Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1905-05-12
= ..tfan Of fhs Packers.

Very general interest has been mani.
fSstSdift theGoterhiiient investigation
now In progress into the mode OF con-
d,,c.ing business by. the slargeg packers
located in Chicago and elsewhere
Mech has been Written upon the al.
legged illegal and improper modes OF
business procedure connected with the
nacking industry; but ii seems that so
far no definite charge of any kind has
. been sustained and no proof of illegal
=, Or inenuitab Bile methods has been dis
closed TO the public. While a wave OF
severe criticism of this great industrial
interest Is now passing over the coun-.
try it might beiwell to remember thar
+tbe hackers have had as yet no oppor-
tunity to make specific denial, the
= MANY indefinite charges of wrong-do-
inc having never been formulated SO
that a categorical answer could De
made, !. a.s..ifi l}ei4I. 1uF I'D -
The recent report of Commissioner
Garfield. which embodied the results
! of an official investigation undertaken
by the Department of Commerce and
Labor of the United States was vin-
g dication Of the Western packers, but
q this result baYing been unexpected at
tempts in many quarters to ;discredlt IT
were made. ~ 'aGf egg },e.t-
In view of the situation rasi 1t now
stands, however, attention may proper
ly be called to, a few. facts that owing
to, popular clamord are now beihg ap.
parently overlooked Fair treatment
in this country has heretofore been ac-
corded to all citizens whose affairs as
sumo prominence Ia the public eye and
: some Of The facts that bear upon the
relation OF the packers to the COM
ifierce of the country may at this time
he. briefly. alluded to-. 1t would be
difficult to estimate the benefits gained
: by the farmers Of the country result
ing from the energetic enterprise OF
q the packers for whatever is of benefit
to the farher@i Is gain to the entire
q. commerce of the country. And COLI
nected with their continuous agrees
9 sire work no fea ture perhaps has been
more important than their efforts In
seeking, outlets all over the world for
the surplus. products of the farmer.
Our total exports of agricultural prod
ucts, have gained but little in the past
twenty years, and leaving out corn, the
total of all other farm products was
far. less in 1903 than in 1891, But III
packing house products there was COIL
4 siderable gain during this period. be-
cause an organized and powerful force
has been behind them seeking new and
broader markets. ff'
Besides the benefits reaped by farnl-
ers on account of the enterprise and
energy exercised by the packers IN at
tanning commercial results by foreign
trade, the great development lin the
manufacture of packing house by-prod-
ucts has added enormously to the
value of all live stock raised in the
United States. The waste material OF
twenty years ago, then an expense TO
the packer, is, now converted into ar
ticles of great value and, as an eco
nomic fact, this. must correspondingly
increase the value to the farmer or
every head of cattle marketed at the
numerous stock yards of the country.
Let these facts be remembered while
now 1t is so popular to regard the
great packing industry rs deserving or
/ Condemnation. AT least it must be adj
mitted that, SO far, there is no ..ade-
quate reason for the almost unani-
= nous howl. that may be heard every
where in the face of the Garfield re-
port above alSuded to which practical
~. exonerates the packers from the OBJ
4. -scures and indefinite charges that have
been for dtimespast made the SUBJ
ject of popular comment. .taF9