The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1905-03-31
INVESTIGATING BEEF TRUST
Commissioners Garheld's Failure 10
Find Anything Wrong in
the Combine.

The report of Mr.. Garfield, commits
sioner OF corporations, on the beef
trust. has provoked wide and for the
part unfayorable comment. He
finds in brief that there is really no
trust-that is, that. though there Is a
merger, there is no general interown-
ership OF stock'-that the packers have
no monopoly. as they control but IS
per cent. of the business; that their
profits have been very small, and that
they are in no way responsible for the
high price Of beef. Now it may be.
says the indianapolis News Qnd.), tina,
Mr.. Garfield has reported the facts pre-
cisely as they are, but ii will seem TO
o men that he has made the case
for the packers pretty strong. The
question of what the packers make is
not important, for we all know that
they have prospered greatly. II may be
that their Strengthening business is con
Quoted on a small margin, though VIC
cannot think that IL Is so small as two
per cent. and less on the volume of
business. as Mr.. Garfield reports. But
even If this be so. they earn from IA
to IL per cent. on their private car
lines, and make good money out Of
their by-products. If the trust is not
making money on its beef its opera
tons are still obnoxious and are in re-
straint of trade.
The trust is charged with keeping
down the price OF cattle and keeping
up the price of beef. Mr.. Garfield does
not think that il has done either OF
these things. He finds that cattle have
been very high in price when condi-
lions warranted IL, and that the price
fell sharply when conditions changed.
lie also says that the price OF beef fell
when the price Of cattle fell. But the
people know that for years beef has
been exceedingly costly. They know,
also, and Mr.. Garfield says that this is
so. that even If the trust does not
wholly monopoliZe the beef trade. il
does this in the larger cities. The trust
slaughters IS per cent. of the cattle
slaughtered at the eight leading west
ern centers. In these cities. therefore. !
cattle must be sold to the big packers
exclusively-or practically so. Here
is a chance to depress prices, whether
IL is improved or not. AS 10 the sell.
ing Of beef. the monopoly is quite as
great. In New York the trust furnishes
IS per cent OF the beef. in Boston more
than IS per cent. in Philadelphia 60
per cent. in Pittsburg more than 60
per cent, in Providence more than -
per cent. and in other important cities
from 30 10 80 per cent. Of the total beef
supplied. 1t is clearly a big seller all
the country.
This being so, il seems to us that il
would have been well 10 go into the
question of the relations between the
packers and the retail butchers. IL is
said to be a fact hat in many places
IL is the practice Of the trust to protect
the butchers in whatever monopoly
they may have, 70 discourage or pre-
vent any cutting of prices. and by as
surfing the butchers against any com
petition to enable them to hold UP the
price Of beef without any reference TO
the high or low price Of cattle. We all
know that there is here a very po,ye--
full, even if only a partial monopoly;
that for some reason the price OF beef
continues TO be extremely high. and, in
spite of Mr.. Garield's report, there is
a general belief that there is a combi-
nation somewhere that is working
against the interests Of the people. We
would say. further. that bookkeeping
is a very uncertain business. You have
TO know on what basis charges and
are made before you can know
whether profits are large or small.
When a corporation is engaged in
many kinds of business. as in this case.
II is easy to shift items in such a way
as to make it appear that the profits Of
one business are either larger or small
er than they are. We remember how
anthracite coal roads mixed up
coal prices and freight rates. On the
whole. we fear that there is a gool
deal more in this beef trust than Mr..
Garfield found.