Jasper County Democrat, Volume 5, Number 4, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 May 1902 — BUTTER PRICES BOOSTED. [ARTICLE]

BUTTER PRICES BOOSTED.

Oleo Bill S;a'd to Have Been the Cause of ftie Skyward Advance. While meat has been climbing up in price and the federal government preparing to investigate the cause, butter, too, has been busy. The antics of this staple have been acrobatic enough to puzzle everybody not engaged in the business. The oleomargarine interests declare the price has been boosted by the butter speculators in anticipation of the passage of the Grout bill by Congress. This is denied by the dairymen. The fact remains, however, that on April 17 butter sold for cents in Chicago, the highest price spring butter has brought in Chicago since 1893. The price of butter began to advance when. the Senate took up the bill to place a tax of 10 cents a pound on oleomargarine “colored in imitation of butter.” The price of the commodity declined to 29 cents April 12, rose to 31>£ cents April 17, and after a storm had been roused by the high prices of butter dropped to 27 cents April 19. This the opponents of the Grout bill assert was directly due to fears of the butter men that the bill would fail to pass if the high prices kept up. Here is a comparative table of butter prices from the Chicago Dairy Produce, the organ of the butter interests: Cents.! Cents. April IT, 1893. ...33 {April 11, 1898 20 April 16, 18M....23 I April W, ISOO 20 April I*. 1895 ...20 April 9, 1900 20% April 13. 1896....20 April 8, 1901 20% April 12, 1897....1T%|April 14. 1902 29% The price this year is higher than at any comparative period since 1893. The prices then were ascribed to droughts and high prices l*or grain an’d the butter men say these same causes have boosted the price again.