The Washington times., 1913-12-28
FAMINE IN MEAT
MENACNGCOUNTRY
Secretary Of Agriculture Names
Commission to Investigate
Worldwide Shortage.

With "a worldwide shortage Of
beef. and the supply in this country
declining, and unable to keep pace
with the growth of population Sec
retary Houston has appointed a com
mittee to investigate the situation.
This committee is composed Of ex-
perts on the subject. 1t is headed by
Assistant Secretary of Agriculture
Galloway and contains the, follow
ing five additional members: H. ].
Waters president, of Kansas Agri-.
cultural College; c. F. 'Curtiss, dean
of Iowa State College; Prof. H. w.
Mumford, of the University of Hi
nois; DR.. A.: D.. Melvin, chief Of the
Bureau of Animal Industry, and DR.:
T. n. Carver, director of the rural
organization service Of the Depart
ment OF Agriculture, r
Big Problem Ahead.
The problem that looms up before this
committee and tie Department of Ag-
ricuIture is a pig one To begin with, it
is one thing to md what is wrong as
matte, of theory. But it is another thing
To correct present tendencies SO as to
bring, about an adequate>meat supply.
Unless relief can be found through the
investigations of this committee, ano
other Investigations afoot IN various
quarters, the Use of meat In larSe
nrouc rtion Of American families VIII pc
come as rare as in many parts of Eu-
rope. -, ;..
When the tariff bill was passed, with
tree meats, there were many predlcti0ns
or relief but the experts most tannhai
with the situation said there would Dc
little or no relief to the country as q
whole: that some localities close to sea,
board or the border might at times &c,
lower meats through importations. pul
that the bulk Of the population wou;c
not b.. helped; that the Beef trust woulC
use its influence . keep prices up, ahe
that. Furthermore. there was World'
wide shortage Of meat. so that tue sup
lily available for import at this time was
distinctly limited. .'" ..'
Some True Predictions.
Such predictions have proven true tc
a large extent. Some cargoes OF beel
gone TO the public at lower prices. bu'
the packing interests and other Inter
ests have neld the prices for lmporta'
tions about UP to the American level.
Moreover. cholera among hogs Is de
stroying a billion pounds OF meat II
this country annually.
So, 4 is u serious situation that con
fronts this country, and the COMMITTEE
named by Secretary Houston has real
I job. on its hands. -
study OF economic questions involved II
the production, transportation, slauSh,
ter and mark citing OF meat chiefly VIII
be the work of the committee. Changes
in recent years which have increased
cost of production and the "centraliZins
OF the meat industry" will be consid'
cred.
Taking up Of the public lands. re-
duction IN the range. changes IN
public land laws 10 make the public
lands Of greater use in cattle rails
ing will be examined.
The economic changes resulting
from The centraIiZinS of the business
| Of slaughterinS and packing in few
| mig houses and the economic posi-
bility of communal and community
effort in cattle raising: also the ad-
vantages of establishing local OF
municipal abattoirs will be investi-
gated The subject of cattle breed.
| ing in itself viii be largely omitted
as the State agricultural colleges and
| experiment stations are giving this
! attention. -.a .---