a
MAT, 111!
Union Among Stockmen
Call for Co-operation and United Art Ion by Persons En
gaged in Live Stock Industry
Benefits of Membership
A Few Keasons Why Nebraska Ranchmen Should Join the
Nebraska Stork Growers Association
i .
In I'nlon Ik Strength
Again we are sending forth a call
for Nebraska ranchmen, and partic
ularly cattle men, who are not mem
bers of the Nebraska Stock Orowres
Association, to look to their own In
terests by uniting with this organlaa
toln. There are quite a number of
different live stock organizations in
this state, but still it is evident that
there ought to be closer union among
the live stock Interests.
Persons who are not posted on
what has already been accomplished
by the Nebraska Slock Growers As
sociation will be surprised by ,n In
vestigation. We dare say that there
H not a similar organization in Ne
braska that baa accomplished half as
much in proportion to the number of
members and the cost of conducting
the affairs of the association. While
tbe expenses of the organization
have been borne by comparatively
few (the membership being compos
ed of only a small part of the ranch
men of the state), the work done has
not only more than repaid the mem
bers, but has either directly or in
directly benefitted those who are not
members.
It is a lamentable fact that only a
part of those ranchmen who have
their brands recorded in the office of
the Secretary of State, as provided
by law, are members of the Nebras
ka Stock Growers Association. If
others understood the situation bet
ter, they would unite with the Asso
ciation: and our object In presenting
this and other similar articles thri.
The Nebraska Stockman and The Al
liance Herald Ih to give informatioi
to ranchmen and others who are
reached by these papers.
As we said thru these columns a
year ago, Nebraska is called an ag
ricultural state, but it Ib more than
that. It la one of the leading stock
growing states. There is no part of
the state where the raising of live
stock is not an important Industry,
but in a large part of the state stock
raisins is of vastly more importance
than crop growing. As the. land be
comes deeded eventually that Which
Ih good only, or principally, for graz
inn will go bac kinto the hands of
stockmen, under deeds from the
homesteaders: and wheu they own
the land they will raise a better
grade of stuff than they did with free
range and free pasture. This with
belter winter feed and care will im
mensely increase the value of the
products of the "ranch country";
while cattle and hogs will never
cease to be raised in abundance in
those parts of our state where corn
und alfalfa are the leading agrieul
tural products.
Organization a flood Thing
This is an age In which Interests
succeed, not by fighting among them
selves or being indifferent towards
each other, but by working together
for the accomplishment of a given
purpose. Co-operation among those
engaged in the same industry or bus
iness spells success.
Organization is an important fac
tor for the promotion of co-operation.
It is not possible to obtain as
groat results without proper organ
isation as tvitb it. For this reason
we stroiiKly advl ,e all Nebraska
stockmen to Join the Nebraska Stock
Growers Association. The cost of
membership is Insignificant , in pro
portion to the benellts derived, and
the larger the membership the less
will be the cost to the individual
member. The splendid work of the
association and the benefits to the
live stock interests of the state are
not as fully appreciated as they
should be.
If you want to know more about
the Nebraska Stock Growers Associ
ation and its members, read The Ne
braska Stockman.
legislation and (Jimrantine
Matters of legislation arise from
time to time affecting the live stock
Industry. Stockmen know better
than anybody else what is to their
Interests and to what they are entit
led. An individual request or pro
test has little or no weight compared
with the influence of a demand from
a nonpartisan organization composed
of leading citizens of the state.
There have been times when the
work of the association in matters
pertaining to the eradication of dis
ease .quarantine, etc., hare been of
more value to the live stock interests
than the cost of running tbe organ
ization. The officers are men of ex
ecutive ability who are competent to
handle matters coming before them
for their attention. They should
have the backing of all who are in
terested in animal industry.
.. "Do It Now"
This issue of the paper is sent to a
lumber of ranchmen who are not
Members of .the Nebraska Stock
rowers Association. No doubt
iiany of them will decide to join the
association .but "procrastination is
the thief of time." NOW is the
time to take some action in the mat
ter. The payment of annual dues
entitles to membership from the time
of the annual convention in June to
the next annual convention the fol
lowing June. There is encourage
ment in numbers. If you have de
cided to become a member, write IM
MEDIATELY to Hon. Chas. C. Jame
son, Secretary, Ellsworth, Nebr., and
inform him of your Intention. If
you choose to do so, you may enclose
your check for dues at the rate of
12.50 plus three cents per head of
horses and cattle assessed in Nebras
ka this year. The check will be
credited on dues for the year com
mencing at the cloBe of the annual
convention next month. By all
means write at once and inform the
secretary of your intention to Join
the association. Any information of
this kind sent to the editor of The
Nebraska Stockman or to The Alli
ance Herald, both of which papers
are issued from the office of the Her
ald Publishing Co., will be reported
to tbe secretary of the association.
Use the application blank printed
elsewhere in this paper.
