The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-05-03
NECESSAR|ES OF. LIFE
Tendency All Along the Line to In
crease Prices to Consumers.
THAT DRESSED BEEF TRUST
MIR. Armour Denies That There Is Such an
Institution-Sworn Statements of the
the Company Is Discrcdited.
Sugar, Wheat and Shoes Go Up.

1t has for some time been onpenly
| charged that Armour & Co., Nelson
| Morris, George f. Swift and the Ham,
| mond company, the big Four" of the
| dressed beef business have formed a
| beef trust and are responsible for the
| recent rise in prices which have affected
people all over the country, more es-
| pecially those in poor circumstances.
at a time when they could not well
| afford to pay such increase. P. d.
Armour has at last broken the chain Of
silence with which the magnates have
| surrounded themselves, and consented
TO talk for publication.
There is no such thing as beef
trust" said Mr.. Armour "and I have
not made fortune out Of the recent
rise in prices. There never was such q
story afloat with so little foundation.
I say to you in all sincerity that Armour
& Co. did not make any money in the
beef business during the year 1894, and
up to the present the year 1895 has
proved equally as bad. We are not do
ing one-half our usual business.
There seems to be boycott against
beyond expression. There was never
more senseless canard put afioat.
There never has been any understand
ing, directly or indirectly, between
Swift, Morris and Armour in buying
their cattle, or in selling their beef, and
l would be very careful not to say this
were it not really true"
Not Relieved at Woohirgtou
"If Mr.. Armour had sworn that he
had made little something last year
on his beef business 1 think his state
ment would have had more weight"
said an influential member of the de-
partment of agriculture at Washing
ton, referring to the sworn statement
of the affairs of Armour G. Co. filed
win the department Of agriculture, a
synopsis of which was printed in The
Tribune yesterday.
You see, It's this way" said the ex-
pert. THE firm has a general cattle
account, under which Is given the cost
of the cattle originally. Then, when
they are killed, they are sold to about
thirty different department of the same
establishment at figures which, In the
aggregate, keep the main account even
But that cattle account no more
shows the actual condition Of the busi-
ness than 1t does the business
of an ocean steamship company
The department accounts are where
you must look for the true story. Each
department buys It's supplies at cost
from the main cattle account, and the
man or men in charge struggle to see
how large a profit can be turned out.
The aggregate of the profits of the sew
eral departments or subdivisions Is
what the proprietor draws down from
his profit and loss account at the end
of the year.
"There Is the hide account, the glue
account, the tallow account. the can
ming account, the bone or button ac-
count, the fertilizing account, the re-
frigerator car account and so on down
to the minutest detail. There is no
waste in carcass of beef, even the
teeth and eyes being used.
"If Mr.. Armour had taken the public
fully into his confidence he would have
included in his statement an exhibit of
the results Of the sub-departments of
his establishment. He neglected to do
that"
Wheat Took q Jump.
On Wednesday wheat made another
advance in the New York market, and
there is great difference Of opinion
among commission men as to whether
it will go higher on it's merits. Some
we'll posted men think it will go con-
siderably higher because there is a
scarcity in Europe and because other
countries, such as the Argentine Re-
public and Russia, have little to spare.
Edward c. Rice, Of New York, who
represents the Pllsbury- Washburne
Flour Mills company. says the stock of
wheat in Europe is 100000 less than a
YEAR ago. AS an indication Of the in
creased demand Mr.. Rice says the sales
of flour, which have kept pace with the
advance in the price Of wheat, for the
week ending April 20 footed up more
than for any week during the last three
years. He looked for higher prices all
around, although he did not attribute
the advance to any attempt to create q
corner.
Other commission men believe there
are signs that corner on May wheat is
projected, but whether 1t can be carried
out is a different matter. The way in
which the price for May wheat is
crowding July wheat shows that there
Is an unusual demand for the former,
and 1t might take very little with the
present upward tendency in general
business to put May wheat to
premium.
Sugar Also on the Rise.
Sugar, too, has been going up slowly
for several weeks. There have been
several rises in wholesale price Of one
sixteenth of cent per pound within
the last ten days, and some retailers
have correspondingly advanced the
price to consumers, while others con-
tinue to sell at the old figure.
The wholesale price yesterday was
one-eighth of cent per pound above
what 1t was two weeks ago. The trust,
which controls the wholesale market,
give as reason for the advance, the
fact that the stock Of sugar on hand
Is low. and the natural result of the
brisk trade, they say. Is to raise the
price. Wholesalers say the increase to
the consumers will be slight.
At meeting of the shoe manufac-
turers in Boston Wednesday It was
voted to raise the prices on all shoes
from 10 to 25 cents pair. This rise in
prices is forced upon the manufacturers
by the advance in hides.
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