The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1905-03-16
COM MISSIONER oAaFieLo's re.
PORT.
1s IL rouud 90 re Favorable % the
Great Packers.

ls IL rouud 60 re Favorable % the
Great Packers.
The report OF Commissioner Of Cor
oeratlons Garfield on the beef indus
try. after about eight months investi.
cation In Chicago and elsewhere.
elbows that there has been an enormous
amount OF exaggeration In the state
ments that have appeared for some
time past In regard to the beef bnsl.
Oess. This Investigation was set on
foot by resolution OF the House OF
Representatives adopted March Z, 1904,
and the ascertaincd facts after q most
sixid examination Of the methods and
general conduct OF the business are
contained In report covering DOS
pages. Its figures and tables conclu-
sively show that the popular belief In
Gnormous profits made by the large
packers. such as Armour * Co. Swift
= Co. and Nelson Morris & Co. and
In the exclusive control OF the busl.
ness which many think they enjoy. Is
really without foundation.
The report made 10 President Roose-
velt by Commissioner Garfield Is real.
~ the first Official statement OF the ac-
tual conditions OF the beef business
that has been made. and as all the con-
illusions arrived at are based, as shown
By him. upon data officially obtained.
there seems 10 be no reason why they
should not be regarded as reliable and
In all respects trustworthy.
This report shows why the price OF
both cattle and beef advanced TO the
highest level ever known after the
short corn crop of 1901. and states that
because OF the decrease In number OF
cattle and also In decreased weight,
"the high prices OF beef which caused
90 much complaint among consumers
at this tine were attributable wholly
90 these abnormal cattle prices"
All the figures OF the live weight
and live cost OF all dressed beef cattle
were obtained from actual killing rec
ords and NIL Information OF every kind
obtained by the Commissioner was
voluntarily and freely offered by the
packers. all books OF record and papers
connected with the business having
placed Mt his disposal.
To make certain that the results OF
che Investigation should be absolutely
accurate, the Commissioner states that
q double method OF ascertalnlng profits
was adopted. and. without going into
detail here, II IL found that the conclu'
oiou arrived at shows an average Nrofii
OF CD cents per head. The Commits
sioner says ''the close parallelism In
che results Of the two methods Of ascer'
tainlng the profits confirms completely
che correctness OF the general conclu.
sions" n Is clearly established that
western packers do not control more
than half OF the beef supply OF the
United States" the conclusion OF the
Commissioner being that the business
done by them amounts to about ~
Der cent" OF the total slaughter OF the
country
The whole report Is extremely Inter
estipg aud well worthy ot careful ne.
rusai. As an official report Il may be
regarded as worthy OF confidence and
d certainly leads the reader 10 the
conclusion arrived NJ by the Commits.
sioner when he states that the capital.
txation OF none or these concerns Ia
excessive as compared with It's actual
Investment" aud that from thorough
aud rigid examination OF original en-.
tries la books and papers 20 which he
tad ACCESS there was also indirect EVIL.
dence that the profits OF the packers
On their beef business are less than Il
frequently supposed" rs shown by
comparison between the total proilu
:. , the total amount OF sales.