The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1922-05-12

H. NJ. Green is home from Wash
ington where he went in connection
with the Clague stockyard control
bill. In an interview today Mr..
Green said that the delegation
consisting of Ivan Bowen and +. w.
Putnam of the railroad and ware
house commission, R. j. Wells, SUI
pervisor of stock yards for the rail
road and warehouse commission; J.
s. Montgomery, manager of the
central CO. operative live stock sell
ing agency at South ST. Paul: w. z.
Thompson, state scale inspector and
myself who went to Washington to
attend hearing before the agricul.
turat committee Of the house on
Tuesday, May 2, in support of the
provisions embodied in bill intro
duced and supported by Congress
These provisions refer to tho weigh
ing of live stock and the bonding of
livestock commission men.
THE stock yards control laws as
enacted by the Minnesota legisla-
ture at the 1919 regular and special
sessions provide for general control
and supervision of all terminal stock
yards of the state by the railroad
and warehouse commission, cover
ing the regulation of charges for
yarding live stock charges for hay
and corn fed to live stock; handling
of live stock, crippled and dead ami
mails, shrinking of hogs at the
scales, sanitary conditions of the
yards. humane treatment of animals,
feeding Of hogs in sanitary feeding
troughs; keeping of all scales in
repair and in accurate condition;
the weighing of all live stock deliv-
cred at the yards; the charges to
selling live stock and the bonding
OF commission men to secure ship
pers and numerous other regula-
tons.
These laws we're put into opera
ton in August, 1919, by the railroad
and warehouse commission, since
which time the weighing of live
stock has been taken from the con-
troll of the packers and all weighing
has been done by disinterested
weighers under state supervision,
the cost of same including the costs
for the enforcement of all the above
stock yard regulations and the gen
eral supervision of the yards has
been paid from the weighing charg
es of two cents for cattle. one and
one half cents for hogs and one cent
for sheep, and none Of the expense
for these services rendered to the
live stock shippers is borne by the
state.
"on January 2, 1920, orders were
issued by the railroad and ware
house commission reducing com
mission charges for selling live
stock and lowering the charges to
be made for hay, corn and bedding
to shippers. AS result, the com
mission men except the Equity CO.
operative Exchange then doing a
live stock selling business at the
yards. refused to low er their rates
for selling and the Stockyards Com
pany refused to furnish feed for
lower prices, setting UP as a defense
that the law was unconstitutional
and that the Federal Government
then had supervision under war time
regulations.
ION July s. 1921, orders were
again issued to sbcth cnmmissi
men and the Stockyards company to
reduce charges and the rates to be
R. J. Wells, supervisor of the yards.
Again they refused to recognize the
rights of the state to fix charges for
feed or services in the yards except
the Equity CO. operative Selling
agency and the Central Co opera
tive Livestock commission firm, both
of which obeyed the order and are
still doing business under state reg
ulation resulting in large savings to
the shippers >. and profits to them:
selves. AS a result of these refusals
to comply with provisions of the
state law regulating terminal stock
yards, several actions were brought
to test, the constitutionalty of the
law and rights of the state under it,
and notwithstanding the fact that
every combined effort known to the
Stockyards company and the com
mission men have been brought to
bear the laws have been declared
constitutional. Thirty per cent of
all live stock shipped to the South
St. Paul market is being sold by
these two commission firms whS