The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-11-07
MEAT PRODUCTION OF
 ENTIRE WORLD TO BE
 CONTROLLED BY TRUST
Already Controls 60 Per Gent of Argentine Production and Now Working in Australia and South
 Africa.

(By Congressman Clyde H. Tavenner.)
 Washington, Nov. That the enact ment of the free meat provision in the Underwood tariff bill comes just at time when the Beef Trust is obtaining a world-monopo1y of meat is the news brought from the Argentine Republic by Dr. A. D. Melvin, chief of the Bu- reau of Animal Industry, who has just returned from a visit to the South American Republic for the purpose of studying conditions.
 pr. Melvin found that .the American beef trust has just about completed its process of gobb1ing the Argentine beef industry. It already controls 60 per cent. of the export business enough to fix prtces-and 1t Is hardly to be expected that the trust will cut its Argentine prices much below it's American prices.
 This seems to leave Australia, and South Africa as the only hopes left to the American consumers. But even more d1squieting news comes from these countries, especially from Aus- traIia. where the Chicago beef packers have already made their entrance into the trade. The American trust is In a fair way to control the entire meat production of the world, leaving all peoples on earth. so far as this single necessity is concerned, at its mercy. 40 AOSOEpIlO OL L46 D0OI export trade from the Argentine is a typical example of the daring imagination and grasp of world conditions possessed by the American trust magnate. The en- trance of the beef trust into Argen- tine was probably not due to any ap- prehension on the part of the trust fnagnates that free trade in meat was likely to come. It was because, due to a dwindHng meat supply in the United States, the trust was losing it's European export trade to the Areen- tine packers and having an expensive refrigerating and packing plant in Esu- rope it was necessary to keep up it's exports or lose the investments in these plants.
 As long as there were free ranges in the United States the packers here had plenty of meat for export and could hold the European trade against the Argentine meat. But the western rang es are being cut up into small farms, and the resulting diminishing supply of beef cattle is striloingly seen in the figures. We have now in this country about S6,O00,000 beef cattle. Last year the Department experts estimated there were S7,O0,000 such cattle. Two years ago there were Ss.O00. o00 and when the census was taken in 1910 the count ~.1s 4, 000 900.
 On the other hand Argentine now has 29,000, 900 meat cattle, and, because of the scantiness of population, before the ranges begin to be cut up into small farms it is estimated that that country will be able to produce an- nually 200, 100000 head of beef cattle.
 The switch of the European imports of beef from the United States to the Argentine, follows closely upon the foreging figures. In 1905 this country sent 414,000 cattle and III, 900 tons of chilled beef to Europe That export has fallen off annually, until it is now a negligible factor in our foreign trade. But in 1901 Argentine sent 25,O00 quar- ters of chilled beef to Europe; in 1905, 400, 900 quarters; in 1912, 2,22o,00o quar- teTs.
 Tn 1908 the American packers fore saw the outcome of this trade war and invaded Argentine themselves. Swift, & Co. sought control of the La Plata Gold Storage Co. The next year the National Packing O., the Armour and Morris interests, bought another big Argentine plant. The real invasion be- gan, however. in 1911, when the Amer jeans had greatly increased their in vestments. With usual trust methods they conquered their Argentine com petftors in 8 price cutting war that gave England cheap beef for a while The war ended in "gentlemen's s agreement'' to divide the trade. Since then the Americans have greatly in- creased their plants, and now control 60 per cent. of the business.