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Show MEATY FACTS An unprecedented rphenomenon has occurred during the past few years. It might be said that America has become morbidly statistic conscious. People watch reports on crops, car production, consumption, con-sumption, livestock population and a thousand other items with the same fascination they watch baseball scores. Anyone with an ax to grind can capitalize to his heart's content on this preoccupation with statistics. Statistics can be distorted to prove anything any-thing shortages, abundance, high prices or low prices. Even where intent is above question the citing of bare statistics is tricky business. For example, ex-ample, there have been reams of statistics quoted in the press on the meat supply in this country. Judging by some of the reports, we should have had a dozen meat famines over the past few years. But the housewife house-wife still trots clown to the store and comes home with meat. She can get good quality meat that has been prepared under the most stringent sanitary requirements at prices that are not out offline in the light of existing conditions. And statistics notwithstanding, not-withstanding, there is reason to believe she will continue con-tinue to do so. The outlook for overall meat production is reasonably good. Slaughter supplies of hogs may be two to four per cent smaller than last summer. Slaughter supplies of well-finished cattle probably will be much smaller this summer than last, but this decrease will be offset in part at least by marketings of grass fed cattle. When it comes to a meat supply, the diet of our citizens is unsurpassed. The meat industry, from farmers and packers to consumers, offers a remarkable demonstration of the free market in which production is encouraged as contrasted with black markets which flourish on artifically frozen prices and dwindling supplies. And statistics can't change this fact. |