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PAGE SIX THE PRICE OF BEEF FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF THE SMALL FARMER. The writer, an old farmer, who will soon pass to other fields but loves the smell of fresh ploughed ground, the fragrance of the meadow, the breath of his cows, loves the trees, the grass, the wild flowers, the little streams of water, the rustle of the corn, the tan gle along the old rail fence for its unkempt beauty, and the shelter it gives his little friends, loves his coun try and his fellow men, wants to yas a few things on what Mr. Hough miscalls an Industrial War “in the price of beef,” being the Packers’ side from Messrs. Swift & Company, Satur day Evening Post, February 9, 1907. Over a generation ago in the middle west we were much concerned about insects, thought at that time to be our greatest foe. To our relief Prof. Riley discovered that these insects propaga ted and carried with them a parasite. He produced these parasites from dis eased bugs, inoculated other bugs, sup plied them to us, we planted them in our fields and the chinch bug was no longer feared. Ry the time we had mastered our natural enemies we were confronted with another, greater and more re lentless than the chinch bug, army w'orm and hessian fly combined, or man’s greed for it. We think we will be able to show that money used as an instrument of wrong and op pression, breeds its own parasite. It is necessary to go back to a Cen tral western state more than a genera tion, to begin. It was peopled by the youth and brawn of the country, fresh from the college and school, old sol diers of the Civil war, young in years, old in scars and decrepitude, a more patriotic people could not then, or now, be found on earth. All agreed that to properly develop the country railroads were a necessity. Commu nities turned out as one man to meet railroad promoters and builders, wher ever they could be found, sent distin guished citizens across the state, or out of the state to meet them. When they came our way they were treated like conquering heroes and given the fat of the land. We begged them to take our laiul, our bonds and other subsidies for more than enough to build a road, use their knowledge and skill in building it, make money for themselves in doing so, as also in operating it. For us we were willing to pay for it, just to have it. A com pany representing itself to be part of a trunk line finally proposed to build a line across our county, and part of the state. We subscribed as a coun ty $165,000 to the capital stock of the company, paying for it with 30 year 7 per cent bonds. The state gave millions of acres of fine land, all counties, many townships and towns gave bonds, all giving the right of way. We think it can be shown that enough was given to pay for the road and all the equipment it had for ten years, but we had a railroad and were stockholders in it. The road was push ed rapidly to the borders of the state, conditions complied with, lands, bonds, etc., turned over, transaction complete and all happy. At this time before the matter was cold, the railroad company held a meeting in New York, or elsewhere, took in one new stockholder, changed the name of the company, and our stock was in a company no longer ex isting. This was our first experience in Farmers’ Union ‘Department Foster of National and State Officers NATIONAL OFFICERS. C. S. Barrett,' president, Atwater, Georgia. J. E. Montgomery, vice-president, Gleason, Tenn. R. H. McCullough, secretary-treas urer, Beebe, Ark. L. N. Holmes, chaplain, Bernice, Louisiana. STATE OFFICERS. Georgia Headquarters—Barnesville.. • R. F. Duckworth —President. W. P. Quinby—Vice-President. J. L. Barron —Secretary-Treasurer. J. L. Lee —State Organizer. G. M. Davis —Lecturer. J. G. Eubanks —State Business Igent. Alabama —I. A. Worley, president, Guin, Ala.; E. J. Cook, secretary-treas urer, Pell City, Ala. “skinning the cat,” Mr. Hough so mer rily tells about. From our own knowl edge, and information otherwise ob tained, we have no doubt that condi tions in building our railroad were essentially the same with all western roads. There is no use crying over “spilt milk” so all went to work, were soon shipping oats, corn, wheat, cattle and hogs to St. Louis, Mo., and steadily gaining on it. After a considerable pe riod of satisfactory business, returns from cattle began to fall off, and sales to drag. An inquiry developed the fact that the railroads were pay ing a combination called the “eveners” fifteen dollars per car on all cattle shipped beyond St. Louis as “draw back.” It was thought the same con ditions applied to other centers. To be clear, the railroads were levying a tax of about one dollar per head on all cattle shipped and giving it to the “evener.” Here was another les son in “skinning the cat.” We think it within the bounds of truth and probability that the packer through “drawbacks, rebates, rent on private cars and other methods,” specially de vised for “skinning the cat,” with the help of the railroad, collected a direct tax of at least one dollar per head on all cattle shipped within his reach, before an independent buyer could get to them from that day to this. We say this without malice or pas sion, believing it to be true, and never found serious fault with it, regarding it as a sort of perquisite of the packer. Only want to say in passing that perquisites of this kind demoralize the recipient, and like Mark Twain’s government mules fall ing into the dugout, come to be mo notonous to the other party. Next enters the “Cattle Baron,” not a warrior bold like the knights of old, but a true knight of “skinning the cat”; in some mysterious way known only to the adherents of “ad dition, division and silence” they got control of millions of acres of public lands, far from the haunts of men, the reach of the humane society, or tax gatherer, where they could turn hun dreds of thousands of cattle on the old buffalo ranges to “rustle,” let ten to thirty per cent of them die and still WATSON’S WEEKLY