St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1913-10-22

respond at once to the stimulus,
and we should see the cattle grazing
again on a thousand hills The
small farmers by cooperation, it is
suggested, could in their respective
communities standardize more or
less the production of marketable
animals. and in cooperation ship
them to the nearest public abattoir
in carload lots. Developments in
this direction must come in the near
future. The land is here The farm
er of the east awaits the assurance
of a reasonable profit. The general
introduction of tho public abattoir
and the reorganization of the system
of distribution wait on the initiative
Of the consumers in hundreds of
cities.-[ Springfield Republican.
The Tariff and Meat Prices
When the democratic party prom
ised to reduce the cost of living by
revising the tariff and admitting
many articles without payment Of
duty, people who accepted the prom
Use at its face value expected to see
the price of meat come down. But
now, although beef has been placed
on the free list, it seems, according
to the experts of the department of
more likely to rise than they are to
fall. The removal of the tariff on
/ beef has made no change in the OPP
Grafton of the law of supply and de-
mand, and until the supply is great
| er, or the demand less, high prices
will be the rule.
If James M. Pickens of the United
States bureau of animal industry is
right, the high cost of meat has not
been due to the tariff, and prices will
not fall as a result of the operation
of the Underwood bill. Mr.. Pick
ems says it is obvious that the rise
in prices in recent years is the nat
ural result of shortage in produc-
ton, and that these conditions are
reflected in the per capita consump
ton of meat in the United States,
which is estimated to have fallen off
10 pounds in four years, or from
1862 pounds in 1909 to 152 pounds in
the fiscal year 1913" OF the de-
cline in beef production, which is es-
peciallyl marked, he says
This is shown in three different
ways-by the number of cattle on
hand, the number received at
market centers, and the number
slaughtered. A decrease in market
receipts and in the slaughter, with
corresponding increase in the
number remaining in the country,
would not be alarming, but when
with a diminishing slaughter we are
depicting our stock of cattle there
can be no doubt of the gravity of
the situation.
In the last six years the number
of beef cattle in the country has
apparently fallen off over 80 per
cent, while the population has, of
course, increased. According to
estimates of the bureau of statistics
of the department of agriculture the
beef cattle in the country on Janu-
airy 1, 1907, numbered 81 566, 900,
and at the beginning of the present
year the number was only 36,030,-I
600. Meanwhile the number of
dairy cows has remained practically
stationary. sD{ f 2hii1i aiA
The receipts of cattle at six of
the principal live stock markets.
Chicago, Kansas City, Omaha, St.
Louis, st. Joseph and Sioux City
for the first nine months of 1913,
as reported in market journals,
were very Slightly in excess of the
receipts for the same period of 1912,
but in comparison with 1911 there
cent. The slaughter of beef under
government inspection, which COW
ers more than half of the total
slaughter of the country, shows a
steady falling off since 1910, the
total decline amounting to over 8O0,-
900 carcasses, equivalent to about
100000 poundsoof dressed beef.
Now, if there was practically un-
limited supply of foreign beef. to
draw upon, it is obvious that the |
removal of the tariff would have an |
important effect; that prices would |
fall almost as a matter of course.
But the foreign supply is limited, |
and the department of agriculture !
says that while future imports may |
afford some measure of relief, too |
much reliance should not be placed |
on this source of supply. A study |
of the statistical situation in bther |
does not disclose where |
we are likely to obtain any large |
quantity of beef for an extended pc |
Rod Besides Canada and Mexico |
the sources Of imports. are limited |
to SouthoAmeriea and Australia and |
the department says lit appears that !
England alone could probably take !
all sof the foreigngbeef available for
export, to- say nothing OF the new
which have already been
formed in other European coun-
tries.''
1t is evident that in these circum- |
stances no relief from high prices
can be expected as a result of the re-
moEaI of the tariff duties on meat.
But the department of agriculture
does not believe that the situation |
is hopeless. tt says that the prob
lem may be. solved if the small farm
er will turn to the raising of stock,
and this suggestion should command
in Vermont, as well as in
other states.-I Rutland Herald
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Men who make the world of to-
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