io
JUNE, 1116
Valuable to Stockmen
Information Regarding the Service Rendered Shipper by
Live Htixk Exchanges Will Reget Appreciation
-!. " -.'.To
1
A. F. STRYKER, Secretary and Tradic Maiuier,
Omaha Live Stock Exchanpe
I'rivilie of (livinK Infoiniation
To have the privilege of dissemin
ating Information that helps to pro
mote and develop the live Btock in
dustry affords us great pleasure.
Having this opportunity puts upon us
the duty of making use of it.
From time to time, glowing ac
counts are published, and properly,
too, of the facilities at the large mar
kets for handling live stock and
transacting business; but the good
work that has been quietly done for
some years past by the live stock
raisers and shippers, has not been
given the publicity that It deserves.
Recently the editor requested Mr.
A. F. Stryker, secretary-traffic man
ager of the South Omaha Live Stock
Exchange, to write an article for pub
lication stating the practical opera
tions of live stock exchanges. Pur
suant to that request, Mr. Stryker
sent us the following letter:
Secretary Slrykers Letter
Omaha, Nebr.. May 27, 1916.
Mr. John W. Thomas,
Alliance, Nebr.
Dear Sir:
Referring to our several conversa
tions relative to an article which I
am to write concerning the live stock
exchnnges at the several public mar
kets, I hand you herewith a paper
read at the last meeting of the Nat
ional Live Stock Exchange by Mr. A.
C. Davenport, manager of the Journal-Stockman
published at South
Omaha, which in my Judgment more
fully, thoroughly and capably pre
sents the benefits of live stock ex
changes to the public than could any
paper I might write.
1 am going to ask you to substitute
,Mr. Davenport's paper for the one
which I was to write. This paper
has been very favorably commented
on throughout the United States. It
has th iDDrov&l of tha National Live
Stock SMbaaft, 1TM mil rclTd by
them and ought, coming as it does
from one outside the exchanges, car
ry considerable weight.
If you don't agree with me on this
matter and still want me to write an
article, I shall of course be glad to do
so. Yours truly,
A. F. STRYKER.
Secretary-Traffic Manager.
Replete With Information
The address of Mr. Davenport, to
which Mr. Stryker refers and which
follows, is replete with Information.
While we do not share the disparag
ing remarks which Mr. Stryker's
modesty prompts him to make re
garding his own ability as a writer,
we heartily endorse his commenda
tion of Mr. Davenport's address.
Persona who want information on
the subject of live stock exchanges In
general should not fail to read it.
Mr. Stryker has kindly consented to
furnish us an article descriptive of
some of the work of the South Oma
ha Live Stock Exchange, which will
be of special Interest to Nebraska
Stockmen.
Mr. Davenport's Address
Address delivered before the
annual meeting of the National
Live Stock Exchange at Cincin
nati, May 20, 1916, by A. C.
Davenport, general manager
Journal-Stockman.
The value of the Live Stock Ex
change Is fully appreciated by its
members and by all old-time shippers
who remember the disadvantages un
der which they labored before there
was such an institution to protect
their interests.
But a new generation of shippers
has grown into the business since the
exchange was organized, that is not
so familiar with old-time conditions.
It is to the new generation of ship
pers that my remarks are addressed.
f or tmrty years my newspaper
work baa kept me in touch with the
marteti whera lira stock and other
farm products are bought and sold.
Mr experience as a live stock report
er began Just before the Live Stock
Exchange was organised at South
Omaha so that I bad a good oppor
tunity of witnessing the chaotic and
unsatisfactory conditions then pre
vailing. At the same time, and for
many years after, I was a dally visit
or to markets handling other com
modities than live stock, where there
was no exchange, or at least none
with sufficient power to discipline un
scrupulous traders and prevent un
fair or dishonest operators from con
tinuing In business.
I believe that my experience and
the fact that I am not a member of
any exchange and hence unprejudic
ed, places me In a position to render
a fair and Impartial Judgment and I
can say without reservation "The
more I see of markets the more high
ly I value the live stock exchange."
but I will not nsk the new generation
of shippers to take my word for it.
I will present the proofs.
Why Kxchnnge Started
To give an adequate idea of the
VHlue of the Live Stock Exchange it
will be necesstiry to recount in brief
its early history. It cmue Into exist
ence not through the whim or fancy
of stock yards people. It was noi
called Into being I .. scheming or plot
ting buyers or sellers of live stock at
the big market centers. It was cre
ated In answer to a loud and distinr.
call from the country for relief.
Every old tinier will rememhei
that in the early days the buyer: liai
the whole say as to t ho shrink a re ot
hogs. A commission man would sell
a car and then would come a great
wrangle at the scales ns to how th
hogs should be docked.
It was surprising how many dock
able hogs those old-tinie buyers could
find in a car load, and the bulldoz
ing tactics that they could summon
to their nid in maintaining their de
mands were wonderfully effective.
