Perth Amboy evening news., 1920-06-12
One Third Grazing Land Idle
In West, No Cattle PdStured
RY w. 6. MANN

BY w. S. MANN
Copyright, 1920. by The Washington
starr
WASHINGTON. June S:-one.
third of the available grazing land In
middle western and southwestern
states is lying idle because there are
no cattle being pastured on II, &C
cording to prominent stockmen, and
members in congress from the cattle
growing states, and having failed to
| obtain the aid of the United States
treasury to correct this condition by
/ encouraging loans on live stock, they
| are ~apprehensive of its effect on the
meat supply in the immediate future.
The situation has been described
by f. w. Houx, president of the
Kansas City Live Stock exchange, as
critical, a letter which he recently
wrote to Secretary Houston. of the
treasury department. stating In part:
Pastures are empty which ought
to be stocked to produce beef; calves
and she cattle are ordered shipped to
market, reducing breeding herds;
farm land is uncultivated. and a
great shortage of production in this
district is threatened If relief is not
had soon"
It was to correct this condition
that Senator Capper, of Kansas,
shortly before congress adjourned,
introduced a resolution directing the
secretary of the treasury to place at
the disposal of federal reserve banks
the sum of $40, 900, 900 to be loaned
to stockmen to enable them to n
nance herds Of grazing cattle until
they were ready for market.
Senator George p. Mclean. chair
man of the senate banking and cur
rency committee, 10 which the reso-
luton was referred, asked the opin-
ion of Secretary Houston, and 1t was
the opposition of the secretary, and
that of Governor Harding of the
Federal Reserve Board, chat finally
induced Senator Capper not to press
the matter. .,,|
In his reply Secretary Houston did
not touch on the matter from the
standpoint of the need of wider cat
tie feeding, but said the request was
based on IAN utter Interpretation
of the nature of the Federal Reserve
system and its relation to the treas
ury."
The treasury has no funds to lend
the agricultural interests of the
he wrote Senator Mclean. "or
to anyone else. 1t Is borrowing money
to meet its own necessities at high
of interest, and is burdened with
q floating debt amounting to between
50, 500, 600, 900 and $4,000. 100000"
The secretary added that the for
mer practice Of ~depositing treasury
funds In the banks of the country
for crop moving or other special pur-
poses belonged to a by-gone era, when
there was a rigid system of banking
and currency. Concluding he wrote:
'"The treasury has within the last
month received several applications
from banks In various parts OF the
country for deposits of government
funds to meet honey s~tringencies
growing out of various local con-
I have uniformly declined to
make such deposits for the reasons
that I have outlined above. l feel
quite strongly. therefore that the res
olution introduced by Senator Capper
not be adopted"
Though not taking issue with the
secretary upon the question of the
proper functions of the treasury, Sem
ator Capper, at the time of the ad-
expressed grave doubts as
to the meat supply of the nation.
He said that in the face of falling
market cattle men were disinclined
to invest in cattle to pasture and that