THE PACKERS AND THE CATTLEMEN 51 



keep the industry alive. Frequently they reduce it 

 below the production cost. This discourages cattle- 

 raising and creates a scarcity in subsequent years. 

 Then the price is raised again and the producers 

 take heart and increase their output.^ 



The packers also control the cold-storage plants, 

 the grain warehouses, and the refrigerator-cars, 

 which are important links in the system. This en- 

 ables the packers to destroy any independent com- 

 petitor; for he is obliged to come to them for cars. 

 And the refrigerator-car companies are in close aUi- 

 ance with the railroads through interlocking direc- 

 torates. The cold-storage-car monopoly enables the 

 packers to exact tribute from the small shipper and 

 makes him dependent upon their will. 



The cattlemen are coming to see that their only 

 hope of relief is through political action. They, too, 

 have come to realize that the abuses under which 

 they suffer are inherent in the private ownership of 

 the stock-yards and packing-houses. And they have 

 recommended that public abattoirs be established, 

 similar to those in other countries, to which they can 

 bring their cattle and sell them, not to a single 

 buyer but in the open market. Every nation in 

 the world, with the exception of the United States 



^ This is one of the main reasons for the falling off in cattle-raising. 

 We pay enough for meat at retail, and there is land enough all over 

 the country that could be used for raising cattle, yet the meat pro- 

 duced in 1909 was only a little over that of 1899, while the per capita 

 production for the country has fallen from 248 in 1899 to 219 in 

 1915. 



