Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1905-03-16
Big Packers Exonerated by Garfield.

The report Of Comm ssioner Garfield
on the methods under which the bushes
OF the o-called beef trust i conducted
has been published and a closely printed
book of over 80 pages Is the result of the
examination to which that industry has
been subjected. The report is very full
and complete, every phase OF the business
having been Investigated with the utmost
care AMI thorouyhneSs. IS Is shown by
exhaustive tables of figures. with anthem
treated fact~ and statistical data covering
almost every detail OF the business.
After = careful reading at this report
It y impossible to arrive at any other con-
ciusion than that for some time past
there has been a great deal laid aud writ
ten about thiS great industry that mas
had no icundltion IN fact. II would APP
pear that a popular clamor has resulted
from newspaper comment and the pas
sage ot many resolutions by those who,
a. plainly shown by the report, were with
out any definite information. This re-
port. the result OF an inquiry in compli-
a1ce with a congressional demand upon
the secretary OF and labor. IS
so complete and detailed that. as a whole.
Il will not Of course be read by the pub
lie az large, but the facts and figures,
authcntIcated by government expert ex-
amincrs, which II contains. show with
~indlsputable certainty that the hue and
cry raised during the past year against
the packers has been at least unreason-
able and much OF 1t, indeed. has been
hysterieal.
These officially aseertained facts are n
surprise 10 very many who nave been I'M
pressed by the denunciatory language
they have read and heard for some time
past, for they now find that. instead Of
the great profits said to be made by
western packers, the business is being
conducted upon a smaller margin of
proht than that prevailing in any other
industry. COMMISSIONS Garfield himself
says. The wear 1902. instead of being
one OF exorbitant profits, as has been
commonly supposed, was less profitable
than usual, and this will be remembered
a. the year when the highest prices ruled
and the packers were being everywhere
accused of extort,onate methods. Regard
ing this very year when the complaints
OF injustice were the loudest and the
most unanimous. the commissioner saws:
In fact during the months when the
prices OF beef were the highest, some. at
least, OF the leading packers were actual
~ losing money on every head Ct cattle
slaughtered tor the reason, he con-
tlnues, it was not possible to advance
the prices of beef in full proportion to
the great advance in the prices of cattle
at that time"
t"E iel'it dso SHOWS mat the pubic
belief that enormous profits are usually
characteristic Of the beef busin - is en-.
tlrely erroneous, as it proves, alter full
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-tenrhs per cent.
The report " much too detailed and
extensive to attempt any thorough review.
but II clearly demonstrated tina, there
has been a great deal of unnecessary
alarm on the part of the public as 10 the
meat situation and a good deal of loos.
remuneration oil packers about whose
methods and business there has been lit.
Tie or no real Information The concli-
siuns of Commissioner Garfield are all
the more valuable as the investigation
Was by no means commenced in anstniny
IKE a friendly or partial spirit and that
II has been iull and complete "a shown
when he says: IAN the statistics taken
from the books of the companies we're
chez ked IN he most thorough manner.
Totals selected at random were verified
by the items. Many typical ban hes II
cattle have been traced from the time Of
purchase 10 the time Of sale as dressed
bee thus obtaining accurate iuforma-
tiou. from original records of eos.,. of
actual selling prices and of ultimate
profits. In many cases the statement Of
cattle purchasci by the companies were
compared with accounts of the commits
sion houses through whom the CATTLE
WERE sold. The various checks .hus en-
rloysl insure the absolute accuracy .; The
rsuies."