And don't forget to attend the an
nual convention to be held in Alli
ance, June 20 to 24, the business ses
sions of the executive committee and
the annual meeting of the association
to be held Tuesday and Wednesday,
(Continued on page 3,)
Large Ileturns from Brand Iiim tl.;i
Uesides the advantages that ordin
arily accrue by organized co-op--ra-tion
to persons engaged in the ...a me
line of business, there is one partic
ular benefit derived by ranchmr.
thru the Nebraska Stock Growers
Association that on an average re
pays many times over the annual cost
of membership, and that Is the re
coveries made, thru brand inspec
tion, of cattle lost as Btrays, to say
nothing of the very valuable protee
tlon against loss by stealing.
If Nebraska stockmen, especially
cattle and horse men, knew more of
the good work done by the Nebraska
Stock Growers Association ami Hp
benefits already derived from the
service rendered by the organization,
and If they understood fully the work
yet to bo done by the association, we
doubt not thRt the membership
would be doubled or trebled within
a very short time, as It should be.
We have in previous Issues given
reasons why the membership of the
N. S. G. A. ought to be largely in
creased, and give a few herewith.
We shall publish more detailed in
formation on some points In succeed
ing issues of this paper.
Expenses of the Association
The expenses of the association
and its work are paid by a compar
atively few, the membership being
only about four hundred. There are
more than three thousand persons in
Nebraska engaged in stock raising,
or directly Interested in the industry,
who ought to be members of the as
sociation. If they would all join for
the ensuing year by the time of the
annual convention in June, the mem
bership fee could.be reduced to an
amount that would be insignificant.
The annual dues for each member
at the present time are $2.50 plus
three cents per head of cattle a 114!
horses assessed in the state at the
last assessment. The average num
ber of head owned by the members
is about 350, or perhaps a little less.
The average annual dues is now
about $12.50. With the member
ship doubled the expenses of the as
sociation would not be materially in
creased, hence the average member
ship dues would be practically cut in
two, making only a little more than
six dollars for the man with three
hundred and fifty to four hundred
head of stock, less than two cents per
head.
With the membership increased
five-fold, as it should be, the expens
es of the association wou'il not be
more than double what they are now.
In fact would not be double, so that
the average dues would be but litt'ei
more than one cent per lr-a I. prac
tically nothing to the prosperous
stockman.
Some readers may wan' to km-w i
why the expenses of the as-wi:t!on
will be increased only a compwatlv -ly
small amount even with a lar e
increase in the - eir.bTship. The
reason is that some of the expens'-s
of conducting the affairs of the asso
ciation are the same, or about the
same, with a small membership that
they would he with a lartje membership.
The main Item of expense Is that
paid for brand Inspection at the open
markets. This expense Is, In fact,
more than all the other expenses of
the association combined. A lump
sum is paid, so much per year with
out reference to the number of head
inspected or the number of members
of the association. Hence It is easy
to see how an Increase in the num
ber of members of the association
will decrease the annual dues per
member.
Benefits of Brand Insetioii
As to the benefit of brand Inspec
tion, no stockman who has received
Its protection would think of being
without it for the small cost of mem
bership in the Nebraska Stock Grow
ers Association. The direct benefits
derived from brand Inspection are
for the members of the association,
but other stockmen are Indirectly
benefitted, as we will show, and
ought to help bear the expense. The
law of Nebraska provides for the re
cording of stock brands in the office
of the secretary of state. Every
ranchman in the state who has his
brand recorded, and re-recorded ev-.
ery period of five years, is legally en
titled to the exclusive use in Nebras
ka of the brand or brands so record
ed. All branded cattle shipped from
Nebraska to South Omaha and other
open markets are Inspected by ex
pert brand inspectors, who are pro
vided with an abstract of the brands
of the members of the Nebraska
Stock Growers Association, the ex
pense of the inspection being paid by
the association from funds derived
from the annual dues.
When cattle are found in any ship
ment bearing a brand that belongs
to a member of the N. S. O. A. but
not to the shipper, unless the ship
per can show a bill of sale for them,
they are cut out and the money for
them Is returned to the owner In
stead of being paid to the shipper.
It would surprise most people to
learn how many cattle are found In
shipments where they do not belong
jnd how much money is returned
each year . to the rightful owners.
Some years the amount runs into the
hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Cattle get Into wrong shipments in
two ways, by mistake and b'y being
stolen, most frequently by mistake.
Brands are some times indistinct and
can be accurately discerned only by
removing the hair, as is done when
necessary by the official brand in
spectors at the stock yards. Est rays
get. among the cattle of ranchmen
who do not know but what they are
part of their herds; and even if they
do know that the cattle are not
theirs, it is ditticult for them to as
certain' to whom they belong unless
the owner is a member of the asso
ciation. Brand Inspection Stops
Cattle Stealing
There was a time before the Ne
braska Stock Growers Association
was organized when rustling cattle
was an important industry in this
state. It is still carried on to some
extent, but the wise thief avoids tak-
(Cuntiuued on page 8.)