the dinner pail of the poor are poth
affected. AS one would expect from
these figures, native beef cattle ana
western range cattle sold for the h1gh-
est nrices on record in the Chicago
market in 1909. Hogs brought the hlgh-
est figure received for tWenty-seVen
years. Increase of population, changes
in agriculture, drift of population city
ward. all have helped to restrict pro-
duction and to add to price.
'These are a few facts bearing on
the direct relation of the livestock
interest to population, prices and tne
general welfare. AS our population
increases by anywhere from 1,ooo,Jg0 ~
to 2,500, 900 per annum, and practi-
cally every person is a meat eater, II
follows that when the number OF the
principal food animals either remains
stationary or begins to decline, the
cost of living rises and the pinch be-
gins. Not even the extraordinary
prices -paid for live stock have thus far
been able to raise production to the
level of demand.
of is desirable that we should not
onlv feed our own people but maintain
those declining exports of food AMI
mails and other food products by Whlch
we have to so considerable an extent
paid our debts in the past.
'In the last five years our exports
of meat and dairy products fell from
S211. 900, 900 to about $13O,0OO,OOO; ana
of cattle, sheep and hogs from $43,5OO,-
600 to about S13,000000 This illus
trates the swift decline in all our ex-
ports of food products, a trade change
so sudden and so tremendous that the
country may we'll take alarm
"JnIess we change our industry, we
must soon cease to be self-supportlsg
as far as food is concerned. This
sounds absurd in view Of our immense
expanse of fertile land our relatively
scanty population and the part we
have played In feeding the world in
the past. But the figures prove 1t. Our
foreign trade in cereals tells the same
story as that in meat products. Be
tween the five years ending with 1904
and the five ending with 1909, the de-
crease of our wheat exports was over
40. per cent In round numbers our
exports of foodstuffs in crude condi-
ton and food animals were $106,-
100000 for the eleven months ending
May 81 of this year, S132,000,00O for
the same period in 1909 and $751;
100000 in 1908. Our exports of food
stuffs partly or wholly manufactured
for the same three eleven-month pc
riods were $240,000,000, $4,000, 900
and 100000, 900. The wheat exports
were 46.O0O,O00 bushels, $4,000, 900
bushels and 95,500,OOO bushels; the
flour exports 100000 barrels, 10,-
100000 barrels and 100000 barrels.
The force of these figures cannot be
evaded or misunderstood.
GOOD consumption in the United
States is increasing more rapidly than
food production. That Is the explana-