The Delta independent., 1911-01-06
City Full of Owners of Long Horns,
Short Horns and Deh0rns
Banquet Business and Speeches Yesterday and
Ball Last Night

met IN DelCa w WeQneSQay AFTERNOON,
when rganization was effected and
President j. B. Killian's history speech
of the association was listened to with
interest and applause.
Yesterday forenoon the regular order
of routine business was taken up and
transacted in an entirely harmonious
manner.
At one o'clock occurred the annual
banquet of the association. which is
always swell affair, and OH this oc-
casion lost none of its attractiveness.
DIR. A. H.lStockham was POSTMASTER
and officiated in his usual happy way.
Speakers for the occasion were: L..
K. Parsons. president; D. D. Cosement,
vice president. and Joseph E. Painter,
secretary of the State Live Stock As
socia'ion; President Gillespy, of the
Gunnison Cattle and Horse Growers
Association; Judge Bell and AL Neale,
of Montrose; Hon. Merle D. Vincent,
of Paonia; Hon. Eugene Grub, of Ev-
erywhere; Supervisor of Forestry Bush
nell. DR.. Geo M. Darley, DR.. ]. H.
Johnson and Judge Stewart, of Delta.
The following is history of the as
sociation as given by its president, Mr.
]. B. Killian:
PRESIDENT KILLIAN's ADDRESS.
Gentlemen:-
Five years have passed since we
associated ourselves together as an
organized body of stock growers and
feeders. 1t seems but yesterday when
we met in this very place to consider
the advisability of uniting our efforts
in looking after our great community
of live stock interests. Some thirty of
the leading stockgrowers of Delta
county gathered into this room, seek
ing refuge from the industrial storm
which seemed lowering over the entire
live stock world. They had grown
weary with the difficulties of business
whose turmoils outmeasured those of
any other occupation in our community.
You who constituted that first roll call
well remember the foreboding spirit
which prevailed every mind. Strong
men though you were, you had. many
of you, almost succumbed to the dis
astrous effects of uncertain business
operations Ten or twelve years of it
was more than almost any human being
could endure. You had operated a
cattle busin IS through the most trying
period of the whole history of the in
dustry. Men had gone to the remotest
corners of the earth in search of virgin
range; failing to find it, were rapidly
returning to placate tfeir blasted hopes
in competing with their friends and old
neighbors in the use of an already
overstocked range. 1t was no uncom-
mon thing all over this western country
to see those ranges which were stocked
up to their fullest capacity, burdened
with additional herds of sheep and
cattle, and that old fl d of range rights
becoming an empty dream, unless
maintained at the dreadful cost of life
and property. And. my friends. you
know it is no vagae dream when l de.
clare that very few men engaged in
the stock business and using the public
range knew today what they might
expect on the morrow. These condi.
tions which had prevailed for severa
years, growing from bad to worse
seemed to reach the climax all over the
west and especially in Delta county
in 1905.
A great portion of our range hac
been proclaimed into forest reservation
and passed under control of the forestry
service, and to our many burdens wal
added the grazing fee for grazing il
the reservations.
Now. l will ask you to join me in
broadside view of the picture whicl
US into consultation as to what W
should do to save our business fron
ruin. 1t was an overstocked rang
with all its dark features of destitu
tion. 1t was the disappointing realiza
tion of low net prices for thin, ligh
cattle. 1t was the poor, ill-bred. shor
calf crop, the result of careless i'll
breeding. 1t was the poor inspection
system. 1t was scowl of dissatisfac
tion over unjust intrusion. All in all
it was simply hell And to cap tn
climax. it was demand that we pa
for what we were not getting. Sue
were the apparent, and in fact, tn
true conditions under which we as
sembled here five years ago to organic
what we were pleased to call the Delt
County Live Stock Association.
1t is useless to say we tried to organ
ize with all the powers necessary t
better all these baneful conditions
First OF ali. we realized that IL take