Arizona republican., 1921-03-16
POULTRYMEN URGING PROTECTIVE TARIFF
 BE PLACED ON EGGS

China, with more than 70 per CehI poultry than the United States, can send eggs here and let them be solo at big profit at a price far below the cost of feed to American produS CTS. As a matter of business, our poultrymen claim they cannot compete and make a living out of poultry. from a health point of view, the Chinese eggs are said to be produced under in describably filthy conditions of hygiene and feed Eggs, having very porous shell. must absorb a certain amount or the unsanitary environment to Whlch they are subjected, and poultry experts assert they carry the germs of dis eases, even if an attempt at steriliZa- tion has been made.
 1 Secretary Arthur G. Freeland, reports
 the receipt of a communication rom George B. Murphy, the chairman or 1 the tariff committee of the Petaluma | chamber of commerce, which explains itself and shows a situation needing
 prompt attention. The letter IS as | follows:
 In regard to the recent correspond ence and telegrams which you have
 received from us we beg to state the following facts:
 The latter part of last December we
 received a telegram from the Hon. T Clarence F. Lea, who was elected from this district to the house of repre- I sentatives, that there would be hold
 in Washington hearing of the ways and means committee upon the sub-
 ject of a permanent tariff on eggs and
 poultry products. A meeting was
 called at the Petaluma Chamber or
 Commerce which was largely attended
 by members of all of the various ogri- cultural organizations of this district. After considerable discussion 1t was de- , cided to appoint a permanent tariff , committee.
 | J. R. Corliss, president of the Poul- ! try Producers of Central California,
 which organization now numbers 2,3O0 : poultry ranchers, was chosen to repre- : sent the largest cooperative poultry marketing institution in the world Fred Martin was chosen to represent
 the poultry committee of the Petalu- U ma chamber of commerce, Of Whlcss , committee he is chairman and which :. now consits of 25 of the most prom ! inent men connected with the poultry 2 industry in all it's different branches, l. in this district. E. O. Hussey was chosen to represent the Sonora County l. Farm Bureau inasmuch as he is the :, director of the Cinnibar Farm Center, ] whose membership numbers over 2OO
 families practically all of whom are
 actively engaged in commercial poultry
 ranching. George B.. Murphy, manager | of the G.P MeNear company of Peta-
 luma was chosen as chairman of this
 committee and as the representative . of all business interests of this dis ! trict. $. S. Knight, the president of 1 the Poultry Keepers association. was also named a member.
 This committee carefully reviewed :. the facts which were in possession oi i the organizations of which it is com posed They found that last year
 .1920, there was shipped into the United ', States from China, the Argentine ant . Australia poultry and egg product al- Ir1. , try in excess of s75,o00,00 Of cours' ' the great majarity of these came from - China where it is possible to secure :; transportation such as to permit th' v shipping of poultry products there eX V ists today according to reliable esti
 mates probably 25 per cent more poul s try than there is in the United States " That portion of China where trans B portation is not accessible for the lc movement of perishable commodities l. of course. is in addition to this amount It Transportation facilities in China am IS the Orient generally are increasin
 rapidly and every month sees nor l. territory added to that which alread IS exists. from which perishable product al can be moved to the markets of civ IS ilization.
 i- The last reliable report upon mar al keting conditions in China came fror n, Victor Murdock, who as a member ( b, the house of representatives accom- cs panied a congressional party to tn Id Orient on a tour of investigation i S. the fall of 1920. He stated in hi ix report that he found eggs to be sellin y, in a semi-retail way in all of tn ic large Chinese cities at what woul
 be equivalent to cents per dozen
 United States money.
 The rates now in effect between Or
 ental shipping points and New Tor
 City, which is today the largest eg
 market in the world, allow of tf = transportation of dozen eggs ov, I this enormous distance at a cose f Approximately "A cents. To ship IL dozen eggs from any point upon II
 Pacific coast in the United States -l~ New York City costs little mol + than 5A cents per dozen by freigl ID and if moved under refrigeration q = express), about II cents a dozen. TT 1n amount of refrigeration space which 'V available between Oriental points ar n Pacific coast railway terminals le America is increasing at a very rap
 rate; today there being not less tha s' 10000 tons of such space availab nt, where less than year ago there W; ey not 10 per cent of this amount. hd The tariff committee decided thi UT, immediate representation in Washing ry' ton was necessary if we were to al
 complish anything toward getting 7u' tariff which would adequately prote ry Americas poultry. industry from u "o ruinous competition of China. Jof 'ss Lawler, Jr.. the president of the Pc 'er aluma Chamber of Commerce, who at also assistant general manager of tl nd Poultry Producers of Central Califo
 mia, left Petaluma for Washingrt
 on the second day of January and
 devoting every minute of his time - this matter. MT. Lawlers previo | business training and his long aC . quaintance with the details of the pou J try industry. are such as to make hi
 most eminently fitted to do this wor
 The secretary of the Petaluma Char 'od Der of Commerce, H. W. Kerrigan, co Fill cred the entire Pacific coast territo at late in January, arousing aSricultur on. and poultry organizations as well le- chambers of commerce in the lars
 cities and towns, to the necessity ast immediate action in congress and s nat cured the solid support of all of tf his territory from San Diego to Seatt md The state of Washington sent a m rec to represent the agricultural organiZ
 tions, as well as one to represent t
 business interests, in helping to secu
 this legislation at the national caDat his Early in February MT. Kerrigan l' be Petaluma again to do similar wo at in Texas. Oklahoma Iowa. Kansas, N