Henry Baird Favill, AB, MD, LL.D., 1860-1916, a ... - University Library

AGRICULTURE AND DAIRYING 475
It is not presumable that a breeder is likely to offer at
public sale any considerable percentage of his best cattle;
but it clearly lies within the province of the sale management
that he shall not offer his worst cattle. It seems to
me that not only the public interest but principles of self
preservation should make it imperative for the sale management
to exercise such supervision and selection of offerings
as shall be consistent with its standards and propositions.
It is also entirely within the province of a sale
management to discriminate against consignors who are
known to be untrustworthy. The public sale is not a
matter of sentiment. It is a matter of business, a matter
of good faith, and a matter of public service.
These factors are not antagonistic ; they are entirely consistent,
and in
fact, a sale which does not give due weight
to all these will never become a trustworthy institution.
I
will go further and say that, inasmuch as the managers of
sales are as a rule experts, have access to facts pertaining
to cattle more than the ordinary, and are responsible for
creating an atmosphere of stimulation and enthusiasm in the
course of the sale that easily carries people past their best
judgment, and in further consideration of the fact that
many purchasers are neither experts as
to cattle nor thoroughly
informed as to the basis of values as represented by
pedigiee and record, it
is incumbent upon the management
to protect the ordinary buyer by every safeguard and assurance
which can reasonably be invoked.
The sales management which can create in the minds of
the public a sense of security as to the integrity of the sale
will in the long run outstrip any management of questionable
integrity, no matter what the offerings of such management
may be.
There may ver>^ well be a difference of opinion as to the
type of cattle which ought to be offered for sale. It is not
my purpose to discuss the type so far as it is represented
by appearance, a matter which is obvious and largely a