The Brunswick news. [volume] (Brunswick, Ga.) 1906-2016, 1910-01-29
HOW BEEF TRUST
FORCED PRICES
TO HIGH POINT
REASONS GIVEN FOR THE UN.
USUALLY HIGH PRICES OF
MEAT NOW PREVAILING.
Stypidity Of Former Secretary
Caused Prosecutions of the Trust
"
to Fall Through Several Years Aoo.
Armour's Big Profit.

washington, Jan 2S.-Thirty-tiye
per cent. is the amount of profit Ar
mour & Co. forced the public to DYy
| last year.
This fact has tecn ascertained bv
the statement submitted by Armour
q Co., in connection with the listing of
bond issue CT $3O,O00,OOO on the
stock exchange. The company by its
own showing made a gross profit of
SlO,5S2,O0O for the year 1909 on a can
ltal stock of $20,000,OO0 and earned a
surplus of $7,127926, or tAa edlliya,
lent of dividend of 35.6 per cent.
so far as 1910 the price Cf meat has
been higher than in 1909, wZ;ch would
make it aprear 35 per cent. profy on
capital stock is not ample, even
though the commodity concerned is
one OF the necessaries Of life.
The revealing of this enormous nro-
nj would seem on the face Of it to le.
quire modification of tha eXplana
tion of the high price of meat recent
iy made by the chairman Of the pack
ers' committee. That explanation was
In effect that the packer, being oblig-
ed to pay higher price for livestock
passed on the additional cost 10 the
dealer, who, in turn, shifted il 10 the
consumer This, however, is not The
whole story of the rise of mess feef
from $685.. For its full understanding
there must be taken into account the
millions in surplus profits reserved
by the packers to convince Wall
street of the safe and lucrative nature
o ftheir business.
1t Is generally believed that the de
partment of justice will have little
trouble in convicting the beef trust
of being in existence In violation of
the antitrust law, or of proving that
Armour & Co., Swift & Co, Morris e
Co., and the National Packing com
pany are in conspiracy to control
the price of beef 1t has long been
charged that the National Packing CO.
is controlled by the three other con-
Germs named. These companies, it is
charged, control the price of beef
through their control of the National
Packing company.
The United States government Sc
cured the necessary evidence to break
up the beef trust several years ago,
but failed owing to the stupidity of
James r. Garfield, later secretary of
the interior. Garfield gave the packers
immunity from prosecution by COM
pelling them to divulge certain infor-
nation. After thus securing the in
formation, Garfield proceeded to use
it to prosecute the victims with. Af
ter the government had spent hun
dreds of thousands of dollars in the in
vestigation and prosecution, Judge
Humphrey, of Chicago, threw the case
out of court for the reason given.
Up to this time the Taft admins
tration has been most friendly to the
beef trust. When the new administra-
ton came into office it found pending
from fhe Roosevelt reign some impor-
tart cases against members of the
beef trust. It was declared that the
Roosevelt administration had intend
ed proceeding with the prosecution.
AS soon as placed in charge of the
department.
Attorney General Wickersham ad
dressed letter to the beef trust
firms, assuring them that he did not
think they intended" to do wrong,
and did mot believe tina tany public
service would be rendered by making
at this time 4 test case Of past trans
actions"
This action of Mr.. Wickersham re-
ceived criticism from many quarters.
Exception was taken to the attorney
generals assertion that the cases in
mention were "test" cases 1t was as
serted that Morris & Co., and three
other large packers of Chicago, lad
been prosecuted under indictments al
most exactly similar to the ones
quashed by Mr.. Wickersham. Each
company so prosecuted had been fined
$4,000, and paid the fine. The cases
went on appeal to the United States
supreme court, where, without any di- ..
vision of the bench, the convictions |
were sustained .