The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1914-01-13
CATTLE IMPORTS
FROM CANADA.

Winnipeg Free Press: One thing
has certainly been made clear by the
events of the past three months
there is a market in the United States
for Canadian cattle. The vigorous ar
guments addressed to the Canadian
cattle raisers in 1911, designed to con-
vince them that they could not sell
their cattle across the line, have a
silly look now in the light Of actual eX-
pcricnce. Our correspondent at the
Chicago livestock yards writes that
Canada sold 1894 cattle in the Unit
ed States markets for $3,79 49, 18-
most of these being imported during
the month of October. For November
the lm~portations, it is estimated,
reached u value of 81, 100000. The De-
Cember impOrtatiOnS were much light
er, owing to the cleaning UP of the
Canadian supplies and the consequent
rise Of values in the Canadian mar
ket. The figures for 1913 will show
Canadian cattle exports to tho United
States TO a value in excess Of $7,OOO,-
600, against a practically negligible
eXport for the preceding year.
1t Is being urged in certain quar-
ters hat while it is now clear that
the United States can take all the cat
tie we a sell, it Is nevertheless in
furious to Canada to have this market
open to us. They point to the cruel
rise in the price Of meat to the con-
Stunning public; the sale of COWS and
calves under the lure of the high
prices; and the transfer from Ontario
to pennsylvania farms of $4,000 stock
ers. to be 'finished' there for the
United States market. The two last
objections are removable. The econo-
mic toOlishness Of selling off their
breeding stock, under the stimulus Of
high prices. will be brought home to
the eastern farmers; and they will not
repeat the mistake. In the future,
also, stOckers, to a much greater de-
gree than during the past year, will be
finished for the United States market
on Canadian farms. With hi elimin-
alton of these two undesirable feat
ures Of the present situation it is quite
clear that the opening of the United
States markets will be a great boon
to the Canadian farmers; and will
powerfully encourage the practice Of
mixed farming.
AS Tor the increased cost of food in
the cities. this is a condition which is
not remedlable, though it would be
mltlgated by the adoption of the lib
eral policy of free food. Conservative
papers are filled with ~jocular COM
ments upon what they consider the
futility of hoping to import cheaper
food from the very country whose
demand for our products has raised
our meat prices to the present high
levels. Nevertheless, if they were to
give some study to the actual facts,
they might find Sir Wilfrid's PROPOSE
ton not quite so humorous as they
think it. They would find, for in
stance, that at the very time when
our cattle were going south in a con-
slant stream our imports of packing
house products were mounting like a
tide. Our impOrtations of bacon from
the United States last year were two
and a-half times greater than during
the preceding yea and over four
times greater than for 1911. There
were also heavy increases in the i'm
portations of picked pork. The total
value of our imports Of hog products
from the United States for the ten
months ending October was $5,173,0 92,
more than an offset to the value of
cattle exported to the United States
during the same period. Upon all this
meat of course, a duty had to be paid,
which wen to swell the budgets Of
the city housekeeper.
There will doubtless, be an inter-
esting discussion of the free food pro
gramme of the liberals at the forth
c -ling session Of the Dominion Par
lament; and it will be found that
there are not lacking :, illuminative
statistics and strong arguments in its
support. @...s r. "tE