OLEOM AEG A BINE. 587 



ot February 15 exposes the fallacy of this argument in an able edi- 

 torial, from which we quote the following extract: 



The National Live Stock Association, at its recent meeting at Fort Worth, Tex., 

 passed a lengthy and stringent resolution condemning proposed oleomargarine leg- 

 islation. This resolution, as it appears in the circular letter sent out over the name 

 of President Springer, is a remarkable document remarkable alike for its arraign- 

 ment of one class of agriculturists by another and in its disregard for facts in its 

 general narration. 



Some of the false " statements of fact" in the general narration are as follows: 



"The 'butter fat ; of an average beef animal, for the purpose of making oleomar- 

 garine, is worth from $3 to $4 per head more than it was before the advent of oleo- 

 margarine, when the same had to be used for tallow; which increased value of the 

 beef steer has been added to the market value of the animal, and consequently to the 

 profit of the producer. To legislate this article of commerce out of existence, as 

 the passage of this law would surely do, would compel slaughterers to use this fat 

 for tallow, and depreciate the market value of the beef cattle of this country $3 to 

 $4 per head, which would entail a loss on the producers of this country of millions 

 of dollars. 



" The use of this fat for the purpose set forth is an encouragement to the producer 

 to improve his herd and raise a class of grade or thoroughbred cattle capable of mak- 

 ing and carrying this fat, rather than the common or scrub animal, which is so hard 

 and unprofitable to fatten ; and the cattle raiser or producer has come to know the 

 value of this product, and that the amount of the increase in the market value of his 

 matured animal depends somewhat on the value of the 'butter fat' carried by the 

 animal." 



To show the absurdity of the above statements it is only necessary to call atten- 

 tion to the fact that every steer or cow butchered by manufacturers oi oleomargarine, 

 if good enough to sell for " dressed beef/' is sold with the kidney tallow in the 

 quarters. This being true, nothing but the "gut fat "remains in the packinghouse. 



Therefore every oleo manufacturer that ever lived and all his agents are chronic 

 liars, if gut fat of beeves and "butter lat" of oleomargarine are one and the same 

 thing. More than this, the gut fat of beeves averaged an many pounds per animal 

 in 1890 to 1896 as it does in 1900, and there were " workingmen and their dependen- 

 cies" (we quote from the resolutions) then as now, and oleo sold as a counterfeit 

 and substitute for butter then as now, without appearing to add materially to the 

 " market value of the animal, and consequently to the profit of the producer." (Cattle- 

 men will please take note that swine men claim that they are the people whosuffer- 

 from legislation which hampers the sale of bogus butter. Now, what is your " but- 

 t er fat " for oleomargarine? Is it gut fat of cattle or hogs' fat!) 



The next fact of importance in connection with the resolutions is the ignorance 

 of cattle breeding shown in the text, therefore the fair presumption that not live- 

 stock breeders, but a packing-house attorney, wrote the resolution. We call atten- 

 tion to the statement, " The use of this fat for the purpose set forth (making a 

 counterfeit of butter) is an encouragement to the producer to improve his herd and 

 raise a class of grade or thoroughbred cattle capable of making and carrying this 

 fat, rather than the common or scrub animal," etc. 



Every breeder of cattle understands that the value of improved breeds depends 

 on the capacity of the improved animal to give a larger proportion of cuts of good 

 meat to the rough fat (gut fat or "batter fat," just as you choose), and that the 

 chief objection to the scrub steer or dairy-bred steer is the excess of fat, as com- 

 pared with meat cuts, due largely to a failure of the scrub animal to carry the sur- 

 plus fat among tbe meat tissue. Hence the falsehood of the assertion that increase 

 of rough fat in beeves encourages improved breeding. 



This resolution seems to have been introduced to the stockmen's convention by 

 one C. W. Baker, of Illinois, and it seems to be one of those cases where the stock 

 men have been trapped into pulling the packing-house chestnuts out of the fire. 



STATEMENT OF CHARLES Y. KNIGHT. 



My business is that of editor of the Chicago Dairy Produce, a pub- 

 lication devoted to the dairy and butter business. I have for the 

 past three years been secretary of the National Dairy Union, an organ- 

 ization of farmers who keep cows, and others engaged in pursuits 

 allied therewith. This organization at present comprises about 30,000 

 members who are farmers, and they are scattered all over the United 

 States. The organization has for its aim the protection of producers 



