Albuquerque citizen., 1907-10-24
President Rueb. OF Board
Which Controls Chicago
Prices. Tells How
Market Is Fixed.
SUPPLY AND DEMAND
ARE NOT CONSIDERED
This Exchange Practically Rules
East and West as Far as Farm
Products are Concerned.
Charge All They'll
Pay" the Motto.

Chicago, ILL.,, Oct. 24.-In making
its investigation of prices of COM
nodities and the usual price of la
bor in this city, the bureau of stat
istics of the department of agricul-
ture has uncovered the fact that the
prices paid by the people for butter
and eggs are based, not on competi-
tive values, not upon market condi-
tions, nor the laws of supply and
demand. but upon the arbitrary rul-
ing of a few men who merely esti-
mate how much the consumer can
be forced to pay. One of the in
spectors who is making this investi-
cation, said:
Food Trust.
There is a food trust in Chicago
which, broadly speaking fixes the
price each morning that all America
must pay for butter and eggs, as
well as many other commodities
Underlying this trust is an organiza-
ton known as the Chicago butter
and egg board. This is composed
of less than 100 Chicago butter and
egg commission merchants.
Among the privileged members
are American Refrigerator & Tran
sit Co., Dairy shipper Despatch. Erie
Despatch, Merchants Despatch
Transportation Co, Missouri River
Despatch, New York Despatch Re-
quotation publishers.
This board is duly incorporated
body, the purpose of which, accord
ing to its bylaws, is to establish,
for the benefit of its members, daily
market quotations and prices on
butter and eggs
Chicago Rules Market.
"There are other butter and egg
boards in the country which are not
supposed to be affiliated with this
but in the last analysis it is found
that the Chicago first prices rule the
markets of the nation. The prices
made today in Chicago are usually
merely reflected In the markets of
Philadelphia, Boston and New York.
'In the shabby exchange of the
Chicago butter and egg board, in the
Marine building, this morning, per-
haps fifty men were gathered in a
rooms before a blackboard, on which
were chalked such items as receipts,
weather conditions, previous prices
and market reports from other cities.
In the rear of the board room was
dark little committee room, with
nine chairs drawn around a long
black table. At 9 o'clock nine MEM
bers of the board, duly elected for
the purpose, composing the butter
price committee, filed into the little
black room and locked the door.
Five minutes of discussion and
then the committee communicated
by telephone with a secretary, who
marked upon a blackboard the fol-
lowing:
Prices "Fixed."
Extra creamery butter 27hQI
use; firsts 20 Y Q261ac, seconds 23ha
q25c, and so on through a list of
grades
These prices were instantly tele-
graphed to all parts of the country.
These figures formed the base of the
price buyers paid.
I'm the same manner another
committee of nine, a few minutes
later, retired to the room and fixed
the prices of eggs. The secretary
marked up: Prime first 24c, firsts
23c, seconds 11@14c, dirties 11Q16.
ION the surface this seems all
right But there is no buying or
selling on the floor of the exchange.
The price is simply fixed arbitrarily
by the ruling majority of each COM
mittee.
Gas the food trust, which is an
other name for Armour, Swift and
other great packers of the middle
west, really dominate the markets,
il is reasonable to suppose that they
dominate the spirit of the price com
mittees The transportation and
refrigerator lines, privileged MEM
bers of the board are the great
shippers and the tentacles of the
trust
Charge All You'll Pay.
1.-The milk and cream OF the farm
er goes to the creamery buyer, who
in turn sells his product to the same
branch of the trust. The small mer-
chant buys eggs from the farmer
and in turn sells them to other
agents of the trust. Thus are the
two great commodities of this con-
sumption turned into the hands of
a few men. The pressure brought
upon the farmer and small dealer to
effect this corner can easily be sur
missed.
Prices fixed by the committees
are the prices the trust agrees to
pay the shipper or jobber. If they
name "a cents as the egg price, out
of that must come the profit to the
farmer, the egg gatherer, the cOun-
try merchant the commission mer-
chant and sometimes other middle
men. Each profit reduces the re-
turn to the producer, the farmer.
when extra creamery butter was
quoted wholesome az 27h to csc, |
Chicago retailers were selling it to
the consumer at 32 10 SO cents a |
pound. In Ia shionable districts of |
the city this grade Of butter selling |
at S6 cents, while in the poorer dis |
tricts II sold al 32 cents. The re-
taller has his own little system of
CONTINUED on Page Four.)