SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART VII 391 



build up the association, so that this increased expense may be met 

 readily and without embarrassment to your board of directors. 



Perhaps the most important event occurring during the summer, 

 affecting the stock men's interests, was the formation at Chicago, in 

 June, of what is known as the National Live Stock Shippers' Protective 

 League. This organization is composed of all of the important state 

 and national associations of stosk men, along with representatives of 

 several of the state railway commissions in the middle-west, who are 

 in sympathy with our aims, and representatives from several of the 

 big packing concerns. This league was formed for the purpose of tak- 

 ing up questions of national importance which affect and militate 

 against the farmer and stock man, such as the general investigation of 

 and increase in live stock rates; the uniform live stock contract; the 

 Cummins amendment; legislation alfecting the live stock industry, 

 and all such matters pertaining to the business. It was felt that by 

 the co-operation and unification of all of these various organizations, 

 a much more intelligent and successful fight could be made than if 

 each was acting independently, on the theory that Av'here there is unity 

 there is strength, and I think you will agree with us that that is true. 



After this league was formed, the next question was to provide a 

 plan to finance the proposition, or, in other words, to provide funds 

 with which to carry on its work. It is impo;3sible to do anything along 

 this line without funds. So it was finally agreed by the executive 

 committee, of which your president is a member, to ask the stock men 

 and shippers to the various markets to contribute five cents per car, 

 the same to be deducted from their account sales by the various com- 

 mission firms and turned over to the, treasurer of the league. I be- 

 lieve you will agree with the committee that this was the most feas- 

 ible and practical way to finance such an undertaking, as the small 

 amount asked for could not become burdensome to anyone, and this in- 

 significant assessment of five cents per car would, in the aggregate, 

 provide sufficient funds to meet the necessary expense. All of the 

 different live stock exchanges except Chicago have uniformly adopted 

 and are collecting the five-cent charge. The Chicago exchange, for 

 various reasons, has failed to adopt this rule, and its members are not 

 uniformly collecting the charge. A committee of stock men, of which 

 your president was a member, has made, during the fall and winter, 

 some three or four visits to the Chicago exchange, and presented this 

 matter to the various firms there, and has finally secured, by mutual 

 consent, the signatures of some seventy odd of the firms doing busi- 

 ness there, to an agreement to collect the five cents per car charge, but 

 about ten or twelve firms are still holding out against it. In this con- 

 nection, I would like to suggest that if any infiuence or pressure could 

 be brought to bear by our members upon these firms, I believe it should 

 be done, in order, if possible, to make the collection of the charge uni- 

 form. 



Now, just a few words about the Cummins amendment, and the 

 valuation clause in the live stock contracts. It will be remembered 



