The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1905-02-04
The Beef Trust.


of the word Trust. They are not familiar
with its far-reaching aud insiduous workings;
how prices are raised; how it spreads reports
of the great demand for stock Of all kinds
throughout the feeding districts, and the feed
ers rushing stock 10 market are met with the
statement that the market is over stocked,
&C., and, sooner than reship their cattle back,
sell at the prices offered by the Trust. Prices
are raised upon The slightest pretense, without
a moments warning, as was evidenced on the
night OF the last Presidential election, when
before o'clock each agent was notified to
advance prices one cent per pound.
In order to show the workings Of the Beef
Trust we give the following extracts from the
February number of Everybody's Magazine,
by Charles Edward Russell, one of the most
conscientious writers of the West. He shows
the marvellous ramfcatons of the Beef Trust,
the hold it has obtained upon the distribution
of supplies of all kinds upon which the Amer
lean people depend, and the impetus which
has been given to Its growth by the institution
of the inquitous rebate system on the great
freight carrying roads Of the country. Mr.,
Russell says
Ii fixes at its own will the price of every
pound of fresh, salted, smoked, or preserved
meat prepared aud sold in the United States.
It fixes the price of every ham, every pound
of bacon, every pound of lard, every can of
prepared soup. 1t has an absolute monopoly
of our enormous meat exports, dressed and
preserved 1t has an absolute monopoly Of
the American trade in fertilizers, hides, brls
ties, horn and bone products. 1t owns or
controls or dominates every slaughter house
except few that have inconsideHble local or
special trades. II owns steam aud electric
railroads, it owns the entire trolley-ca service
in several cities, and Is acquiring the ike
property elsewhere. Il owns factories, shops,
stock yards mills land and land companies
plants, warehouses, politicians, legislators
and Congressman.
1t defies Wall Street aud all that therein Is.
1t terrorizes great railroad corporations long
used TO terrorizing others. Il takes toll from
big and little, II gouges millions from railroad
companies, and cent pieces from obscure
shippers. Today it is compelling a lordly
railroad to dismiss its general manager, TO-
morrow il is blackllstiug and running some
little commission merchant. It's remorseless,
tireless. greedy, Unsuitable, aud II plans
achievements so much greater than any so far
recorded in the history Of commerce. that the
imagination flags in trying 10 follow its future
possibilities.
1t fixes, for It's own profit the prices the
farmer of the West shall receive for his cattle
aud hogs. and the prices the butcher Of the
East shall charge for his meat
1t fixes the price that the grower Of Cali !
fornia shall receive for bis fruit aud the price
the laborer of New York shall pay for bis |
breakfast.
1t lays hands upon the melon grower OF
Colorado aud the cotton grower of Georgia |
and compels each To share with i the sCanIy
proceeds Of his toll.
II can affect the cost of living in Aberdeen
aud Geneva as easily as in Chicago aud New |
York.
1t has in the last three years increased, for 1
Its own benefit, the expenses Of every house 4
hold in America. Ii controls or influences /
the prices of one-half the food consumed By 4
the nation. 1t has its share in the proceeds |
OF more commodities of daily consumption |
than all other trusts. combinations, and \
monopoies together, aud the prices Of these |
It seeks to augment for lis own profit.
1t can make, within certain limits, the price /
of wheat, of corn, of oats, what i pleasesi i I
win shortly be able to control the price Of
every loaf of bread.
Its operations have impoverished or ruined 4
farmers and stoekmeD, destroyed millions IT /
Investments caused banks to break and men
to commit suicide. precipitsted strikes, AMI /
annibi!ated industries.
The Baltimore Evening News, Of January I
81, makes the following comments with ex-
tracts from Mr. Russell's article.
While it Is true that all rebates aud special al
yantases, reductions aud variations from published
tariff rates the railroads forbidden in The
interstate commerce act. the American Beef Trust
has operated under what IS known as a gentle (
mans agreement" and from this has come the (
tyranny Of American commerce by this Trust. a
may well be understood when il Is known That
probably in the year Of grace The railroads Of this
country will pay the American Beef Trus, So
10000 in the rebates that prohibited by law
These rebates are disguised under the name Of
priTate-car charges and, according TO Mr.. Rnsse!s
article. they grew out Of the Inauguration Of the
refrigerator car system In the shipment first OF
dressed beef. then Of fresh fruits. butter. poultry
eggs, and nearly an the peFishable table supplies
from the West 10 the Egst and vice versa Ia the
beginning the refrigerator of the Trust we've
transported by the railroad companies without
extra charge the basis that IL was essential for
the railroads to transport Psrishable shipments
coed condition. but after few years the aiiroad
had gradually aud insdiousy introduced the prae-
tee Of making small charges for the ice used and
priyatecar companies coming into existence (thesc
being in many cases the personal graf OF railroad
oficers and direetorIl easily effected arrange
ment by which the railroads paid al insignificant
charge for the Of the Each Of the agreeing
packers owned thousands Of refrigerator cars They
went to The railroad companies and demanded = |
heavy mileage compensation on these cars The /
railroads demurred. The packers instantly pro
duced what may be called the Big Pistol-that is 70
say. they had weapon 50 fun Of peril to any re- |
luc.ant rairoad that no manager president could
contemplate II without sbject terror The nature 1
OF this weapon is too complicated to be explained
in detail here need only say that It's first shot
would mean comparative ruin 10 the freight busi |
ness Of any roed IL happened 10 hit- AT the mere
sight Of it the railroads surrendered discretion
Managers and presidents tumbled over one another 1
in their haste 10 make submission. The required /
concession readily obtained, and the agreeing
gentlemen paid by the railroad companies |
threequarers ola cent for every mile the agreeing
gentlemens cars were hauled That concession |
did the business, Chicago is approx imately 1000 /
miles from New York By any Of the main trayeled
routes between the two cities. Therefore, every
car shipped to New York the agreeing gentlemen |
obtained rebate 1850
Besides the Beef Trust says Mr.. Russell Standard
Oh is puerie. Yet "the men that are exercising 1
this incaculable power upon the lives aud desti- |
mics of their fellow creatures are not bad men;
the world goes they very good men. They |
opera-e one OF the most cruel and oppressive mo-
nopolies; they would not knowingly be cruel OF IN
Just in any affair of personal conduct. The bust
ness they conduct is merely piracy a gigantic |
scale; they are themselves kindly generous and up
right. Like other men, they have been driven /
along by an economic evolution beyond their
knowledge or control They are certainly the !
victims Of conditions as are the people on whose
family tables the American Beef Trust grows fat
He states conditions placed in their hands this
instrument of tremendous power, and that the |
nation seems chiefly 10 blame for toerating IT," |
Getting at the of the which led to this
surprising growth of monopoly he says:
Discriminating rates and advantages for the big |
house against the little that the of this
Trust II was so with the Standard OIL Company |
the story OF that great monopoly is only repeated
with more disastrous results The utterly Illegal 1
utterly indeensible utterly unjust and anarchiStic
rebate-is IL not strange that having seen Old
of the rise from this and be saddled
upon US, we allow the same cause TO produce an I
other2
Mr.. Russell tells thus graphically Of the gradual |
but insidious progress of the Trust idea and the
bate system, showing how the small firms were !
rapidly crowded out of business because with the |
rebate Chjcago-dressed meat could be landed in |
Boston for less than the Boston cost Of slaughter
ing One after anothering these companies were |
gathered in until it that the agreeing gentle
men owned every considerable Strengthening plant /
with one exception in the entire East Most Of /