The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1888-12-22
FOOD SUPPLY TRUSTS.

| lHeIe are tTuStS anu tTuStS. NOt Ill can
be ascribed to the tariff, though that mi,
guilty Is responsible for most of them. The
reason is obvious. If an article is worth In
the markets of the world dollar and the
tariff tax on imports is fifty per cent, the
poorest mathematician can see that the
home dealers or manufacturers can by
com animation hold their prices at 81 80 and
while being lower In price than the i'm.
porter, still they can rob the people of soc
for every dollar of actual value. Other
trusts like the Standard Oil Trust are pro
tected by geographical defences. Having
control Of American production they can
exact unnecessarily high prices because
the petroleum fields of Russia are too far
distant TO Interfere with the standard trust.
1t used TO be that these com binatious
were difficult of formation-the very null.
titude Of producers impeding the progress
Of close combination; but the Standard
Oil Co. and the whisky trust having per
fected system, other industries are hast
ening TO take advantage of their experience,
80 that n catalogue Of present trusts would
practically exhaust the list of industrial
interests.
The manufacturers having organized to
"limit production" and regulate prices"
the food supply interests are now taking Il
hand First is the beef trust--a huge
combination of wealthy packers, who go
into the cities of the country large and
small and solicit butchers trade in dressed
carcesses shipped from the packing
houses In refrigerator cars In case the
rural butchers buy of them and cease
slaughtering at home, they are supplied
regularly, ana the consumer pays cent or
so more for his beef. In case the local
butchers refuse to buy, wherever possible
the packers establish shops of their own,
@ut prices "all 10 pieces" until the local
shops are ruined, and then regulate the
market" to suit themselves. Now a "beer
trust" ought, perhaps IL may be thought,
to help the farmer who sells beef on the
hoof; but it doesn't The packers look out
for that end Of the string also; and as they
are the chief stock yard buyers, they pay
substantially what they choose. They
pinch the seller and they pinch the eater
and pocket the proceeds of both pinches
helps these fellows, also
who are protected by from 5000 to 1000
miles of sea from the great ranches of
South America and Australia
And now come the millers, who, at Mi.
waukee, this week, took the preliminary
steps toward forming trust With 10000
or more FIGURING mills in the country, the
task would seem to be hopeless; but trust
organizers hesitate at no difficulties now-a-
days, The steps taken at Milwaukee were
by the Mllers' Association, including all
the great spring wheat mills of the coun-
try, The plan Is to communicate with all
mills once month, about the Goth, 10 as
certain their views on the procedure for
the following month. If three-fourths de
sire to shut down for any length of time
during the coming month, the committee
will so order ali TO do so. This plan the |
spring wheat millers will bring TO the At |
tenton of the winter wheat millers, at their |
at indianapolis in February. Ii |
these, too, agree and the plan seems to
work, then the trust will be further devel' |
oped aud perfected.
just how to circumvent these cornerers
Of food outside of an enactment prohibi
ting trusts, is hard to point out Twenty
per cent al UaL0rem Is the tariff tax. That
should be removed. II Is unnecessary rs
4 protection to the millers at any time, who