The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1905-03-17
big Packers Exonerated by Garfield.

The report Of Commissioner Garfield
on the methods under which the business
Of the soealled beef trust ia conducted
has been published and a closely, printed
book of over 800 pages is the result OF the
examination 10 which that industry has
and complete, every phase of the business
having lccn investigated with the utmost
care and thoroughness, as is shown by
exhaustive tables of figures, with anthem
tcated facts and statistical data covering
almost every detail of the business.
After ii careful reading, OF this report
it is impossible to arrive at any other con.
.lusion than that for some time past
there has been great deal said and writ
ten about this great industry that has
had no foundation in fact. 1t would ap:.
pear that a popular camor has resulted
from newspaper comment ana the pas
sage of many resolutions by those who,
as plainly shown by. the report, were ere with
out any dctiutte information. This re-
port, the result of an inquiry in compl'-
ance with congressional demand upon
the secretary of commerce and labor, IS
so complete and detailed that, as a whole,
it will not of course be read by the pub
lie at large. bat the facts and figures,
authenticated by government expert eX-
amlncrs which it contains, show with
indisputafle certainty that the hue and
cry raised during the past year against
the packers has been at least unreason-
able and much OF it., indeed, has been
hysterical.
These officially ascrrtained facts are
surprise to very many who have been I'M
pressed by the denunciatory language
they have read and heard for some time
past, for they now fluid that, instead Of
the great profits said to be made by
western packers, the business is being
conducted upon smaller margin Of
profit than that prevailing in any other
industry Com'ss '"es Garfield h hsea
one of exorbtant profits, as has been
commonly supposed. was less prof table
tnan usual" and this will be remembered
as the wear when the highest prices ruled
and the packers were being everywhere
accused of extor, ;onalc methods. Regard
ing this very year when the complaints
Of injustice were the loudest ana the
I'm fact during the months when tire
prices of beef were the highest, some, ut
least. of the lea,ling packers were actual
w losing money on every head CT cattle
straightforward for the reason, he con-
tnues, 1t was not possible to advance
the prices of beef in full proportion TO
the great advance in the prices Of cattle
at that time.
The report also shows that the public
belief that enormous profits are usually
characteristic OF the beef business IS en-
tirely erroneous, as it proves, alter tull
investigation, that the maximum net re-
turn on the several investments was two
and three-tenthS per cent. and the mini
mum one and eight -tcnths per cent.
The report is much too detailed and
extensive to attempt any thorough review,
but it clearly demonstrates thai: there
has been a great deal of unnecessary
alarm on the part Of the public as to the
meat situation and a good deal OF loos.
denunciation oil packers about whose
methods and business there has been lit
tie or no real information. The conclN.
sions of Commissioner Garfield are all
the more valuable as the Investigate ion
was by. no means commenced in anything
like a friendly or partial spirit and that
it has been full and complete is shown
when he says: "All the statistics taken
from the books OF the companies were
checked in vhc most thorough manner
Totals selected at random were verified
by the items Many typical bui:nes If
cattle have been traced from the 'nnc of
purchase to the time OF sale as dressed
beef, thus obtaining accurate Informal
ton from original records of costs, OF
actual selling prices and of ultimate:
profits In many cases the statements OF
cutie purchased by the companies were
compared with accounts of the commits
sion houses h,ough whom thu cattle
were sold. The various checks thus en-
rl"yc! insure The absolute accuracy .: The
1.n,llrS"