The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-07-03
INDICTMENT OF PACKERS.

Practically all the charges that have
been made by stock growers and others
against the packers combine are re-
peated in the report of the federal
grand jury at Chicago, which has re-
turned indictments against twenty-one
we'll known business men and five cor
porations. For this reason the nature
OF the indictments is less surprising
than the fact that they were returned
a. all 1t was not doubted that the gov
eminent officials were making every
effort to secure evidence-indeed, their
search was one of the most elaborate
and exhaustive ones in the history of
government investiga tions-but it was
generally believed that the great inter
ests involved had so carefully covered
up their operations that. but few facts
would be accessible to the grand
jurors. The flight of witnesses several
weeks ago was the first sign of weak
ness shown by the packers and this ac-
tion lad the effect of putting their case
before the country in a bad light. The
jury continued to work on so quietly,
however, that the public had almost
gress and it was the general impress
sion that the inquiry would be fruit
less. The return of the indictments
was, therefore, something of d sur
prise.
As the principal charges against the
packers are embodied in the grand jury
report, the whole question may now be
said TO be in the hands of the United
States courts so that opinions as TO the
guilt or innocence of the men and cor
porations involved may be reserved
pending the legal determination of the
cases Probably many months will
clapse before the cases are tried. Ii is
already announced that they will not
come up until autumn. With the Gus
tomary delays, motions, arguments, APP
peaIs etc, final decisions should not be
expected in less than a year.
1t should not be forgotten that these
indictments are criminal proceedings.
and that if convicted, the packers are
subject to fine of $4,000 or a years
Imprisonment, or both, under each of
the two sections Of the sherman anti
Trust law, which they are accused OF
violating. Probably all of the men in
dicted could pay the fines once a year
or oftener without missing the money,
but none of them " 81 contemplate i'm
prisonmeut with equanimity.
The investigation extended over a
period of nearly year and is said to
have cost the government $780, 600. How
much il cost the packers will probably
never be known. The government has
had dozens of secret service detectives
at work on the case all over the coun-
try and abroad. The government de-
tectives, in turn, have been followed by
detectives in the employ of the pack
ing interests. The government agents
were much incensed by the discovery
several weeks ago that persons in
terrogated or subpOenaed by the gov
eminent were Immediately afterward
interviewed by agents of the packing
interests. Another interesting develop
lnent of the case was the flight of wit
nesses 10 foreign countries and the dis
appearance of certain books desired by
the grand jury and supposed to have a
direct bearing on the case.
The case will be followed with great
interest all over the country by people
who have believed the low price of
stock and the high price of steaks could
be explained by the packers.