The Absurd Cost of Imaginary State Lines
A local rancher laments how rigid cross-state veterinary inspection laws turn a simple pig sale into a financial catastrophe.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
It has long been predicted that the southern slopes along the Columbia in the lower part of the county would one day bear vineyards that would rival those of the famous Rhine valley. That the future of this section is not in viticulture but in the raising of thoroughbred stock, is the belief of A. H. Poston, of Stadacona Ranch, who was in the city Friday from Carley. The farmers of the lower valley are taking up diversified farming with a vengeance, says Mr. Poston. Thoroughbred hogs, cattle and horses are to be found on almost every farm. Mr. Poston, who makes a specialty of Duroc Jersey hogs, this year added to his list of thoroughbreds a Percheron stallion, a blooded jack, and a Holstein bull, all registered animals. In talking of the industry in which he is interested, Mr. Poston pointed out some of the hardships which the stock inspection laws impose in providing that animals cannot be shipped out of the state unless a certificate of health has been obtained from a licensed veterinary. Mr. Poston lives just across the river from Oregon and he cited this instance: A short time ago an Oregon farmer purchased 14 grade pigs of a neighbor on this side of the river. The ferryman at Arlington refused to let him across with the pigs until he secured a certificate of inspection. The nearest licensed veterinary is at Goldendale and the charges for inspection was one dollar a mile and one dollar a head for each animal inspected. 'The cost of inspecting that load of pigs was $46, or nearly as much as they were worth,' said Mr. Poston. 'The same pigs could have been shipped to any place in the state without inspection. As one vitally interested in the future of the stock business, I am strongly in favor of rigid regulations to prevent the sale of diseased animals, but health restrictions which follow only the imaginary line which divides one state from another are only makeshifts.'
“The law which says that I cannot ship a pig across the river to a neighbor but may send it clear across the state to Seattle, may be right in theory but in practice it is an absurdity.”
A.H. Poston’s 1914 frustration with bureaucracy affecting local commerce over arbitrary lines echoes modern struggles of cross-state agricultural regulation. The tension between necessary safety protocols and the practical, often prohibitive, cost of compliance remains a persistent feature of rural economic life in Washington.
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