OCR Text |
Show Livestock: cyiio r who gets ttie i;r..r; iT of increased tariff duty on hide? :he hides to the best advantage and ('ls the leather to I lie best advan-meeting advan-meeting the compel ii ion of :v.:-ry so-called subsitutes fcr leather, including the snake family, particu-i l.irly in the manufacture of shoes; so! that the tanner has very little to say about the price of leather. The laws supply and demand still prevail and govern every feature connected con-nected with live stock production and the distribution of meat food products pro-ducts and while we may not be able to find the increased duty branded on each hide of the criiier purchased from day to day, yet we kn,v that it is a material factor and one of great benefit to the industry as a whole. it is good business to protect our basic industries and we should endeavor endea-vor to strc nglilhen the public confidence confi-dence in every feature of this important impor-tant industry from the grass roots to the table. In a recent newspaper article the question was raided as to how far the cowman will feci the cfi'tct of the higher tariff c:i foreivn hides in the sale of his cattle concludes that the packer will not increase the purchase price, notwithstanding the increased duty on the hide hence the public will pry the bill. In all of these "piest; -'ns we should form cur conclusions only after a careful analysis of the facts, keepin;: in mind that the best policy is thai which best serves, most of the people all of the time. The reason the duly should be increased on hides is- because be-cause the tanner c-m buy hides of foreign for-eign "takeoff" at a price lower than our cost of production, especially from the Argentine where production costs are lower than we can hope to ever approximate. Thus principal also governed gov-erned the Committees action in recommending re-commending an increased duty on livestock. Manifestly, the purpose of this is to protect one' of our greatest fundamental industries and an industry indus-try upon which successful agriculture has always depended. There is a natural difference of viewpoint between the producer and the ultimate consumer which can only be abridged by a complete understanding under-standing of our underlying structure, and we must barken to the fact that agricultural success is essential to our national welfare. Our ability to employ em-ploy labor and the efficiency of labor depend upon the ability of the farmer to buy manufactured products and to furnish an adequate food supply. to price possibilities and a surplus of any one thing is likely to br'ng down she price of other food products; so there is a decided limit in the selling price of baef, pork and mutton. It is reasonable to assume that, the increased duty on hides will be directly direct-ly reflected in the live stock industry cf this country because it is important in determining the amount of money obtained for the merchantable products pro-ducts of the bullock. The packer supposedly buys his live slock to the best advantage and sells his product to the best advantage. The ih'njr that influences the packer in his daily purchases is "what will the meat cost on the hook?" and this is determined by deducting the market value of the offal, including the hide, so that the more money the hide sells for the less the cost of the meat on the hook. The packer sells the meat to the consuming trade, realizing all that he can for his product and what he receives costitutes the market price for such products. If the hide sells at a low price it adds to the cost cf the meat on the hook and the difference must be absorbed ab-sorbed by the remaining products, if a less is to be avoided. Assuming that the increased duty on hides really means an increased cost of leather goods, is it not best tha this increase should be made in articles of occasional occasion-al purchase rather than in our daily meat food ration? The1 cattle interests of the country-appreciated country-appreciated the fact that without an increased tariff on hidss, the packer would immediately be confronted with The plowshare turned out of an Eastern steel plant must eventually find its way to the Western farm. So, at the outset we must agree that agriculture ag-riculture and industry are intimately and inseparably associated. Prices ot everything- we use have greatly advanced ad-vanced in recent years. On the other hand', these advances have been generally gen-erally met by increased income. Thus we find relativity. . ' Supply and demand will always regulate the ebb and flow of prices. Meat food products are sold in competition com-petition with every other kind of food product, one balancing the other as a loss in the sale of the hide and that this would work a hardship on the industry, in-dustry, undoubtedly resulting in less purchasing power tending to create a surplus out of what would ordinarily be a normal supply. Price slumps logically log-ically follow surpluses and are most keenly felt by the farmer. Thus the conclusion seems justified that the better the outlet for all of the products pro-ducts of the animal (each carrying its share of the load) the nearer the packer can come to an equitable distribution dis-tribution of costs and' stabilization of his business, all of which goes to the point of sustained purchasing power. The tanner also supposedly buys |