The Washington herald., 1912-01-14
D. LANES B. MoRRoW.

common red wheat like that grown In
Minnesota or North Dakota, is fetching
$40 q busheL Astounding figures. but DR.
Harvey W. Wiley says they are unques'
tionabIy correct.
NY calculations show" he said, thai
the man who eats a bushel Of my 90
cent wheat"-it is his wheat because ht
raised 1t on three large farms-"in
hotel or restaurant baked into pies
cakes. rolls, and bread, pays about ~
for the same. Every penny I receive FOL
nv wheat crop has been multiplied
rorty-four times at the moment It reaches
and is eaten by the consumers. I gel
the penny, you see, while the railroads
miIIers. dealers, bakers, and hotel OF
restaurant owners get ~ cents In large
and small amounts.
SO when you ask me II the farmer is
receiving his share Of the consumer
money, 1 answer that he Is not also
fatten steers. Fattened fifty Of them and
sold them for So each, just as winter was
coming on last year. Ny mathematics
show that lhe man VINO ate one OF my
steers at a hotel or restaurant paid the
sum Of $500 for that epicurean delight AND
rare opportunity. He had juicy steaks
at $50 apiece; beef al a mode and ten
deTioins; roasts, short rib, long RIB. and
pot; fIlet Of beef. larded or broiled, oI
possibly with cherry sauce and, maybe,
stuffed with mushrooms: braised beef
stewed beef, and beef with dropped
dumpIings. Likewise he had hash.
Summed up, computed on the basis Of hi.
eating the whole steer, even the tall tr
farley soup, seasoned with lemon. he ex'
pended in the aggregate $500.
The story of Fifty steers.
''AH along the line there was profit. ex-
yFa fof.
mated. The fattener OF that steer, my
self. lost money. Ny contribution to the
meat trust, as 1 estimate it, was about
S6.25 on each steer that 1 sent to mar
ket Six and fourth times fifty are
s3l25O 1t was not much to the trust
but it was considerable to Wiley. We
read. however. that little drops OF water
and little grains of sand form the mighty
ocean and the beautiful land That.
might observe, is the geology OF the sit
uation. The arithmetic, 1 dare say. /:
more interesting.
Historically and commercially. th'
transaction was as follows: bought tbs
steers for $46 each. The purchase wa
made in December, 1910. They were poor
but respectable beasts. During that win
ter, down to April, 1911, let us say,
fed those steers on what is TECHNICAL!
known as ruughage, otherwise straw anC
the stalks and husks of corn. In tn
spring last spring, you understand,
turned those steers into my bluegrass
pasture" II pawsture). "Th
land at one time. let me explain, wa
covered with timber. When the tree
were cut down the grass came up spon
taneously.
7 didn't feed the steers anything, onl!
a little salt now and then. They ate o
the grass and vaxed surprisingly sleek
ready for market. l had labored will
them-giving them. I could truly say. tn
Wiley uplift-for twelve months. Walk
ing among them, my mouth watered, anC
| had a feeling Of fullness in my pocket
hook. Ordinarily, those phenomena d.
not occur simultaneously in the same In
dividual
with something akin TO elatien, there
fCre, I got into communication with th'
several and sundry slaughterhouses IL
Baltimore and Washington. Here ar
the steers. gentlemen I said, in effect
step up and make your bids. Don
crowd, but be orderly and genteel, anC
remember the Golden Rule, even if tn
matter in hand pertains to the butcherinl
business
What the Butchers Told Wiley.
Well, the silence that ensued woulC
have made a cemetery seem like a nois!
place. There were no bids. 1t was de
meaning, but I made a personal call o.
Two. experimentally and speculatively
Concentrating their language into brie
and candid English, this is what tn
managers of the slaughterhouses said
We have contracts with cattle brokers
They supply us with certain number o
steers each week. If they fail in thei
contracts they can be compelled TO pa
us damages. On our part, We bind our
selves to make no outside purchases
You are not a cattle broker. DR.. Wiley
You are merely a farmer. an outside man
We should like to purchase your steers
but II We did so the brokers would can
eel our contracts and cut of our regula
sources of supply. You must sell to them
we in turn are obliged to buy of then
and no one else
I sniffed the air and looked on tn
ground and smelled and saw the unhol
tracks Of the Western meat trust. Ther
was absolutely no doubt of II. Winte
was at hand, and II I didn't get rid O
my steers 1 would have to buy corn o
feed them on roughage and let them groI
thin again. Swallowing my WRATH be
lieve that is the way the phrase goes
sought out, shamefully, I confess II, tn
cattle brokers. 1 shall not repeat ou
dialogues. 1t would contribute nothing {
Ille pOIlIe COnNeFSAuOn.
The brokers bought the steers, but g
. cents a pound less than the Chicag
quotation for that day. Freightage froT
Chicago to the East amounts, I believ,
TO ! cent a pound. I should, thereforl
have received the Chicago price plus
cent. Any man Of business will say tn
same. They were prime steers, but
feel that I sacrificed them on the ei.=
of monopoly, and that Wiley, perform
ing a public function, by doing his mod
est part in feeding the American peopl,
was outrageously soaked. talk light
now, but the iron went in deep. al
glad to give verbal expression to m
disgust Thousands of farmers, n
doubt, have had experiences exactly Hk
my own, are having them right along.
A Loss of S6.4B Per Head.
But I am not through with the whol
story Of those steers They illuminate. 1
a way and so far as they 80, the farm
er's side Of the meat question. Each lea
steer, as I have said, cost me SAG, cas-
on the spot. Interest on that sum fo
one year amounts to S2-76. PasturaEe 9
cents a day for $50 days amounts {
S1S25. That is the regular charge fo
pasturage, and the pay I get when m
neighbors turn their cattle into my field
The three hired men on the farm ar
given so a month, or STD a year /
wages. 1 estimate that at least one
tenth of their time was contributed (
the welfare of the steers. Labor in car
ing for the steers. then, amounted to 81
There were fifty steers. The wage charR
per steer was, as you will see, $l.44 TC
tai cost to me of each steer, $6S.E. 1 wa
paid, as l told you. So. Proved los,
sac on each animal MuIfipIjed bv I.