The dealers of the stockyards, let us say, gradually evolved a perfect understanding among themselves as to what cattle prices ought to be at the Eastern end of the rails.

They have always pleaded poverty and explained the extremely small margin of profit under which they have operated.

Of course, the repeated turn-over in their business has been an enormous thing; and their industry, since the invention of refrigerator cars and the shipment of dressed beef in tins, has been one which has extended to all the corners of the world.
The great packers would rather talk of "by-products" than of these things.

Always they have been poor, so very poor! For a time the railroads east of the stockyard cities of Kansas City and Chicago divided up pro rata the dressed beef traffic.

Investigation after investigation has been made of the methods of the stockyard firms, but thus far the law has not laid its hands successfully upon them.
Naturally of late years the extremely high price of beef has made greater profit to the cattle raiser; but that man, receiving eight or ten cents a pound on the hoof, is not getting rich so fast as did his predecessor, who got half of it, because he is now obliged to feed hay and to enclose his range.