The Indianapolis journal., 1902-07-28
INExCUsABLE MISUNDERSTANDING

A snarling exchange says: THE prices
of the necesaries of life are going up; up,
but wages are stationary. and those prices
are forced up by trusts" The statement
is one that should be investigated. What
articles which may be said to controlled
by trusts are going Up? Meats" is the
prompt response. Now that the subject
has been investigated, to what extent are
the large packers in this country responsi-
BILE for the advance in the price of meats?
While there is no doubt that the large pack
ers have attained control of the trade in
this country by methods that are unjust
and in restraint of trade. it is well to as
certain if they are responsible for the pres
ent high prices of meat or if they are due
to other causes. Unfortunately. the snarl-
ing writer, short of topics and inclined to
make trouble, never seeks to ascertain the
real cause, for the reason that the truth
would put an end to his appeals to pref
udice. The prices OF cattle in the live
stock markets should and do disclose the
causes of the high prices of meats. Turn
ing to the market reports the following are
found to be the prices of beef steers IN
/ the Chicago markets for several years:
June l. 1885, "a to 500; June, 4, 1899. $3.50
to s.S5; June l, 1900. s49O to $3.50; June 3.
1901, s5.45 to s61O; June q. 1902. $3.50 to sS.
1t is not probable that the meat pack
ers have raised the price of cattle simply
to make prices higher and to reduce con-
sumption. Consequently. when the average
/ ~ ioba
/ last June than the June previous, the ad-
vance is due to the scarcity of beef cattle,
which is due to the fact that the price of
feed. incident to the drought, was double
the price Of 1900, when the cattle sent to
market in the summer of 1901 were fat
tened. 1t is, therefore. clear to minded
people that beef is higher because cattle are
! SO per cent. higher than a year ago. If
there is a cattle trust, no one has been
! able to make the discovery. In this con-
nection it can be said that there is the
same advance in the price of meat in Eng
land for the same reason that it is higher
/ here, and this country is a leading source
of British supply. In addition to the scar
city of cattle here, Australia has not been
! able TO furnish the British market as
much meat as usual because of a drought
there. while the cattle of South America
have been shut out of the British market
to prevent the contagious disease which
! prevails among such cattle from reaching
Great Britain The same cause that has
made cattle higher, the high price of feed,
has made poultry and eggs higher. Vege-
| tables were higher the past year, not be-
cause the markets were manipulated by
trusts, but because of the drought of a
year ago. They are much cheaper now
Flour is very little higher than it has been
the past four years. Sugar, which has come
as near to being controlled by trust as
any article of food, is cheaper now than
it has been any time the past four years
The one article Of general consumption con-
trolled by combination is kerosene oil, the
supply of which has been monopolized ff-
teen years by the Standard Oil Company
Petroleum is the free list, and the
price is not much different from that Of
previous years. The prices of clothing of
all kinds in general use are about the same
as in 1892, but little higher than in 1885,
| when wool was on the free list and cotton
a drug on the worlds market. There is no
controlling combination in the woolen indus
try and no pretense of one in the cotton
| industry. And, lastly, the merchandise
turned out by factories which have been
made into combinations was less than Is
per cent. of the output in 1900.
The unqualified statement that all the
necessaries of life which wage earners must
have are much higher because they are con-
! trolled by trusts is a bare-faced and mex
! cusable falsehood.