FROM PRODUCER TO CONSUMER 171 



through local public abattoirs. Inasmuch as the 

 Western ranges produce cattle for the entire coun- 

 try, the great packing establishments in Chicago, 

 Kansas City, Omaha, Fort Worth, and elsewhere 

 should be operated by the national government. 

 Only by such ownership can the cattle-grower be 

 shielded from the practices described in a previous 

 chapter, and the consumer be protected from mo- 

 nopoly prices. 



In addition slaughter-houses should be built and 

 operated by individual cities all over the country. 

 This would encourage the raising of cattle, hogs, and 

 sheep by local farmers, an industry which has been 

 killed by the railroads and the great packers of the 

 West. This would be a good thing for both con- 

 sumer and producer, while the diversification of 

 farming would not only make agriculture more 

 profitable, it would enrich the farm as well. More- 

 over, it is great waste to carry live cattle across the 

 country to be killed and back across the country 

 to be sold. This increases the cost; it insures a 

 control of the industry by the packers and owners 

 of the refrigerator-cars and forces the local butcher 

 to comply with the terms of the meat trust, which 

 drove the production of local beef out of the market 

 a generation ago. The local butcher had to buy 

 from the trust or be put out of business. If he re- 

 fused, the trust opened a competitive store and com- 

 pelled the local butcher to come to terms. Public 



