Conference at Rawlins, Wyo., October 30, 1919-Continued. Page. 537 542 545 Additional statement of Mr. Burrough, Quaker City, Ohio‒‒‒‒ 566 Mr. Carl R. Scott, Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa-- Mr. W. C. Coffey, University of Illinois, Urbana, Ill_ Mr. L. L. Heller, Chicago, Ill_--- 579 581 582 585 Further statement of Mr. John D. Holliday, Chicago, Ill_ 588 590 PUBLIC CONFERENCES WITH THE UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION ON THE WOOL-GROWING INDUSTRY IN THE UNITED STATES. INTRODUCTORY NOTE. In this appendix is given verbatim the most important portions of the information gathered by the Tariff Commission in its public conferences held on the wool-growing industry at Albuquerque, N. Mex.; Flagstaff, Ariz.; Salt Lake City, Utah; Boise, Idaho; Rawlins, Wyo.; Columbus, Ohio; Chicago, Ill. These conferences were open to the public and all interested were invited to attend and submit any data which they might desire. The Commission takes no responsibility for any of the statements made at these conferences. The Commission believes, however, that the parties interested in an industry are entitled to state their case, and in these conferences, as in others which the Commission has held the information given has been of great assistance to the Commission and has formed a practical foundation upon which it could prepare its reports. CONFERENCE AT ALBUQUERQUE, N. MEX., OCTOBER 18, 1919. STATEMENT OF MR. PRAGER MILLER, PECOS VALLEY WOOL GROWERS' ASSOCIATION, ROSWELL, N. MEX. Commissioner CULBERTSON. Mr. Miller, where do you live? Mr. MILLER. In the Pecos Valley of southeastern New Mexico. I might state here the reasons for the present high cost of production in my locality. The range situation has become such that the overhead expenses in running our flocks are enormous. The question naturally arises: Can we reduce the cost of producing wool by eliminating any of these expenses? I think we can not, because the country is gradually being taken up and consequently it looks as though the price of land would rise unless some condition arises to retard that development. Commissioner CULBERTSON. The uncertain factor in the situation in your locality is the land question, is it? Mr. MILLER. That is the biggest problem facing the wool growers. Commissioner CULBERTSON. Has the 640-acre homestead act had anything to do with the situation? Mr. MILLER. The 640-acre homestead act has not had any effect in my district, because the homesteads generally have not been designated, and perhaps never will be. If they should be, it would cramp us badly. Commissioner CULBERTSON. Land in your locality is Government land? Mr. MILLER. Mostly that; we have purchased and leased some land from the State. Commissioner CULBERTSON. When did you start in the wool business, Mr. Miller, and how large an outfit did you have? Mr. MILLER. In the year 1907 I was engaged in business with my father and we had 20,000 head of sheep, principally Rambouillets. Commissioner CULBERTSON. Have you changed the breed in any appreciable extent since that time? Mr. MILLER. Yes, sir; we have bred Delaines with Rambouillets, producing what we term "Rambouillet-Delaine" sheep. Commissioner CULBERTSON. What was the reason for putting that type in? Mr. MILLER. For the reason that the range to lamb on is so uncertain that we naturally depend on our wool clip. If we preserve our grown sheep we always have our wool, whereas we are never certain of a lamb crop. Commissioner CULBERTSON. Did the Delaine increase the weight of your fleece and the quality of the wool? Mr. MILLER. It did both, and the Rambouillet strain produced a larger sheep. Commissioner CULBERTSON. Did the coming of free wool in 1913 affect your policy toward your flocks? Mr. MILLER. I anticipated breeding more for mutton, but, with the demand for wool, resulting from the World War, we naturally obtained larger prices than we anticipated, and, for that reason, we are still breeding for wool. Commissioner CULBERTSON. Was there not a general tendency in your locality in 1913, as a result of free wool, to turn to mutton breeds? Mr. MILLER. Yes, sir; and not only that, a good many men sold out, anticipating lower prices. Commissioner CULBERTSON. That tendency was arrested by the breaking out of the war? Mr. MILLER. Yes, sir; because the war increased the price. Commissioner CULBERTSON. If free wool continues and international trading is restored, will there again be a tendency in your locality toward mutton breeds? Mr. MILLER. If the importation of foreign wools into this country is allowed unconditionally and without limit, there certainly will be a tendency to go back to mutton breeds. Commissioner CULBERTSON. If you go back to mutton breeds, will it cost more to run them than the type you run now? Mr. MILLER. That