OLEOMARGARINE. 251 



State of Pennsylvania. I think I can safely say that there are at least 

 from 1,000,000 to 2,000,000 of independent farmers in the United 

 States interested in the passage of this Grout bill. I do not think 

 there are that many engaged in the business in the cotton business in 

 the South. 



Mr. SPRINGER. The cotton business of the South produces an enor- 

 mous yield, amounting to several hundred millions of dollars a year. 



Mr. KAUFFMAN. Yes. 



Mr. SPRINGER. And the people engaged in raising live stock hogs 

 and cattle I can not tell how many they are, but they represent a cap- 

 ital in that business of over $600,000,000. They are all on record in 

 opposition to this legislation; and you will find it is a great mistake 

 and misleading the public to say that the farmers are all supporting 

 this measure. 



Mr. MASSEY. Is it not true that in the West the raisers of hogs are 

 largely dairymen ? The daymen all raise hogs, do they not ? 



Mr. SPRINGER. Oh, yes; they raise some of the hogs that go to the 

 local market. But the National Livestock Association represents all 

 those associations for the meat market. They are all arrayed against 

 this proposition. 



Mr. KNIGHT. Mr. Springer, may I ask you a question ? 



Mr. SPRINGER. Certainly. 



Mr. KNIGHT. Have the live stock association ever had the dairy- 

 men's side of the question before them? Has this bill ever been 

 explained from the dairymen's standpoint to the live stock asso- 

 ciation ? 



Mr. SPRINGER. They are all reading men, and they all understand 

 this legislation, and they have been following it for years; and now 

 they have become aware of the fact that this legislation is inimical to 

 their institutions, to their business. They want to enter their appear- 

 ance before this committee; and throughout the country, from this 

 time forward, they propose to give you gentlemen "a Roland for your 

 Oliver." They are going to contest this legislation in Congress and 

 in the States, because it does depreciate the value of the live stock of 

 the country, in which they are interested. And it is so with the cotton 

 men of the South. You will find them as a unit upon this subject. 



Mr. KAUFFMAN. Now, Mr. Chairman, permit me to say this : My 

 friend Mr. Springer has called attention to the great amount of money 

 invested in the cattle interest. That is not the question. The ques- 

 tion is one of righteousness, of judgment, of equity. Is it right for 

 the United States Government to sanction a fraud ? 



Mr. SPRINGER. That point you make now. You made the other 

 before that the people who are interested in this matter were numer- 

 ous, and they were farmers, and good people ; and upon that argu- 

 ment I want to put these other men on the other side. You have no 

 right to claim that the farmers of this country are supporting this 

 legislation. 



Mr. EDSON. Mr. Springer, is it not a matter of record that the vol- 

 ume of business done in butter in the United States every year is 

 heavier than that done in wheat ? I have heard that it was. 



Mr. SPRINGER. Yes; and it is getting heavier every year, too, and 

 prices are getting better every year. In the face of all this clamor 

 about injury to your institutions, you are getting better prices for 

 your butter now than you ever did, and making more out of it. 



