The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1905-03-31
COMMISSIONER cARFlELD's REPORT
IL IL Found TO Be Favor abba to.ihs Gre.s
Paek~r. 20 -


The report OF COmmissione. OF Cor
porations Garfield or the beef indus
try, after about eight mOntk' inves-
ugatlOn in Chicago and elsewhere.
shows that there has been an enormous
amount Of exaggeratiOn I'm the state
ments that have appeared for some
time past il regard % the beef busi-
ness. This Investigation was set on
foot by a resolution OF the House OF
Representatives adopted March :. 1904.
and the asc.rtained facts after a most
rigid examination of the methods and
general conduct Of the business are
contained in a report covering 308
pages. It's figures and tables cOnc.u-
siyely show that the popular belief -
esormOus profits made by the large
packers. such as Armour * Co. Swift
x Co and Nelson Norris & Co. and
In the exclusive control Of the busi-
ness which many think they enjoy, is
really without fOun l1tiOn.
The report made - President ROose-
welt by Commissioner Garfield Is real
ly the first official statement OF the ac-
tual conditions OF tie beef business
that has been made and as all the con-
cluslons arrived az are based. as shown
by him. npon data officially obtained
there seems 20 be 10 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 lapl. and states that
because Of the decrease in number Of
cattle and also i'm decreased weight.
'the high prices Of beef which caused
so much complaint among consumers
at this time were attributable wholly
10 these abnormal cattle prices"
AL the figures Of the live weight and
live cost Of all dressed beef cattle were
obtained from actual killing records.
and all information OF every kind OBJ
ta!ned by the Commissioner was volun-
tarily and freely offered by the pack
ers. all books Of lscord and papers
connected with the business having
been placed at his disposal.
To make certain that the results OF
the investigation should be absolutely
accurate. the Commissioner states that
a double method of ascertaining profits
was adopted. and. without going into
detail here, It is found that the conclu-
sion arrived at shows an average profit
OF % cents per head. The Commits
siOner says the close parallelism in
the results OF the two methods OF as
Certaining the profits confirms com
Dlptely the correctness of the general
conclusions" It is clearly established
that Western packers do not control
more than half OF the beef supply OF
the United States" the conclusion Of
the Commissioner being that the busi-
ness done by them amounts to about
the country.
The whole report ! extremely inter-
pstiug and we'll worthy of careful Pc
rusal AS an Official report it may be-
regarded rs worthy Of confidence, and
it certainly leads the reader 10 the
conclusion arrived AZ by the COmmis-
SiOner when he states that the capt
talization of none of these concerns is
excessive as compared with its actual
investment" and that from thorough
and rigid examination of original Ell
tries in books and papers 70 which he
had access there wa, also indirect evil
dence that the profits of the packers
in their beef business are less than is
frequently supposed" as shown by
comparison between the total profits
and the total amount Of sales.