Arizona republican., 1916-01-26

any necessity for general increase in railr ,"d rates On any commodities. although some possible readjustment Of various rates may seem adVisa le. ' In conclusion. Mr. Heard said:
 That the consumption of beef per capita in this country has materially decreased the past five years is very evident from figures recently fur nished by the bureau of animal indus try, showing that the meat consump- ton in the United States dropped from 162 1-5 pounds per capita in 1909 tc 145 -6 pounds in 1914, or q decrease of about 10.7 per cent. This decline in per capita meat consumption has been much more than offset by the de- cline in the number of cattle in the United States, as government statis- ties indicate that they have fallen from = GOO. 900 on January 1st 1907. to approximately 56.000.000 on Janu- ary 1st, 1915, or a loss of 2212 per cent. in eight wears. and that of this 56,00O, ,0G0 about lS,000,000 are dairy cattle This decrease in cattle seems to have been temporarily checked in 1914, when, according to the latest figures, we made a gain in our cattle of 3.4 per cent. on the preceding year, but the general course since 1907 has been decidedly OWnward.
 This situation. my friends. from a rational economic standpoint is quite serious. as we cannot allow it to be said that this nation is failing in the task Of feeding it's own people. From big national standpoint, two reme- dies seem necessary Ways and means must be devised by intelligent range conservation, which is bound to en- courage better breeding. and a policy TOT which this association has worked for nearly twenty years, to enable the producer to raise a larger number of better animals each year on the pres ent grazing area: and at the same time a situation must be established which will enable the experienced feeder to be assured of such market ing conditions that when his feed bill ia paid he can reasonably rely on fair profit on his operations. To do this he must be assured not only that he buys his cattle on a competitive market as at present, but that he sells them on an equally competitive market and one based on supply and demand and not subject to speculative or manipulative changes.
 T realize fully that these are tremen- dOusly big problems. but because they are big they are interesting, and it is certainly our duty to do our best to solve them, and solve them rignt
 No industry offers finer field to , men of energy. ability and fomness for outdoor life than does the live stock business and we must not relax in our efforts to build up our indus try. Statistics show us that as a cattle feeding and producing country we have been steadily declining during recent years, and it is only by the con- tinuous, consistent work of the clear 1 thinking men whose lives are given
 to this great industry, and through CO-Opera tion with the various state 1 organizations. and through them with 1 the national organization, that we can build up and improve the indus 1 try through united clear headed and effective actiCn for our general vel | fare
 "A very high standard of public spir- i tied service and efficiency was set by
 my predecessors, two of the best i known stockmen in this country and 1 indeed in the world today-Henry A Jastro and Murdo Mackenzie, who for ten years steered this association along the course of increasing strength
 3nd usefulness When you honored
 Inc by the election to the presidency
 of this great organization last March