The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1905-07-06
BEEF PACKERS INDICTED
Federal Grand jury at Chicago Re-
turns Eighteen True Bills Charg-
inc Firms With Conspiracy.

ing Firms With Conspiracy.
After an investigation which has
lasted something over three months
and during which more than one hum
dred witnesses were examined, the
federal grand jury at Chicago Satui-
day afternoon handed in its report.
Seventeen men prominent in the pack.
ing industries of the country were in
dicted for violation of the Sherman
antitrust law and four officials of the
schwarzchild & Sulzberger company,
were indicted for alleged illegal re-
batting with the railroads. Besides
these individual indictments, bills
were oted against five large cor
porations, Armour & Co., Swift &
Co., Nelson, Morris & Co., Cudahy
Packing company and the Fairbanks
Canning company.
The Indictment voted for alleged VI
olation of the antitrust law were
identical n each instance. The in
dictments contained. each eight counts,
which were spread over sixty-three
typewriter pages.
The first and second counts on the
indictments pertained only to beef
sold in the domestic market. The
ninth and tenth counts relate to beef
sold in foreign trade. The third
count charges conspiracy in re-
straint of trade and commerce among
the states and with foreign nations
in fresh, dried, smoked, cured, can
ned and picked meats, and in certain
by-products Of the packing industry,
viz: Sasage castings, sausage contain
ers, oleo stock, stearine and oils and
also in butter, eggs and poultry.
This count charges that the trade
which the defendants were carrying
on in the above named commodities
was to be restrained in several ways:
First, competition in the buying of
cattle at the stock yards in different
cities was to be prevented and de-
stroyed by the defendants, who re-
CURED their purchasing agents to re-
frain from bidding against each
other.
Second, competition as to the sale
of the above commodities In foreign
and domestic markets was to be pre-
vented and destroyed by the defend.
ants fixing non-competitive and un-
reasonable prices for such commodi.
ties and requiring their representa-
tives in the different markets to fix
prices by agreement from day to day
according to what the market would
stand.
Third, the supply Of the above COM
modities was to be curtailed and re.
stricted whenever necessary to main
tain the prices so fixed.
:. Fourth, the United States was di.
vided up into territories between the
defendants and each was to keep
it's own territory without interference
by the others.
Fifth, there was division as to the
volume of trade allowed to each de-
fendant in a given market; If one
packer sold more than his percent.
age during a given week he was
obliged to pay an "ante" of so much
per hundreiweight according to the
territory in which the matter occur.
red, into a pool to cover the excess
Of sales, sand this fund was divided
among the packers who fell short in
their sales.
AS soon as the indictments had been
handed into court District Attorney
Morrison suggested that each Of the
defendants be placed under bonds Of
$4,000, and, when the court asked If
bench warrants were to be served, he
was informed by the district attorney
that the legal advisers for all the
men included in the indictments had
agreed to produce the men On Mon.
day or as soon as possible after July
4th. Judge Bethea acQuiesced in this
arrangement.