, 1923-08-02
cidentally Ahed some

cidentally ahsd some light on the
causes Of present excessive taxa
tion OF the country.
II were to make a suggestion
for improvement in the present sys-
tenn OF handling the railroad ques-
ton. It would be to strengthen the
Interstate Commerce Commission by
the addition OF one or more railroad
men who had proven themselves to
be proficient in rate matters and
who had given years Of study to the
subject. I would eliminate the
Commerce Commission. who FIX the
rates, also hx the wages OF the en-
ployees.
Your president In the past year.
together with other officers OF var
ious livestock associations met twice
with the Omaha Livestock Exchange
for the purpose Of trying to adjust
commission rates. These rates. as
the war and were lowered some
what about two years ago. We
went wei the matter from all angles
and the Exchange demonstrated
clearly that they had not been able
to reduce very much the high wages
paid for yard help and other an
ployees. There was no disposition
on the part Of the livestock Ell
change to be unfair; they laid all
their cards on the table, face up.
and we all wanted to reach some
agreement on commission rates that
would be fair to all concerned. We
finally agreed to leave the matter
to Messrs Gore and Daggett. Of the
Packer & Stock Yards Control Ad-
ministrat.on to decide, and agreed
to accept any award they might
make as to proper commission
charges. The Packer and Stock
Yards Control Administration had a
large force Of clerks going Eel the
books of the individual members OF
the Livestock Exchange. and held
hearings at the various livestock
markets. so they should be able to
reach an equitable rate.
I have not the figures OF the final
report OF Messrs. Gore and Daggett.
but as stated before. all parties at
the conference agreed to accept
their decision as final and to try to
settle all future disputes by arbitra-
tion and conference. realizing that
our interests were to q great extent
mutual. and my controversies could
and should be settled In a friendly
manner 80 as to do justice to all.
There has been a great deal of
publicity given to the high prices
OF wool and that on account of
these high prices. the price OF
clothes would have to be so high
that the public could not afford to
buy them. This publicity is so gen
eral that there must be a concerted
action behind II and It seems to be
done to prejudice the public against
the wool grower and to make him
the scrapegoat for the sins of all
those connected with the cloth and
clothing business.
II will only be necessary to look
into the matter to show that the
cost OF the wool and the manufac-
turing OF the cloth Is but a small
portion Of the price Of the suit OF
clothes. In considering this you
must bear In mind that the price Of
cloth at the mill includes the wool
growers price for the wool. the
wool dealers profit. the top makers
price and profit. the spinners price
and profit and the cost OF weaving
and dying. finishing and selling and
profit on these operations, and
the cost OF transportation on the |
wool. In grease. from the grow !
err to the dealer or mill. (Some mills
Of curse. buy the raw wool. make
their own tops and spin their own
yarn. but a number of mills buy |
the tops from the top maker and a
great many worsted mills buy their
from spinners). In other
words the mill price of the cloth
includes all the wool growers. rail |
wooden manufacturers. selling !
agencies. and wool dealers get out
of the finished yard OF cloth. includ.
ing the profit TO all OF them. The
profit to the wool grower for the
several years has been n minus
quality. The wool grower In the
only n connected with any OF the
operations OF cost manufacturing.
who has nothing whatever TO say
about the price OF his products. His
price Is made by other agencies. |
owe which he has no control and he
is the only factor. connected with
the production OF wool cloth. that
stands in this position. All the
other agencies have something to
say as to price. and the price they
nx Includes, as 1t should. n pront