would depend entirely upon the lambing crop. If we decreased our wool and then failed in lambing, we would be in a worse condition than ever. It costs us more to run these sheep per year. Commissioner CULBERTSON. Will you describe the type of management followed-running of the flocks, water supply, methods of breeding, and the conditions surrounding the sheep industry in your locality? Mr. MILLER. Sheep are generally run in camps of from two to three bands1,000 to 1,200 sheep to a band-with a wagon, a sheep boss, a cook, and a herder for each band, who stays with his flock day and night. feeding on a real sheep range we have to forage 40 or 50 miles. provisions, salt, feed, and other commodities at a cost to-day of 75 cents a hundred. To get to good All the springs in my locality were taken up by homesteaders several years ago, so we have gone into undeveloped country and sunk wells, some as deep as 1,200 feet. These wells, big cement tanks, and pumping plants necessitate a great deal of expense. Commissioner CULBERTSON. Does that eliminate the small grower? Mr. MILLER. There are very few small growers in my part of the country, because they can not stand the overhead expense. Commissioner CULBERTSON. Do sheep live on the range the year round in your country or do you have to ship to other points? Mr. MILLER. They live on the range except during a drought. During the last drought there were thousands of sheep shipped out to graze in other parts of the country. Commissioner CULBERTSON. What have you done in the way of grading wool? Mr. MILLER. We have so many different grades of wool in our flocks it would be unwise to grade it without scouring, and we have no scouring plant. Commissioner CULBERTSON. Are there any scouring plants in New Mexico? Mr. MILLER. Yes; at Albuquerque. Commissioner CULBERTSON. Have you considered the question of skirting the wool, as they do in Australia? Mr. MILLER. We have considered it, but it does not pay. Several of us took out the tailings and skirts, but we didn't get any more for our wool than we did before. The buyers wouldn't consider it. They have asked us to pack it as we have always done. Commissioner CULBERTSON. Do you sell wool on consignment to eastern concerns? Mr. MILLER. Nearly all of the wool in my locality for the last 10 years has been concentrated in the Bond-Baker warehouses, from which it is sold on commission. They hold regular auction sales and sell to the highest bidder. These sales have been very successful. Commissioner CULBERTSON. You spoke of the range situation as being the most uncertain factor in your part of the country. Have you any suggestions as to how that situation might be relieved? Mr. MILLER. State control would be my first answer to that question. However, I do not think that is a popular solution of it. I would rather see the remaining public domain under Government control, as the national forests are, as I believe it would be more popular with stockmen than State ownership, but not with taxpayers. The foremost problem in increasing production is the range problem, and when that is solved it will give stability to the industry. Commissioner CULBERTSON. In what way would that increase production? Are not the ranges grazed to their maximum? Mr. MILLER. I believe not. Where you control your range you can run more sheep per section and with greater success. Commissioner CULBERTSON. Would that solution be agreeable to the cattlemen as well as the sheepmen? Mr. MILLER. I think so. STATEMENT OF MR. WILLIAM R. MORLEY, OF DATIL, N. MEX. Mr. MORLEY. The use of the forest reserves has been of inestimable value to me, but I am convinced that the remaining public domain should be turned over to the State in which it lies. I favor each State leasing land to the stockmen, as against the permit system of the Forest Service. In that way the lands would produce a direct revenue to the State, whereas the Federal Government is now receiving the bulk of the revenue. Forty-two per cent of the area of New Mexico is Government land and nontaxable, so the live-stock industry of the State pays over half of the taxes. It has to bear the expenses for the entire area of the State, including this 42 per cent, which in justice to the other taxpaying property of the State, should bear its equitable burden. Under the permit system I am told that I can run so many sheep per acre. This whole system is governed by a series of regulations and limitations which conflict with the practical stockman's experience. Various officials and rangers send him information and decide on the carrying capacity of his range. The stockmen conform to the regulations of the forest reserve, and, in a majority of cases, profit from the fact that the forest reserve prevents predatory stock from eating out their ranges. |