The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-03-25
SECRETS Of BEEF
. TRUST l / VEALED
A Chicago g Newspaper Declares
Prices Are Fixed at Daily
Conferences.
Representatives of Packers Said
to Assemble u Down. Town.
Office.
Methods Continued Under Eyes
Of Secret Service Men From =
Washington.

Special to The journal.
Chicago, March s2b.---.A local morn
ing newspaper devotes page to-day
to conspicuouslY,dis displayed article
alleging convincing proofs Of the ex-.
istence of q beef trust.
The article mentions the names,
states that the packers assemble every
day in down-townaoffice and fix the
price of meat for the next twenty
four hours This Is done, it is de-
clared, while Washington secret SER
vice men are already In the city en-
gagged in the beef trust investigation,
authorized by congress- The article
in part states:
Daily at II o'clock, what is known as
the Packers Special leaves the stock
yards station Of the Lake Shore road, car
rying the leading lights@of Packingtow
Conspicuous among It's passengers as a
rule are l.. f.. Swift, e. F.. Swift, A. H.
veeder, attorney for the Swift & Libby
concerns; Edward Morris, the practical
head of Nelson Morris & Co.'S affairs;
President Lyman, of the National Packing
company; J. r. McRoberts, of Armour &
Co., and Edward Tilden,s ostensibly presi-
dent Of the Libby. McNeill s. Libby com
pany, but in reality one @of the managers
in the syndicate machine.
Tilden has always eyaded prominence,
but In Packingtown circles his word is
law. and his reputation as financier is
second to none. It was Tilden who gath
cred together the threads which the late
G.. F. Swift afterWard tied into the knot
known as the International Packing COM
pany Tilden acquired the Fort Worth,
St. Joseph, st. Paul and Sioux City stock
yards for the combine. and his influence
in Packingtown, while not displayed, Is
all-powerful. 4z.l
Reaching the Van Buren, street depot,
the Packingtown delegation scPtters and
caches the rendezvous by various routes.
This is palpably for the purpose Of throw
ing inqufsitive newspaper men off the
track. =.
But-Sundays and holidays excepted
not single day passes without a con-
ference sbeing held, and it is at these
gatherings that the policy Of the syndi-
cate for the succeeding twenty-four hours
is determined on. The Individual kneWn
I In trade pariancel as athe evener'' fixes
the details as to prfcesI later IN the day.
Market men haYy lang since concluded
that touring the fig whplesale markets
| in PaekingtoWn docking fer bargains is
a waste Of time and energy. The differ
in price-making. The. @.'evener'' attends
to the latter detail. - ri
T Should a retailer, after viewing the
stock, decide to visit another house, tee-
phonic notice Of his coming precedes him.
| City statesmen make no preterse of
shading prices, and since the combine be
came. effective retailers allege that where
formerly half a dozen statesmen, repre-
! senting as many different houses, called
on them daily, now they see but one or
| two; and one of them shows up merely for
the looks of the thing. Il ~ :"
| ! Wholesale prices fluctuate perplexingly.
! Various retailers assert that a glut Of
cattle at the stockyards and break OF
rs to 40 cents in the cost Of cattle on the
hoof is invariably followed by a half to
a cent advance in the price of carcass
dressed beef. ,a: ='a-