The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1905-03-17
pIg Packers Exonerated hy oarfeld.


Big Packers Exonerated by Garfield.
The report q Commissioner Garfield
on the methods under which the business
OF the so-cailed beet TRUST Is conducted
has been published and closely printed
book al over Sp pages is the result Of he
examination 10 which that industry has
been subjected. The report Is very full
and complete every phase oi the business
having been Investigated WITH the utmost
care and thnrnuphuc~s as as shown by
exhaustive tables ot figures with authen.
toatcd facts aud statistical data covering
almost every detail Of the business.
Aifcr careful reading Of Tins report
a + impossible a. arrive al ans other con.
clusion than that Tor some time past
there has been great deal said and WIT
ten about this great industry that has
lad no foundation 10 fact. II would an
pear that a popular clamor has resulted
from newspaper comment and the pas
sage OF many resolutions by those who.
q. plainly shown hy the report. were uilh-
out any definite Information THIS re-
port the result 81 aga inquiry IN compile
ance with congressional demand upOn
the secretary ui commerce and labor. g
50 complete and detailed that. as "a whole.
IL will not OF course he read los the pub
lie Al large but nae facts aud figures.
nulhCnt Gated 3, government expert ex-
amnci~. which il contains show with
indispuiahle certainty that the hue and
cry raised duung the past year against
the packers ha. been 40 least unreas0n-
able and murh Ot d. indeed mas been
bystcriCal.
These officially asccftaned facts are
Furri &c 20 very many who have been I'M
pressed by fhe denunOatory language
the, have read aud heard Tor some time
past ion they now mud that. instead Of
the great profits said 20 bc made hy
western packers. The business ls beng
conducted upon smaller margin Of
profit than that prevailing in any other
industry Commissioner Garfield himself
tays The wear 1922. instead OF beng
one 81 eNorbtaut profits. "a has been
commonly supposed. was less profitable
than usual AMI tins Will he remembered
O. the year when tho highest prices ruled
and the packers were being everywhere
accused ID cNfort .nnatc methods Regard
inc This very soar when the complaints
OF injustice were the l0udc-t and the
mos unanimous the commissioner saws:
in fact during the months when the
prices a. beet were the highest. some al
least. oi the leading packers We're actual
ly losing money on every head a cattle
slaughtered tor the reason. he con-
iinucs 10 was not possible TO advance
the prices Of beef .n full proportion 20
the great advance 10 the prices oi cattle
a. that time.
The report also shows that the public
b. He' that enormous profits are usually
characteristic oi ihe hcei bu-ln i- en-
ifeiy erroneous a~ it proves alter iull
invest CATION, that The MAXIMUM net re-
turn uu thc several investments was ivo
ard three tcnths per cent aud .he MIMI
Alm nna and eight euihs pcr cent
luc report much too detailed and
extensive tn attempt amy thorough REVIEW.
tu' n clearly demonstrates thl- there
ha- been q great deal Of unnecessary
alarm or thc pore oi the public a. io tie
meat ~tua. on and good deal oi loose
crnin. at on ol packers about whose
uetHue. and business there ha- l,en ht-
sls rf Commissioner Garfield are IN
iae riorc valuable a. the invest giii N
WIS ht n0 mnlns commenced IN anything
lac % friendly o. partial spirit ami hat
has been lu, and complete Is shown
when hc ssg- "All the statistics taken
f.Dw thc books ~ the companies we're
chc,hrd ln he most thorough manner.
Totals selected al random were verified
by the items Many typical ban nee ~
cattle have been traced from the time ~
purchase 90 tne tune 81 sale as dressed
bcef. thus obtaining accurate nf0rma-
ton i.um original records 81 co~.- ~
oruNl selling prices and Of ultimate
81 Nf~ lu many eases the statements q
cffIe rurchasei hy Gle companies were
Compared with accounts of the commits
SION houses through whom the c.ffle
wee SCOTT The various checks ;hu. ein-
rIDft n-nfc ,ht absolute accuracy oi be
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