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Show ly,mreaa-e.e ... m- f LlMJL-WSBmBSamam a m HOLDUPS AND MEAT PRICES. . : A reaaanriag item appeared , in yesterday 'g ; paper to tha effect that ther might ba a alight advance ad-vance in meat, but nothing to'hnrtt N6w m 1200- pound fat steer sella on thia market at-. 4V2oi; a pound. They calculate that there will be 60 per , cent 6f that 1200pounds net after the by-producla are all "removed. Twelve" hiindreofpounde hi Vi ' a pound would ba 54. Of that the butchera, would ell to tha publie 720 pounds.. The :byproduet bring tha butcher 15. Now let any ona that buyi i a baef ateak every month or two figure, np what : tha profiu of that butcher must be,. But. then he doea not alwaya buy fat steera. He buya n? inr : ferior cattle from the range and they coat him 3Vie V a pound. Aa we figure it up, a 1200-pound ateer , coats $36. , Tha butcher aella 720,pounda of that at : aa average of 20c a' pound, which makea $144. Then he geU for the by-prodncti $W: That makea tl69. Deduet tha $56, the original coat, and it leaves him $103 net profit, or a little lesa than 200 per cent on hia original investment of $56. It ia awfully good of Mm to put H tn the -papers that thera .may -, ba a alight advance oa meat, but nothing to hurt.' . - Wa get aur figuraa from oaa who Jroowi, Wajo ;, haa been aelling cattle on the market for a good many years, and inowa whereof he ia apeaking. If .' the butcher bought tha. inferior beef,, aa most of ; tha butchers do, tha 120-pound animal would eoat him $42. which he sells fof $159, which leaves hint a - profit of $117 or a little over 200 per cent for anlfl' vestment of $42. ' Is it not good of him to comfort the people by telling them that if there ia a alight advance in meat, it will not he. enough to hurt. He must conclude, that the people hav bees banged ; about, ao .much .that, a amalC thing4 will hurt them. - . Wa di.aTt invstigat.how mnchnpttoa coata, orr6rk:br-horsed or4 bear. Vo"ai" " . above re th figure for tha baef. " r - - r ' Certainly -'euf readers will see 'how shamefully ' they are, being robbed and they otight to realize tbat'it ia. their W ian.lt, .- Ve do not charge all tha steal to the butchers, there must be soma raid die men who have to. hava raVeoffa ia order 4o live. Wa hava known a good many bntehera that rely on getting tha Dutchman's l'per cent, but 200 per cent ia a little atiff for tha most hardened of then. ' - If a holdup gfbps a man and takea $7 from him, tha police are put eo his track. ' If ha ia caught and convicted, punishment awaha him. But when the men who dea) in meats sell for $159 what eoeta them bnt 1.42. that only shows the difference ia the method meth-od of tha holdup. The. one . vrhp takee tha money ' from a man 'a pocket ia the meaneat kind -of a thief i but the gentleman who takes $159 for a few : of hia neighbors, $118 of which ia pure holdup,, ha ia not arretted, not tried, not convicted; rather he movea in the moat respectable society and he has found out that the bigger hia ateal, the mora respectable re-spectable he haa grown and he,' probably, b thia time i nursing the ambitions of being alderman or - mayor or deacon in the church, 'on the, iheory, bo .'doubt, that ," - "Heave will protect tk woikiag gir(.r . . .' It ia ao nutter about the men. ' . . ,. t Now, aa-wa hava often pointed out before, thia ia all in the hands of the people themselves. They could establish a food store and ael tha people for cash goods at about halt the price they now coat, and etni make a bigger profit thaa tha banker' ' makea whea he lends money to hia cuatomera. , And until they do, thia holdup will go on. JBut the nest j . time one of our judges ia aaked. to sentence, a holdup to the penitentiary 'for a.'ternj f 'yearaj when he ita him up to impose a aentenca upon him : ha ought to add to the adviee which judgea are ' prone to give, to try to keep hia health in the. penj;. teatiary, and whea he is released that he oughfto open a butcher ahop or a grocery etor, of eoroe other eatablisbment where he can rob the pebp)e v aad still be a respectable gentleman. |
