The Coalville times. [volume] (Coalville, Utah) 1894-1923, 1905-03-17
COMMISSIONER oARFIELp's RE.
PORT ON BEEF INDUSTRY.


The report Of Commissioner Gar.
field on the beef industry has at last
been published. II must b. some
what Of a surprise 20 those who have
been indulglng ln wholesale adverse
criticism upon the methods OF the
Chicago packers. as Il dlscluscB facts
and figures which clearly show that
the great food producers have been
Innocent OF the serious onensea with
which they have been charged. They
have been for a long time accused by
newspapers all over the country OF
eXtortlonate prices demanded. and OBJ
talncd, OF depression Of values OF cat
tie at the various stockyards where
their business rs conducted, Of onor-
mous profits wholly disproportIonate
TO the capital employed. and. In gen
eral, OF 30 carrying on their business
that the public. under an organized
system OF spoliation, were being
robbed for their exclusive benefit.
We find now. however. that not n
single one OF these chages has been
sustained but. on the contrary, that
rigid and searching investigation, Of
hcially made, has resulted In com
plete acqulttal,
ANNAfhN vi fAANlAAhA II ~ NhhMA AAANA
no industry can be found whore so
narrow a margin Of profit prevails
the actual records and original en-
tries. TO which the commissioner had
free access, showing that the high
est net profit any OF the packers
made on their sales Of beef vas two
and threetcnlhs per cent In 1902 and
In one instance that the profit realized
In 1904 was one and eighttonths per
cent.
The variations In the market prices
for cattle are eXhaustlyely treated
and no evidence Of any kind was dis
covered, or even limited At, tending to
show that values OF cattle are In the
slightest degree improperly affected
or controlled by packers at any Of
the chief centers OF the industry,
On the whole. the report completely
dissipates the prevalent idea that
great fortunes are being amassed by
Illegal and improper methods en-
ployed by western packers. showing
that Notwithstanding the high prices
Tor beef prevailing Ia 1902 the bust.
ness was less remuneratlye than In
years characterized by normal values,
both for cattle and product. He says
that the year 1902, instead Of being
one OF eXorbitant profits. as has been
| COMMONLY supposed, was less profit.
able than usual. In fact, during the
months when the prices OF beef were
| the highest some, at least. OF the
leading packers were losing money
on every head Of cattle slaughtered,
| Il was not possible TO advance the
prices OF beef In full proportion to the
great advance In the prices OF cattle
at that time"
After all that has been written re,
/ hectlng upon the great business In
terest engaged In the marketing and
distribution OF the product OF one OF
/ the greatest OF our national indus,
| tries, Il Is gratifying TO all fair minded
! people that the prejudiced attacks
| upon Il have failed OF yerGcatlon
and the great western packers may be
congratulated for having passed
| through such a ssATrking and thor.
ough oflclal iavestigutlon unsmlrchod
| The results OF this investigation
based as Il Is upon exhaustive data
officially obtained and verified by
| United States government experts,
must be accepted without hesitation
as the investigation was made under
| circumstances that guaranteed com
| plete accuracy with a possible dispo.
sltion indeed 10 arrive at entirely
! different results