Under such a system thM'e could lit
no Justice, no fairness. The count ry
got the worst of it all the time, and
commission men were powerless, act
ing as individuals, to protect their
patrons.
The situation at last became ab
solutely unbearable and the demand
for relief so strong that back in the
80s Chicago commission men began
taking steps looking toward a reme
dy for the evil. Meetings were held
and the packers called in to see if
some friendly arrangement could not
be made whereby the docking of hog
should be done by some disinterest
ed party, employed Jointly by com
mission men and packers, instead of
being left to the buyers alone. It
took a lot of hard work and a long
fight extending over several years.
but the commission men in the snd
carried the day.
The desired agreement was finally
made and in order to carry it out and
keep it alive a permanent organiza
tion was formed. For the want of a
better name the organization was
called the Live Stock Exchange.
There you have it, the whole Btory In
a few words.
The same system was adopted at
other market points which organized
live stock exchanges to carry on the
work. At first packers were mem
bers of the exchange, but later on
most of them dropped out so that the
exchange as it exists today is prac
tically a commission man's organiza
tion. Other Abuses Remedied
Although organized for the sole
purpose of supervising the dockage
of hogs it was only natural that other
abuses should be taken up from time
to time, and remedies found for
them. Thus it happened that the
exchange under the control of com
mission men, acting for the best in
terests of their patrons, became the
great exponent of better market con
ditions. Commission men banded together
and working shoulder to shoulder
through the exchange have been able
to secure results that never could
have been attained by the same com
mission men working as Individuals.
But what are the results, and what
is their value to the producer of live
tok?
To begin with the value of the live
stock exchange must be measured In
millions of dollars saved to the coun
try in the one item of hog dockage
alone. A disinterested expert at the
scales docks each car as it Is welsh
ed. If either buyer or seller Is dis
satisfied he can call upon a chief In
spector and if still dissatisfied he can
call upon an arbitration committee.
Think what such a system means
to the producer ns compared to the
old system where the buyer took all
the dock he wanted. Think of the
millions of cars of hogs sold at the
big market centers during the thirty
years elapsing since the exchange
came Into existence. Then think of
what the saving of a few pounds of
dockage per car on all this vast num
ber of hogs mans to thp country.
Again the Live Stock Exchange Is
of very great valiiv to the producer
of live stock because it fixes commis
sions. If any producer doubts this
let him read up on the past history of
live stock markets. Let him study
market cond'tions as they exist in
other lines than live stock where
commissions are not under regula
tion Unfair Methods of Old Days
Shiiipers who were in business be
fore t!ic exchange was organized will
envM' her the unfair and unbuslness
ike system of commissions that was
ii exi fence in the old days. One
.un with a big pull could get his
tock for little or nothing. Another
'l'Pl'er with less pull could perhaps
:et half commissions, while the smnll
diipper paid full commissions.
Attain cut-throat competition many
iniev caused the reduction of com
nisiot s below the actual cost of the
ervicp. With incomes reduced
. hroutth unbuslness-llke methods,
nid with no Regulation or supervis
on wlr tever, there was a strong in
entivc to indulge In transactions of
i decidedly questionable character to
make the. income balance the expense
account.
Unfair and uncommercial conduct
can be banished from the business
world only by placing business on a
business-like basis through suitable
regulation. The live stock exchange
has done this for the live stock com
mission business.
CouM anything be of greater val le
to the producer and shipper of live
stok than the absolute assurance,
backed by a powerful organization,
that his live stock will be sold open
ly and fairly to the highest bidder,
with no over charges to one or under
"hHrees tc another? But right here
is where the exchange had its first
and only controversy with tho coun
try. With the fixing of commissions
many shippers, especially those who
previously had the benefit of cut
commissions forgetting what it had
done for them in reducing dockage
on hogs, came back with the charge
that the live stock exchange was a
trust, and many of them gained the
impression that its whole aim and
object was the fixing of commissions
for the benefit of Its members. Un
fortunately various advances In com
missions necessitated by increased
service still further magnify this idea
especially in the minds of the new
generation of live stock shippers.
However, the question as to wheth
er commissions are too high does not
rightfully belong in a discussion as to
the value of the exchange. The size
of the commission charges will al
ways be open for controversy the
same as the question of wages be
tween employer and employe, but the
real value of the exchange is shown
in the fact that it fixes commissions
at a definite point, placing all ship
pers on the same basis, at the same
time nnttini? fl stnn tn Irratnilupitiuu
iiuu yuetsuonuuie pUfjUVMI- I'JcnOflS.
. (iuard Against Dishonest Men
Again the Live Stock Exchange
is of great value because it has raised
the standard of the character of the
men engaged in the live stock com
mission business. It has done this
by throwing every safeguard possible
around the admission of members so
that men of the get-rich-quick vari
ety, or men with a shady past, or
(Continued on pare 14)
