The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1888-11-23
THE BEEF COMBINES.
Vests Senatorial InveStiga-
ton Committees Work.
THE WITNESSES FESTIFYING.
They Had No Cars - UnderseIIing
Butchers-Phil Armour's Little
Game An Innocent Set.

cattle trade investigating committee
met again this morning.
T. L. Leonard, of Saline County, one
of the largest importers of black cattle
in Missouri, said the cattle markets are
parslyzed by the control the dressed
beef men secured. There is no competi-
ton in the market between buyers.
Senator Plumb asked the witness If he
thought the price to consumer lower
than formerly. when there were no
packing houses.
WITNKss-I know the prices we get
for our live beef does not justify the
price which consumers pay.
Levi Samuels, wholesale butcher, of
New York, former exporter, testified
that the cattle market is now depressed.
He was familiar with the dressed beef
business. With the exception of one or
two towns in the east all the beef sold
there is dressed beef. Local
BUTCHERS HAVE QUIT sLAUGHTERINe
or buying from wholesale slaughterers.
The reason for this was that the
western dressed beef men nave gone in
there and offered their beef lower than
local butchers could buy cattle and
slaughter them. In this way local
slaughterers were forced to quit killing
and had to buy dressed beef from the
west. When western men had secured
control they put the price up enough to
Justify their loss previous to obtaining
control
THE SOUTHERN PACIFIC.
"A. W. billiard, of Midland, Texas,
stated that about year ago he was
negotiating with the proprietors of a
beef refrigerator in Ell Paso to supply
him with cattle, but. the. negotiations
fell through bec4us the Ell PaGo people
were closed out by the Southern Pacific
Railway, who refused to supply the
cars for the transportation of dressed
beef to Los Angeles. having q contract
with Chicago people which compelled
them to exclude FL Paso people. -
Richard Gray, general freight agent
of the Southern Pacific system, with an
Office at San Francisco, was examined,
at his own request. he wished to get
on record
by Hilliord and another witness with
reference to tie company's refusal to
furnish refrigerator cars at 81 Paso.
This statement could not be true. The
company never had any refrigerator
cars in its equipment; the company
never had refused to furnish box-cars
to anyone when 1t had Them,
H,,1V =
cornered, when the latter admitted
his company had refused to accept cars
II ON other companies and compelled
to Southern Pacific cars.
Gray, however, qualified this state
ment, by saying the Southern Pacific
had only done this when the
car off red was unfit to go over
the steep grades and around
the sharp curves Of their road
BUTCHERS CRUSHED OUT.
George Beck. of Detroit, butcher and
cattle dealer for the last thirty years,
testified that the dressed beef organiza~
ton had been the means of crushing
out all the butchers throughout thu
east and concen rating the cattle bust
ness at Chicago.
Warren Buckmaster, q retail butcher
of Akron, o., testified that in 1887 the
labor unions passed resolution not to
buy meats of Armour & Co. The
butchers we're happy, but IL few days
Armour sent carload of meat and un-
dersold them all. Armour's concern
opened two stores in the heart of
Akron and actually gave aWav the best
L,
signing of an agreement By the Butch
ers' Association to give the preference
to the house of Armour d Co., the lat
ter agreeing to close their retail estab-
lishment in Akron.
INSTEAD OF CLOSING THEIR STORES
they sold them to local butchers to be
run to the great detriment of trade.
Witness admitted, however. that the
present consumers got their meat much
cheaper than before Armour 81 Co.
came in
John Huff, of Detroit, a butcher of
twenth-six years experience, testified
he was met at Cheboygan, six years
ago, by ArmouI's meat and closed out
of the market there. At twenty-six
places in Michigan, outside of Detroit,
Armour's meat is l cent per pound
higher than in Detroit. In those towns
the butchers who six years ago were
well to do, are now bankrupts.
Only one witness was examined at
the night session, A. q. Cassidy, an
East st. Louis commission man. He
explained the difference tween Chi
cago and st. Louis as cattle market, |
on purely business principles, and
claimed if st. Louis did the right thing
the cattle question would come out ali |
right.
Off for Canada.