Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-05-01
What Local Men Think About Al
legged Beef Trust.
SUMMARY OF THE CHARGES MADE
Some Of the ottun1wa Retail. Meat Sell
ers Argue That There is No Trust
While Others Think There is One
Their Statements.

I
That the beef packers have organic
ed q trust there can be little doubt,
according to the opinion of the local
meat dealers, several of whom were
interviewed today by Courier report
er. The general opinion is that while
the scarcity of marketable cattle and
the high price of feed is responsible
to some extent for the unprecedented
price being charged, these conditions
| alone would not justify the packers in
putting their product on the market
at the figures which are now quoted.
These conditions, say the local re-
tailers, have existed for nine months,
or since the drouth last fall, when the
! farmers unloaded their cattle on the
market in great numbers, thus occa
| sloning the shortage which is now be-
ing agitated, while the high price in
| feed dates from the same period, and
the question that is being asked, is
why the advance in prices has not
come sooner if these two conditions
were the only factors in the case.
| A government investigation of the
alleged beef trust is now in progress
and evidence is being furnished to At.
| torney General Knox with view to
proceeding against all the big packing
companies if the facts justify legal &C
| ton.
The Local Feeling.
Interviews secured with some of the
prominent retailers of Ottumwa show
what opinions prevail among them:
Chas. Hallberg, when asked for his
opinion regarding the existence Of a
! M IA No a1y II q.
Judging from the fact that the meat
packers of the country have now gain
ed control of the poultry, butter, egg
and other produce markets, it appears
to me that they have the same advan.
| tage in the beef market. On that
ground l am of the opinion that they
have combined and are taking undue
advantage of the market"
No Foundation for Rumors.
81 am fixed in the belief that there
is no foundation for these rumors. of
a beef trust" said Fred Steller, '"The
fact that there are SO per cent less
good marketable cattle at the present
time than we have had for ten years,
and the amount of money it takes to
fatten cattle for the market, when
feeding them hay at $14 per ton and
corn at 65 cents a bushel, in my est,
nation are the sole reasons for the
high prices charged"
Says 1t Is Certainty.
Frank Shafer said: tFrom all indi
| cations it looks like a positive GER
tainty that the big beef-packing firms
| have formed a combination and that
they have bought up the cattle in such
quantities as to have secured cor
| ner' on the market, and are advanc
ing the prices independent of the law
| of supply and demand. This talk Of
| the scarcity of cattle and the high
| price of feed being responsible for the
high price which beef has attained
does not look reasonable as these same
| conditions have existed for the past
nine months, while the advance in beet
started during the present month"
Think Packers Formed Combine.
John Carrow said: while have not
given this matter much thought, l am
nevertheless of the opinion that the
scarcity of cattle and the high price OF
| feed are not altogether responsible
| for the present state of the beef mar
| ket, and l am inclined to think the
| big packers have formed combination
by which the retailer suffers"
Price of Feed Factor.
| Chas. Nelson's opinion is as follows
81 do not know as to whether there
exists az beef trust or not, but l attrib
ute the high price of beef to the price
of feed and the scarcity of marketable
| cattle, and think the prices will re
/ nj ityl, no 70 mi I'm
their stock upon the pasture"
Gist of Charges.
Summarized into an understandable
form, the charges now being heavily
pressed against the packers are these:
That a natural shortage in cattle
does not exist on western ranges; thai
in fact the visible supply for the next
twelve months is little less than that Of
one year ago. That while the cattle
market near to home Tin Wisconsin
l4unois and Iowa. has been fairly wei
bought out, the far west ranges arc
well stocked and, as in the case OF
the Rapid City region, shipments will
be heavier this year than in previous
Years. That IS per cent of the cattle
on the western ranges are either di
rectly owned or are under contract tC
the packing houses accused, and that
their shipment is being held back 70,
the express purpose of justifying the
present price advances.
That in further proof of the above
assertion the live hog receipts in Chi
cago for the week ending yesterday
We're 5000 greater than for the cor
responding week in 1901, the cattle re
| n,,+ nm Loco oyd fbo cbooD 10