The Manhattan Mercury from Manhattan, Kansas • Page 7

Friday, July 27, 1973 The Manhattan Mercury B5 Even those who have it waiting for hamburger 1 I Ollf tL. -I 11 CITY (AP) Out where the beef grows, even many of those who have it are figuratively standing in line for hamburger. "I've sold more meat this week than any time since I came here 13 years ago," said Alvin Roepke who slaughters and cuts meats for home freezers at Waterville, Kan "To put it bluntly, it's just plumb crazy." Even if you are a farmer with a prime young steer, or a relative or friend of a farmer who will sell you one, Roepke can't get around to cutting it up, grinding it, wrapping it and freezing it for you until Aug. 14. Roepke is president of the Kansas Meat Processors Association, more than 160 locker and processing plants which specialize in meats for freezers.

Norvin Kampshroeder, who is executive secretary for the 137 members of the Missouri Locker and Meat Processing Association, expects to run out of beef at the end of next week at his plant at Washington, Mo. Kampschroeder has had more than 200 calls in the past week from people who wanted to order sides of beef. Ordinarily, he would have had about 20. "It's a little frantic," he said. "People are getting panicy." A somewhat larger and long-time operator in Kansas City, John Want campaign finances come from taxes not gifts TOPEKA, Kan.

(AP) Proposals that election campaigns be financed by taxation rather than contributions have been made before a special Kansas legislative committee. Other changes in the state's election laws to curb campaign contributions and expenditures were urged in testimony Thursday before the interim committee on elections. Don Richards, public relations man for the Menninger Foundation, noting an estimated $400 million was spent by candidates in the nation in 1972, told the committee, "This expenditure may be legal but I consider it almost immoral." Richards said he spoke as a "concerned citizen who's been brouwsing through the secretary of state's records" and didn't like what he saw. Others who appeared late Thursday included Mrs. Elwill Shanahan, secretary of state; and Ralph McGee, Kansas News Roundup more people to seek public office, and suggested allowing a $100 deduction on Kansas income tax returns to encourage more people to contribute to campaigns.

Bichelmeyer, stopped taking new orders for sides of beef on Wednesday when he built up a backlog that will keep him busy 30 to 45 he can get the cattle. You can call Scheerer's Freezer Meats, another big operation on the southeast fringe of Kansas City, and get nothing but a busy signal all day. At home, Mrs. Richard W. Scheerer, reports her daughter is doing nothing but answering the telephone at the plant, hasn't been taking any orders since last week, but is putting old and steady customers on a waiting list at the rate of 50 to 60 a day.

Safeway, which has promoted the sale of freezer meats in its city stores, isn't offering beef anymore. Neither are any of the other big supermarkets in Kansas and Missouri. A Safeway spokesman said it cannot buy cattle on the uncontrolled livestock markets and sell under the retail freeze without losing money. The meat manager for another chain said it just makes more sense to cut up and grind a side of beef to serve 50 customers rather than sell it all to one. At Washington, on the west fringe of the St.

Louis metropolitan area, Kampshroeder said he was losing $20 on every beef animal he has processed since he bought his last load about two weeks ago. His ceiling price on choice beef, ready for the freezer, is 92 cents a pound. He planned to go to the auction at Mexico, today, as is his custom. If he can buy some cattle at 48 to 49 cents a pound, he figured to get some and keep his plant running on a break-even basis. But he expects the price to be 51 or 52 cents, in which case he will be out of the beef business as soon as he processes the 30 sides he's already contracted to sell, at least until the retail price freeze on beef is lifted.

President Nixon elected to keep ceilings on beef prices until Sept. 12, but the industry is crying for immediate relief. Sen. Robert Dole, R- suggested at the White House Wednesday that the date be moved up to Aug. 12.

H. H. Pickens operates a small three-man plant at Burden, and is secretary of the Kansas Meat Processors Association. "We're getting some people who have never bought a side of beef, but all at once they are scared that there isn't going to be any when the ceiling goes off," Pickens said. "It's created a sort of panic.

The public has lost confidence. They don't like these controls." Pickens is mainly a "custom" operator, processing animals for farmers who grew them or for people who bought them on the hoof. "I don't blame the farmer for holding onto his stock until the freeze comes off," Pickens said. No one wants to guess what will happen to beef prices when it does. None of the processors who are taking orders, or compiling waiting lists are saying anything about price.

Orders they fill before the freeze is lifted will have to be at their ceilings, which are running from about 82 to 95 cents a pound. C.A Norris, who has operated the Independence Meat and Locker Plant at Independence, for 35 years, is running 20 to 25 days behind his order but is getting beef sides about as fast as he can handle them from two big packing houses which have supplied him for years. He estimates his busi- ness is three times greater than as normal for summer. He and Kampschroeder estimate that the boom in custom processing has boosted the business of the locker and freezer plants by about 25 per cent. John Bickelmeyer is among those who believe fervently that lifting the ceilings will by no means end the beef problem.

"We've been running out of beef for 25 years," he said. "Last winter, millions of cattle died and feed lot operators lost a lot of money. Cattle raising is the biggest gamble there is. "Now price ceilings discourage the farmer and kill his incentive. If we limit our farmer, restrict him, kill his incentive we are going to have food shortages and high prices." Bickelmeyer is mystified that the housewife cannot understand that meat still is a big bargain.

"This business was started by my father, who is 86," he said. "It was his rule in the old days that an hour of work ought to buy a pound of sirloin steak. In those days it was 15 cents an hour and 15 cents a pound. At today's average wages, an hour of work will buy two pounds." executive secretary of the Kansas Federation of Labor; Dr. Melvin A.

Kahn, chairman of the Wichita State University, political science department. Earlier the committee heard from R. Doug Lewis, executive secretary of the state Republican party; state Rep. Pete Loux, D-Wichita, House minority leader; Vincent De Coursey, Kansas Catholic Conference official who represented Common Cause, and Jerry Holley, president of the Kansas Association of Broadcasters. Norbert Dreiling, state Democratic chairman, who was scheduled to appear, sent word he could not come but would submit a written statement to the committee.

Sen. Arden Booth, R-Lawrence, is chairman of the committee which is considering a House bill carried over from the 1973 session which would create a state election commission, impose contribution and spending limitations and provide a tougher reporting system. Richards said it is only reasonable for large contributors to political campaigns to expect something from the candidate in return. "Watergate is an example of when people have too much money to spread around." Richards advocated abolition of campaign contributions and funding of election campaigns at all levels of government by government. He said this would involve tax money but he thought it "would save millions of dollars in the long run and it would restore the capability of members of the general public seeking political office." Mrs.

Shanahan said the present law which does not require disclosure of contributions and spending until two months after the general election "is not very meaningful." She said the 1972 election campaign brought the biggest interest in such disclosure in her experience. "It seemed like nobody cared" before 1972, she said. McGee said all contributions should be reported, anonymous contributions should be prohibited, both candidates and their election committees should be required to report before election day, and a dollar limit should be placed on contributions from any source. McGee also advocated public financing of campaigns, saying, "We are confident this state's working people are willing to pay their share of the necessary taxes for state financing of our elections. Anything less than public financing must be considered, at best, a stop-gap measure." Kahn said he believes everything possible should be done to encourage People's Savings Loan Association cordially Invites you to a grand Closing Grand, because, in closing our old office, People's Savings and Loan closes another chapter of service.

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