The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1918-02-26
HIGH BEEF PRICES
FARE GRAVE MENACE
ASSERTS EBENtOW
Report Of Special Committee
That Investigated Situation Has
Been PigeonhoIed, He Charges
GRAZING LANDS ARE
CONTROLLED BY HUI
Conditions Prohibitory OF In
crease In Meat Supply or Re-
ducton In Cost To Consumer

Conditions "h''h ne nr0hibitOrv, it
Is inserted. "f y" increase Of the beef
'uTply rr lIaWn or TIC reduction Of
"Ciail prices nrr ~ hr newt On the pro.
gram of the federal food adntinistra
ton, according to statement given
out yesterday.
Extensive data III the hands Of the
administration tends to show that the
present alignment Of ranchers and
butchers is such that grazing land can
not be had Ivy small cattle raiscrs who
have made efforts to extend their cat
tie business and that these would have
difficulty in placing their stock on the
market in quantities which would have
any appreciablc effect on meat prices
The points made are that the land
that is controlled by cattle ranches is
not utilized to the fullest exteut; nc
influence can he exerted which will
'Onvert this controlled pasture land in
o. usefulness; and the reeommenda
tiOns Of a special committee Of the Ter
'itoriRl Food COmmi ssion which were
designed to overcome this safe of -af
fairs have been pigeonhOled ever since
the facts were gathered almost a year
ago. n,
These are the contentious Of Ebep
Low, live member of the present fed
eral food administration and also one
of the committee of three who made
20 81
Commission.
Recommendation Disregarded
The recommendation of the commit
zee was that some action be secured
whereby hundreds Of acres Of forest
-eServe land suitable for cattle raising
might be made available for this pur
pose, but no move of this kind has
been made in spite, Mr.. Low sayA. of
meat situation in the Territory which
invites and encourages war profiteer
| ing of most msnacing character.
A cattleman = association of eighI
members controls ninety percent of the
| TraZing land on the Island of Hawai'
| md their affiliated and, -, controlled
butchers and markets effectively ex
tend this monopoly to every island ot
the group, resulting in, a practical a
bitrary fixing of meat prices and the
| exclusion of non memhers whose actiy
tiles might disrupt the organization.
These are assertions made, by Mr.
Low based upon the findings Of the
committee which made a thorough tab
"lation of the facts with results which
they considered, alarming enough tc
| Justify drastic action in throwing on
! m new land for pasture.
According to, Mr.. Low. only one
shining example of Maui rapcher has
revealed any success on the part Of ar
independent outfit in combating these
conditions to the extent Of placing
beef on the market in considerable
quantities. Another Mati raneher hal
refused to join the cattlemen asso
citation but has virtually aligned him
self with them to the extentOof gain
ing access to their market. the commit
tee discovered. One rancher on Lana
operates Independently. and has sue
ceedcd in placing stock in the hand,
of Chinese butcher in Honolulu. who
cannot obtain cattle from any of the
other cattle men.
Small farmers who have made at
| tempts to enter the cattle business have
been frustrated at the outset by theil
| inability to secure grazing land al
though there is much Of this land lying
| idle under the control of the assOcia
ton. the committee reported, The
Territorial Marketing Division Of Ho
u"lulu is unable to invade the Honolulu
beef market to any extent because Of
the fact that it secures no supply from
| the hi rRHchers.
ct understand that this alarming
situation is soon to be taken in hanG
! with view Of bringing the governmen,
bowers to bear on It, said Mr.. Low
Yesterday. "Mr. ChiId's visit tC
Washington produced much data ant
Information relative to the powers Of
'hc food administration in coping will
this evil along, lines that are being
adopted in various sections of tbt
mainland. and l believe it is true thai
he plans to proceed at once in thu
| MATTER
Element Of Danger
One of the principle points made il
he report by the committee, which con
| listed Of Albert Horner, chairman
Erank Cooke and Mr.. Low. was that
he meat situation in Hawaii demand
| ID that cows and heifers be conserved
FOR breeding purposes. Mr.. ! ow saiC
yesterday that no attempt to heed thit
Warming has been made by the eight
arge cattle raisers. who have hurried
COWS and heifers to slaughter at the
high war prices without regard, TO wbat
nay follow. The result is that The
herds have been depleted to m extern
hat has an element Of danger in it
81 am in the cattle business myself
IN small way and have two brothers
jn.lnw who are also cattle raisers," saiG
Mr.. Low. "Of course we have al
0r"fted by the unprecedented price
for beef but we are all more interestec
IN the future provisioning Of the Ter
ritOry and in the Justice of the thing
than we are in what we are gettinl
out of the peculiar situation that ex
lists. -
Mr.. Low asserts that in addition t,
COWS, an absolute control of the sheer
industry exists which has not even
protense of competition. He SAYS tina
the opportunity TO extract top price
for meat has been seized here to al
extent that comes under the scveres
condemnation Of Mr.. Wilson.