Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1913-05-13
THREE

Beef Trust that they can use against
! the farmers and ranchers of this country
| with tremendous effect. IT can then say
to our farmers 'if YOU do not want 70
sell at the price W. offer, 1t Is immater-
iu) to ucs for we can now get our sup
plies from the ends Of the earth, ana as
we already have our packing houses. colo
storage plants and refrigerator ships en-
gagged in the South American trade, we
viii get our supplies from there for a
while Thus driven to the wall our
farmers will have to take what the beef
trust IL willing to give. If this you'd re-
suit in cheaper meats to the consumer
there would ut least be some compensa-
about the beef trust and its methods
knows that this would be highly
probable. In the past the Beef Trust
has used to the fullest extent of its pow
er to Mold the wholesale price of meats
at the highest price that would not re-
ducc consumption enough to inJure its
business. and IT will no doubt continue
the sam" policy in the future, and If they
do, no benefits viii accrue to the con-
sumcrs through free meats.
If YOU really wanted to benefit both
the producer and the consumer of meats
VA should have retained Il duty on beer
and fat cattle and admitted free stockers
and feeders under two years old. This
would have permitted our farmers to
have imported hundreds of thousands OF
young stock to be finished on the grass
and cheap feed that often goes to aste
because they have nothing to feed 1t TO.
This would SO help to Increase our supply
of beef that we would not have to go
abroad for It. In my opinion any man
who votes for Il law that tends to make
our people dependent upon any foreign
country for the food that we can produce
ourselves in abundance is worse than u
traitor. And you Will ask, what Is the
difference whether we go abroad for our
beef or for feeders and stockers?" There
is all the difference in the world, my
friends. There is very little money for
anyone in raising stockers and feeders.
and II beef can be imported into this
runtry free the young cattle will be
finished in he country where they are
raised and shipped to MS as beef. while.
if You put n duty on beef but let the
young stock in free. that young stools
viii be shipped to this country and our
farmers could buy them for Il price they
could afrrd to pay aud in finishing them
wasted. they would not only greatly IN
crease the quantity of beef. but they
would also produce a large quantity OF
the one thing most needed by our farm
rrS today-n source Of wealth lost sight
of by most men dealing with this Ques-
lion-mmcly. harnyard manure. Unless
we want our farm lands to go to rack n
ruin we must stop the steady and con-
slant depletion Of soil fertility II re-
turn to the soil much Of what has al
ready been lost, ana the application Of
lanyard manure is the readieSt and
most effective method of accomplishing
must foster and protect the live stock
industry a:nonE our farmers.
In Il letter written on January II, 1913,
by Hon. j. \. Honstccl. government soil
survey scientist, he said:
"pur farmers are now putting fertility
back into the soil through stable and yard
manure to an estimated value Of $l,OO0.-
600, 600 per year,
Iiut still they are taking the fertility
out of the soil much faster than they
are putting it back. and if this continues
e shall soon have destroyed the greteSt
source Of ealth possessed by this or any
other country in the world.
Mr.. Bonslecl, in the letter referred to,
also said:
There are many communities in the
older settled portions of the United States
which have been occupied for farming
purposes for a period ranging from 100
to 1870 years, where the crop Yields at
the present time equal or exceed the
yic DIS which have been secured ut any
prvious period in the history of the COM
munity. In these communities Il rational
crop rotation has been supplemented by
the feeding Of live stock and the use OF
stable and yard manures.'
This shows the possibility Of maintain
ing The fertility of our soil and of Sup
PORTING many times our present pOpula-
ton under II correct and scientific system
of farming. Unfortunately, however.
this system has only been practiced in
isolated sections Of the country, as is
Witnessed by the fact that our average
yields OF grain per acre is gradually de-
crcaSinG. Our western farmers in the
past had a virgin soil to handle. and they
seemed to think that its fertility was in
exIaustihle. and it is only of recent
years that they have realized their mis-
take and have sought to correct their
mistake ht mi lDIlltinIr n SVCtan nt "iyAl
farming and stock raising. In tbs pro-
posed law YOU strike Il vicious blow at
the llV" stock indlstry-thc only indus
try that has in its keeping the welfare
and success of our entire agricultural
system.
The men of any party VINO 40 not see
in the restoration and preservation OF
our soil fertility one Of the greatest
problems confronting this country are
not statesmen. to say the least. and
whether they ignore this problem through
iEn"rancr or an insane political ambi-
ton makes no difference. for the result
W illhe the same.
when we come to discuss the high
cost OF living any intelligent man can
easily satisfy himself that the prices re-
crivrd by the farmer is not the cause
of it. and surely the cause should be
known before Il remedy can be found
\ good example to show tina the price
the farmers get is not the cause of the
high retail price Of meats is afforded
by comparing the price at which meats
are retailcd to the consumer on the
lsthmas Of Panama by the commissary
department with the prices paid BY
Washington consumers for like cuts.
will insert Il table in the Record showing
these prices, and the facts set out there-
in may surprise you. 1t shows that we
are paying in Washington from 81 to 200
per cent more than is charged Ia the
on the Isthmus:
Table &c"