The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1919-07-17
BOOTSTRAPS AND BEEF PRICES.

Wallaces' Farmer sends out re-
print of an article published in it's
edition of this week on the beef cat
tie situation. The article explains
that during the war we built up a
great beef export trade because lack
of shipping PRACTICALLY, cut on the
ply and Great Britain's need Of
ships induced her to take our beef
at considerably higher prices. This
situation permitted us to export more
beef in proportion to our population
than for twenty years past. Now
that shipping has been released by
the close of the war, foreign coun-
tries are turning again to the cheap
added at rapid rate, ETC.:
Our report trade in beef is, there
fore, practically at an end for a
time, and to this is attributed the
slump of three to four dollars per
hundred in beef cattle. Neither
Great Britain nor Europe want our
beef at the present time. They are
taknf bec aes of their p need for fats
and, second, because our pork pro-
duets can be shipped much easier
and can be stored for considerable
lengths of time.
Is there hope for betterment of
beef cattle prices in the very near
future; or must the cattle now in
the feed Gt put in a. at high Ia cost and
ed at heavy loss? We do not wish
to seem pessimistic, but we must
confess that we have little hope for
any pronounced improvement in
prices. 1t is quite possible that
well finished light steers may sell
during the next two months for bet
ter prices than they are selling now,
especially if there are not too many
ting the run of grass cattle. which
will surely have a pronounced effect
on prices.
The remedy for this condition sug-
gested by Wallaces' Farmer is a
to induce people to eat
more beef, thus keeping up or i'm
proving prices.
Summing up the Farmer declares
that we are suffering from restrict
ed consumption and expanded pro-
duction.
Ali Of which is true. The reason
we are suffering from restricted
however is a vital
point for consideration. Restricted
consumption of beef is caused by
the incomes OF those who buy it for
food The American people,, to
whom beef and other meats have
been necessities of the daily meals
do not thus restrict themselves in
their food except for the best of
reasons and the best of reasons is
that they can not at present prices
afford to eat meat as they did when
meat was cheaper.
That meat is to be cheaper or pro-
duction reduced is simply an AGO.
nomic fact. The prices which obtain
under the pressure of war, lack of
shipping and paucity of production
in the warning countries can not be
in peace by campaigns
Of publicity; That aa they I must fall in
bs1 have ween 1ne @os whee
nopolistically fails. The prospect on
beef is the prospect on other food
exports When the countries whose
has been practically abol-
ished for four or five years begin to
raise their own food as they will at
once and to furnish their own tables
at least to a degree above eighty
next year. the surplus of this coun-'|
try may necessarily look forward to
a different market and lowered
prices. It is idle to tell a wage
worker that he should buy more 60
cent soup bones merely because the
StOckman wants the price and the
butcher needs the profit. He will
afford. And there he must stop.
There will be day when 81 and
$1.25 per hour is too much to pay
for a plumber, too.
The ultimate consumer will not
carry war prices longer than he
must His argument will be that he
has cheerfully taken his burden of
the war while huge war profits were
made on food stuffs by producers
and middlemen and spectators and
that he awaits readjustment.
Prices Of food stuffs have reached
an extreme limit. If they are to be
it will be 0y decreased
production and not by the boot strap
method At present there is only
one reasonable and legitimate way
of increasing the consumption of
beef and that is by lowered prices.
.Marshalltown Times-hepublican.