Gunnison news-champion., 1920-06-11
( SENATOR ROCkwELL'S LETTER
To GuNNISON CO. STOCkMEN


In my opinion this is the mos. dif-
hcult period the cattlemen on the
western Slope have been up against IN
the fourteen years i have been run
ming cattle out here There has been
zoo per cent increase in the COS, of
handling cattle, with an increase in
what We receive Of from 25 pe- cent
TO 40 per cent The difference has
taken out all the profits and then
some. There are several courses of
I this increase in the cost of produc-
tion-l speak frym my section Of the
country, eastern Delta county. near
the GCnnis0n county line-frst, there
Is an increase IN the price of hay from
$500 hve years ago TO SIS today. IL
2 man raises his own hay. he can
I figure the extra cost of machinery,
labor and over here, alfalfa weeyil,
which takes 4 big toll-and then too.
he has right 20 figure his own hay
worth just what he has TO pay his
neighbors for theirs when he buys.
/ Next, We have 10 feed our cattle from
SIX weeks TO three months longer than
We used TO; this year we fed six
months, costing for COWS approximate
! ~ $50 to $40 per head. This longer
| feeding period Is caused not only By
the longer seasons but from the fact
that the lower country is fast settling
up and What IS left is being grazed
over by sheep TO. such an extent tha.
there is scarcely anything in the
fall after the stock come off the re-
serves. Then, too. we are having a
loss from poison and other sources on
the range which we never had before
Cattle die now the entire year in
stead OF Al certain seasons as former
/ ly. | estimate that the loss on the
range has increased practically 100
/ per cent in the last five years over
here | am unable TO state Just why
this is but cannot help but believe It
has something 10 do with the increase
\ OF stock on the ranges and the run
ming Of cattle higher than they ever
/ before ran And last, We have had
the poorest railroad service in the last
two years that We ever had. Wheth-
er this is due to government service
! do not know, but certainly we have
! received less consideration, less court
esy and much poorer service than
ever saw before. We averaged,
runs between Hotchkiss and Denver
than we did before II there have
been adv yantages to the stockmen in
the government handling the roads, I
have failed to hear of them. During
the war it was necessity, but after
wards il was a source of considerable
dissatisfaction.
The result of these conditions has
caused many men to go out of the
business. There are scarcely any
large lunches of cattle left over here
and ! know several men with large
hay ranches who have sold their
COWS, figuring that there is more
money in selling the hay than in run
ming the cattle. Then, the market this
fall looks anything but encouraging,
and many more men are apt to feel
that they do not wish to buck the
game any further. Personally, I
| feel that this is q poor time to turn
loose. The winters will surely get
shorter than the last few we have
had; the cattle will be shipped down
TO the amount of hay raised. Perhaps
it may work out that there may be
again more hay than cattle. Then,
! when Europe begins to import stuff
| into this country as she did during
the war. and prices begin to drop, as
they will. the boys will be wanting to
return to the country instead of for
ever wanting the big wages the city
pays. Then the man who stays with
the ranch and his stock will be the
winner in the end
4 Now for brief discussion of some
legislation which affects the stockmen.
| have served four sessions in the
lower House of the Legislature, the
regular and the special. and most of
that time | was a member of the
/ Legislative Committee of the State
/ Colorado Stockgrowers' Association.
In the first place ! want to call your
attention to the fact that the condi-
ions under which cattle are raised on
1 the Eastern Slope are quite different
than they are on the Western. There
1t is almost entirely pasture propo-
! sitlon, about the only open range left
being on the eastern slope Of the
Rockies and that is limited Accord
lngly the average man over there does
not realize the conditions under which
we work over here. First Of all, every
session Of the Legislature has its
I Herd Law. There is very strong
demand by the farmers and others on
that side to have a law by which q
man is responsible for every animal
he owns wherever il is. For instance,
man takes up piece of land in the
middle of the Forest or on the Public
Domaln; he does not need to fence
It and il your cows trespass you are
liable for damages. This might work
out in a thickly settled country where
cattle are run in pastures, but in our
country it would make it almost i'm
possible to run cattle on the Forest
or turn them out anywhere. This bill
comes near to passing each session,
and unless the fellows who are in
n Tar 81 nd II N
serve watch out, this Herd Law will
i slip in some day and then we will be
I up against it.
The last session passed law asses
sing brands. The original bill called
for an annual assessment of 81 q year
on all brands with the penalty that
II you forget to pay you would lose
your brand. In this form, the bill
passed the Senate and came to the
House. ! objected very strenuously
to the bill in that form, and after be-