The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1935-08-29
CORN AND HOGS

One of the most significant economic
phases of the latter part of 1885
promises to be the shortage, of meat
supplies. Observers who !" travel
through the country by, train. or auto
mobile are remarking about the scant
supply of cattle and hogs, to be seen
in the fields.
According to an Associated Press
dispatch recently half of the hog pens
in the Chicago market, the greatest
in the world, were closed because not
enough hogs were being shipped to
this market to fill the pens. Traffic
in pigs was said to be at the, lowest
ebb in the history of the market which
dates back to 1857.
In the mainline pork prices have
skyrocketed to the level attained in
boom times when the people had
plenty of money with which to buy
high priced meats. And the prices of
beef are steadily mounting, too, be-
cause of the scarcity of the supply.
Wages have not gone up in proportion.
Housewives going to the retail mar
kets are said to be strenuously OBJ
jecting to the prices of pork, beef
and lard, and the prices are still
mounting.
The increase in price is due to two
causes, the scarcity of livestock and
in the case of pork products, in part
to the processing tax.
1t might seem that the farmers had
reached the high tide of prosperity,
but such is not the case. 1t makes
no difference what the price of live
stock is when there is little or no
livestock to sell. The livestock mar
kets of the world are now receiving
but fraction of the number of hogs
and cattle that were received a year
ago.
Higher prices, of course, mean re-
duced consumption and a burden on
the working man who has to buy
meat. But the farmer does not get
the benefit because the prices are
caused in most part by scarcity and
he has little livestock to sell. There
will be more meat and meat products
imported into the United States dur
ing the year 1885 than has been the
case for a great many years.
Meadows have never been greener
in many parts of the Middle West
and the corn prospect has seldom
seemed better. But it is difficult now
to buy thin cattle to browse on the
meadows because there are none. And
in view of the scarcity of livestock
farmers are beginning to wonder
what they will get for their corn this
winter if they sell it and what they
will do with it if they keep it.
The program of the AAA seems to
be decidedly out of joint. Some brain
trust farm experts blame it on to the
drouth of last year and not to the
destruction of pigs in 1888. Well,
something happened to the cattle that
were moved out of the drouth area
last summer. They are not visible
now. And something happened to the
pig crop after the wholesale slaughter
of 1888 AS one man who travelled
across Indiana recently put it:
when l went across the Hoosier
State in 1888 l smelled burning pigs
everywhere. Now l see corn every
where but don't smell any pigs either
burning or otherwise"
Mr.. Wallace is quoted as stating
that had it not been for the hog con-
troll program of the AAA in 1888,
pork would be higher than it is. Evil
IDENTIFY he has forgotten to take into
consideration the processing tax, for
one thing.
But even at that, the Brain Trust
farm experts told US there were too
many pigs in the country in 1888, that
they did not represent wealth but
surplus" The farmers were paid and
pigs burned on the theory that this
would get them better prices. Now
we are told that the hog control pro-
gram kept prices lower than they
would otherwise have been.
0, consistency, thou art a jewel!
And jewels are rare these days.
AZ. 81 NJ pn,,l nnMi+A n,n+ az