The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1923-12-06
CAN
FIND WAY OUT
PLAN TO HELP REMEDY
LOW PRICE EVILS
Suggest State Wide Conference Be-
tween Railroads., Stockmen and
the Board; Would Prevent Dump
ing of Cattle.

IptONh PiiSCo 4 ddC pa t1y " uohtp
ing" and that intelligent co-opera
tion between the shippers of the va
) rious parts of Montana could he'll
to remedy this evil, is expressed b.
the Montana railroad commission il
a statement issued in which the sug
ference between representatives O
the railroads, stockmen and the
board should be held.
Leading up to the suggestion fol
the conference, to which the board
agrees to lend any assistance pos
sible, the statement records the views
of the board members with reference
to the cause of unsatisfactory condi
tons as to shipping and market
prices as follows:
Points Out Influence
1.-THE law of supply and demand
manifests its influence in the market
ing of livestock perhaps to a greater
degree than any other class of ship
ments from Montana to the markets
of the middle west; not excluding
wheat and other agricultural prod
ucts, which may, in a measure, be
placed in elevators or storage tenn
porarily, not susceptible to deteriora-
ton or ~shrinkage while so held, and
may be placed on the market at q
later date, more advantageous to the
market situation. Not so, however,
with livestock for reasons which we
think unnecessary to cite here, and
which are we'll known to every stock
man. Thus it will be apparent that
unless there is method pursued in the
shipping of cattle and sheep, it must
inevitably follow that congestion will
result at destinations, whereby the
price will be seriously affected, and
consequently the shipper must &C
cept less than the real value of his
stock, due entirely to the markets
being glutted; the direct result of
lack of organization in the matter of
shipping, which it seems to us could
easily be regulated by concerted ac-
ton on the part of the shippers; but
in this respect there must be coop
GRAFTON if the benefits to be derived
are fully realized.
Conditions Unsatisfactory
.The attention of this board has
been called to unsatisfactory condi-
tions prevailing in the livestock mar
kets of South st. Paul, Chicago,
Omaha, Sioux City and elsewhere.
Our investigation shows conclusively
that the remedy lies in regulation of
receipts, and this we think can be
controlled by the shippers in some
manner as briefly referred to above.
ut has been suggested by some of
the stockmen that shipping days"
should be changed so that Montana
cattle would reach the market the
first instead of the last of the week
for the reason that Saturdays
market is usually overstocked, and
being followed by Sunday, prices are
forced down to a point where the
shipper must suffer loss, but has no
alternative than to sell.
This board has given the subject
great deal of thought and study,
@ho We dS1CO VIII q AunlOS VI lie /
stockmen who have stated to US that
1ne day in the week should be as
good as another, providing the re-
are distributed over the sever
lays. 1t is not because it is Satur-
lay that the market is weak, but be-
of conditions arising from in
discriminate shipping from all sec
ions of the producing territory, caus-
ng a surplus to be thrown upon the
at certain times that is res
'onsible for deflation in prices and
dissatisfaction among shippers.
Cannot Be Remedied Locally
"It is plain that these matters can
lot be remedied by any arrangements
made locally; that is to say, one sec
ion of the state cannot hope to ac-
omplish results without the cooper
ton and support of all stock raising i
erritory. 1t must be handled as a
init otherwise the efforts of one To- |
atty would be defeated by the ac- !
of another, and the situation be
same as it is today. Time and
areful analysis of this situation will
e required to formulate plans of
rocedure for the accomplishment of |
est results, and we hereby suggest !
nd recommend that the stockgrow- !
rs of the state give it early consid-
ration to the end that before ano-
her shipping season rolls around, the
etails may be worked out and plac- !
d in operation for the benefit of all
oncerned.
This board will gladly render any
ssistance possible in the formulating +
t plans, segregation of districts,
outing, or in any manner wherein it I
an be of help to the shippers of the 4
tate.
1T occurs to US that a statewide
difference between representatives 4
t the railroads, the stockmen and 3
board might be the most direct 4
cans of laying a foundation for the 4
andling of this important problem" b
me statement is signed by the r