Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1905-03-17
COMMISSIONERS oARFfEIo's RE-
PORT.

III 10 Found TO He Favorable to- the
Great Packew.
The report OF Commisataper ef Cor
poratlons Garfield on the beef indus
try, after about eight ninrtfS iayests-
shows that there has been tstsersarnious
amount OF e~1sggeratf0n I'm the state
nnsnts that have appssred fcr some
time past in regard TO the Beef bfss-
ness. This investigation was set on
foot by a resolution OF Gle House Of
Representatives. adopted Msereh A. 1884,
and the ascertaIned facts after II most
rigid examination or the tnSthpds and
general conduct OF the DuSilsess are
contained in a report eoyerNig @S
pages. Its figures and tas7es, 'oonclu-
slvely show that the popular belief in
enormous profits made by the large
packers, such as Armour & Co. Swift
q Co. and Nelson Morris & go, and
in the exclusive control OF the bust
ness which many think they enjoy, Is
really without foundation.
The report made to President Rooss-
welt by Commissioner Garfield is real
ly the first official statement of the se-
tual conditions OF the beef business
that has been made, and as all the con-
illusions arrived at are based. as shown
by him, upon data officially obtained,
there seems to be no reason why they
should not be regarded as reliable and
in all respects trustworthy.
This report shows why the price OF
both cattle and beef advanced to the
highest level ever known after the
short corn crop of 1901, and states that
because OF the decrease in number OF
cattle and also in decreased weight.
''the high prices OF beef which caused
SO much complaint among consumers
at this time were attributable. wholly
to these abnormal cattle prices"
All the figures of the liye weight
and live cost of all dressed beef cattle
were obtained from actual killing rec
ords and all information OF every kind
obtained by the Commissioner was
voluntarily and freely offered by the
packers. all books of record anu papers
connected with the business having
placed at his disposal.
c mako Ger tain that inc results OF
the investigation should be absolutely
accurate, the Commissioner states that
~ uouDlC iucltbu oi dSCtTldtufuG nFOulS
was adopted, and, without going into
detail here. it is found thar the conclu-
sion arrived at shows nm average profit
OF 30 cents per head. The Commits
sioner says ''the close naraIIelism in
the results Of the two methods or ascer-
tanning the profits confirms completely
the correctness of the general conclu-
sions.' 1t is clearly established that
western packers do not eontrol>more
than half Of the beef supply OF the
United States,r the conclusion OF the
Commissioners being that the business
done by them amounts TO sabout Al
per cent OF the totaf slaughter OF this
country.
The whole report is extremely inter
esting and well worthy OF careful PEE
rusal. AS an official report it may bs
regarded as worthy Of confidence ana
it certainly leads the reader to thu
conclusion arrived at by the Commits
sioner when he states that the capital
ization OF none OF these concerns is
excessive as compared with it's actual
investment and that from .thorouga,
and rigid examination OF original en-
tries in hooks and papers to which he
had access there was also indirect evil
dence that the profits OF the packers
in their beef business are less than IL
frequently supposed" as shown by
comparison between the total profits
and the total amount OF sales.