The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1905-03-23
INVESTIGATION OF
BEEF TRUST BEGINS
Secret Inquiry by the Fedora,
Grand Jury Is Opened
in Chicago.
400 WITNESSES WAITING
Sensational Disclosures Are Expected
to Be Made by a Mar Who Over
heard a Conversation Be-
tween T:so Big Packers.

Chicago, March %. The govern
ment investigation of the beef trust"
began today. Judge j. Otis Humphrey.
of Springfield, administered the oath
10 the grand jury veniremen whose,
names have been kept a profound Sc
cret for three weeks by the officials in
the United States district attorneys Of
flee. The government is represented
by Assistant District Attorney e. b.
Morrison and Assistant Attorney Cen
eral Oliver H. Pagin. Attorney Jnho
L. Miller represents the packers. Much
Information bearing on specific in
stances of alleged violation Of the Sher-
man anti-trust law is said to be in the
hands of the federal prosecutors.
Independents Will Peach" !,
The Independent packers, headed by
Schwarzschild & Sulsberger, have ar
ranged to submit evidence.to the gov
eminent tending to show the manner
in which the smaller packers have been
forced to follow the dictation of the So
called big five"
Witnesses from out of the city have
been assigned dates for their appear
ence at the grand jury session. Sew
aral reported to the district attorneys
office today of 800 subpoenas issued.
Clerk Mcmillan reports that all except
fou have been personally served. At
torney Miller denies that any witnesses
for the government have been spirited
away and are on vacations as has
been reported.
The proceedings, which are calculated
to extend over a month, involving tes-
timony from nearly 400 witnesses from
all parts of the country, will be the
most exhaustive and ~far-reaching of
all the proceedings in the litigation
which has led up to the present sit
uation. United States deputy
shals served twenty-eicht additional
subpoenas Saturday in the stock yards
district. These are the last papers to
be served before the coming Of the
grand jury and everything is in readi-
ness for the protracted session tina is
to follow.
Inquiry Ordered by Government.
The calling of his grand jury for tn.
special purpose of inquiring again into
the affairs of the beef trust was done
upon the order of the attorney general
of tie United States after government
agents had been at work for months.
collecting evidence against the packers
tending to show that they are operating
as a trust in violation of the law and
in direct violation of the Grosscup in
junction, sustained by the United
States supreme court.
The prosecution Of the packers is
about three years old. In March, 1902,
complaints were publicly made against
the packers and evidence was pub
5tished in many of the newspapers of the
country tending to prove that a COM
bination of interests existed among
the big packers. The attention of the
government was called to the alleged
violations OF law and April IL, 1902. CON
siderable documentary evidence was
turned over to Attorney General Knox,
who directed an investigation, and
May 10, 1902. the government filed a
against the packers before
Judge GroSscup. Ten days later Judge
Grosscup granted a temporary injunc-
ton restraining the packers ~collaborat-
to control the prices of meat and
live stock on the hoof.
Grosscup Was Sustained.
In August following the issuance of
the injunction the defendant packers
filed a demurrer, which was argued by
Attorney John I. Miller before Judge
Grosscup in December. Judge Gross
cup took the case under advisement
until February IS, 1903, when he over
ruled the demurred and made the tenn
porary injunction permanent. The de-
PENDANT packers then appealed the case
to the United States supreme court.
anu Jdliudly ., l3uo, the case was
argued in Washington The United
States supreme court announced its de-
cision January 50. sustaining the Gross
cup injunction.
Immediately following the decision Of
the United States supreme court it be-
came known that the government had
agents of the secret service department
at work looking into the packers af-
fairs, and early in February last Attor-
n1V (yEnGCa1 N1nnHN i-nIt.J TTr;t.l
States District Attorney Bethea to re-
quest the calling of a grand jury to
Investigate the packers.
All OF the twenty-three :nen who are
TO serve OH the, grand jury have been
served with PAPER by Deputy United
States Marshal Griffith and they will
appear at the Monadnock building at
10 O'Clock tomorrow morning. The men
are all retired farmers or well known
men throughout the northern
part of Illinois. If some of the men fail
to qualify another drawing will be held
until the requisite number Of men quail
ify. No evidence will be heard by the
jury until Tuesday morning.
The greatest secrecy is to be main
tanned by everyone connected with the
case to prevent an inkling of the evil
denCe from reaching the packers.
Assistant Attorney General Pagin and
Assistant District Attorney Morrison will
conduct the investigation.
Overheard a Conversation.
One of the most important bits of evi
dcnce in the hands of the federal authori-
ties is a letter from a man formerly en-
ploycd by one of thee packing companies,
who declares that he overheard a CONVEX
sation beJween two leading packers in the
lobby of the Auditorium Annex when the
beef trust investigation was first spoken
of. The letter is being carefully guarded
by the federal officials for fear that the
identity Of its writer and the principals
in the conversation may become known.
II is said that the man sat in a chair
nea the two packers. whom he knew per-
sonally and overheard a conversation. in
which both the men participated, express
ing themselves fully on the position Of the
government and the actions of the pack
ing interests in Chicago for the last few
years. h talk lasted for almost an
hour, after which the governments in
formant wrote out what he had heard in
detail and sent the letter anonymously to
the office of District Attorney Bethea. de-
ciartng that when the proper time ar
rived he would be ready to offer what he
had heard as evidence before the grand
jury or a judge.
1t is said that many persons are leavin;
the stock yards district on vacations
1t is not believed that any of the witnesses
already SuUuOenaed nayp fiaG ~, 4, =,