The daily morning journal and courier., 1904-03-02
AFTER BEEF TRUST AGAIN
CHARGES OF REPRESENTATIVE
 MARTIN TO BE PROBED.
Dspartmsnt of Commerce and Labor to conduet Iuquiry-The Trust Accused of Violating the Injunction Resting Against It-Expsrisnes of a stoekman showing E1lstsnes ofs Combine.

Washington, March 1.-Whether the ''beef trust" is violating the injunction resting against it is to be made the sub ject of official investigation by the de- partment of comemrce and labor, ac- cording to a resolution ordered reported favorably to the House by the commit tee on interstate and foreign commerce.
 Should the House take favorable action on the resolution, which is to be called
 up at the earliest possible moment by
 Chairman Hepburn, it will constitute the first instructions from congress to the new department to exercise the powers given it under the law to inves-
 tigate the operation of industrial insti-
 tutions.
 The resolution was introduced in the House February 4 by Representative Martin of South Dakota. To-day MT. Martin was given an extended hearing
 by the committee in which he made the assertion that the beef trust' was vio- lating the spirit of the injunction if not it's letter. The resolution was amended so as to provide that the report of the violation should go to the president, as provided in the law creating the new department, instead of to congress. This
 amendment was opposed by Represen-
 tative Richardson of Alabama, of the
 committee, who held that the report should be made to the House inasmuch as the House requested the investiga- tion to be made. It was deemed advis- able by the majority of the committee, I l.. t-s I,xx f1f ter the investigation has been made, to
 pass another resolution requesting the president to submit the findings to the House.
 Should the investigation show viola tions of the injunction the matter will undoubtedly be referred by the presi- dent to the department of justice and the trust proceeded against for con- tempt of court.
 To illustrate how he believed the in- junction against the beef trust' was
 being evaded by that combination which
 he stated consisted of seven concerns, M-. Martin said that he was told by a stockman that he had just sold a train load of far steers in Chicago. When he arrived in that city he sought bids for
 his stock. He went to the various con- cerns but could secure a bid from only one. He finally accepted this bid. Hts curiosity had been aroused and he re- solved to see what the reason was for this condition. That night the steers were separated into seven equal lots
 and sent to the seven. different concerns.
 Explaining further, Mir Martin said
 that before the injunction was issued it
 was the custom of these firms to agree the night before on the price they would bid the next day for beef on the hoof.
 To illustrate how the profit that he
 claimed was being made by the beef trust, Mir. Martin said that on February
 1. 1902. the price of good to extra
 steers was $6.5O per hundredweight. the
 price of "good to extra beef sides" was
 $S.37 1-2; on August 1, 1903, the price of
 beef sides was the same as on February 1, but the price of live beef had drop ped to $5.17 per hundredweight. During the month of August 293, 900 steers were sold in the Chicago market making ac- cording, to MT. Martin, an additional pro4t to the trust for the month of | $3, ,SS2, 263. or $149319 for each of the twenty-six business days of that month.
 This sum he declared would permit of the payment Of $5.000 per day fine by ] the seven companies for violation of the | injunction and leave a handsome profit
 resulting from the control of the price | os heef