JEFFERSONIAN. Arkansas —J. B. Lewis, president, Jonesboro, Ark.; Ben L. Griffin, secre tary-treasurer, Conway, Ark. Indiahoma —J. A. West, President, Shawnee, O. T.; B. C. Hanson, secre tary-treasurer, Shawnee, O. T. Louisiana —L. N. Holmes, president, Bernice, L,; J. W. Boyett, Jr., sec treasurer, Tanhill, La. Mississippi—J. M. Bass, president; Hazlehurst, Miss.; G. W. Russell, sec retary-treasurer, Hazlehurst, Miss. Tennessee —J. E. Montgomery, pres ident, Greenfield, Tenn.; J. T. Brooks, secretary-treasurer, Atwood, Tenn. Texas —E. A. Calvin, president. Dal las, Texas; B. F. Chapman, secretary treasurer, Dallas, Texas. South Carolina —O. P. Goodwin, president, Anderson, S. C.; B. F. Earl, secretary-treasurer, Anderson, South Carolina. turn out a three year old steer cheap er than a small farmer could a goat, with his capital in plant, paying tax es on everything. The farmer standing for the law of contract, the survival of the fittest, and that “every man take his med icine” promptly faced about, quit rais ing steers, went in for butter, and if in the corn belt, bought feeders through his commission man to eat his surplus corn. Not long after this the small farm er began to take notice. Butter that was not butter came on the market in large quantities. To illustrate, it was said that one “dairy” near a large city owned thirty cows and shipped ten cars or more butter per day. At this point the farmer claimed a foul, and after much effort has whatever protection the law under present con ditions will give him, that is: the packer’s butter is taxed and required to be sold for what it is. Now, the Cattle Baron has passed away. The production of beef has got back to the small farmer, adversi ty has given him the skim milk calf and he ought to get on. Still there is a feeling of unrest, doubt; no man will speak for tomorrow. What is it? Let us talk frankly nor aught set down in malice. As we see it, it is the blind arbitrary rule of power, con tempt of wholesome restraint, indif ference to the good of the whole. It began with the declaration of one railroad president, “the people be damned,” echoed a score of years la ter by another, “if you don’t like our road, walk,” followed by the system that sends the small proprietor to the meat block as in Mr. Hough’s picture, “afraid to talk because he has a family.” It is the disappearance of the individual, the small proprietor in to employes, it is the subversion of law. We delegate power to govern, instead of civic virtue we are given to moral degeneracy, the disappear ance of free speech, freedom of the press, and liberty. From the statesmen of our boyhood who came from congress and said , to us we are wrong in this, and this, let us reason together and get right, at first emissaries were sent among us to find out our particular hobby so as to agree with us thus “keeping on top.” Now not even this is done. Money is unblushingly sent through barely disguised channels to pay the election expenses of enough members to the state legislature to control that body. We select a young man of good mor als, a self respecting citizen to rep resent us in our state legislature, to make laws just to all and help elect a man to represent us in that body, fond ly supposed to be the most profound and patriotic on earth, the United States senate. Our young representative knows whom we prefer, we have too much re spect for him to instruct him. Before he goes to the senatorial caucus we ask him as to his choice. To our astonish ment “he has not made up his mind,” pressed a little harder he admits that he doesn’t know, that he would follow the lead of Governor this, State Sen ator that, or Congressman the other; that all he does know is that whoever is elected will be “a corporationist.” Right here is an object lesson. A young man at the threshold before whom is a long useful career, an hon orable old age, who stands with down cast eyes abashed, knowing that he in a moment of weakness, hardly real izing what he is doing, has wronged his friends, neighbors, country, and sold the only thing making one man as good as another for a mess of pot tage. But to go back to the price of beef, we take off our hats to Mr. Swift and others composing the “big six” whose “ante” is in the big game “and always up” and say that to our unskilled minds it is wonderful how the prof its on hogs dying in transit could put a man into the big game in one generation, or it would be instruct ive and entertaining to follow the rise of “the young man who peddled beef from a wagon in New England” to a seat at the same table, in fact to preside over the game. But however these things are, you are in many ways public benefactors and far and away the best of the lot. Only you appear to think it ncessary to go into a sort of offensive and defensive partner ship with “Big Business” whose meth ods from our point of view lead to inevitable disaster. Right here we want to say to “Big Business” that as we are able to see it you at this moment are more vitally interested in a “square deal” than all other citi zens in the country. We beg you to stop while there is yet time. The country is willing to reaffirm the doc trine that we are confronted with a “condition and not a theory,” let the dead past bury its dead, begin from a new base, keep your money, you have enough, govern the country in such away as to give to all persons, rich and poor, exact justice, no more, no less. Mr. Swift seeks a new and extended market through reciprocity. This would only help a little, a few, why not go to the root of the mat ter and cut out whatever is wrong? You can’t take money from the poor in every way and every day with one hand, give it to higher education with the other, and get us to call It Benev olence. There has recently come among us the American Farm Prod ucts Company, among other things buying milk, recently a few of its patrons being dissatisfied with their rating asked that part of the execu tive branch of our state government, whose business It is to do these things, test their milk; the test was made