The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-02-26
New Jersey Prosecutor SaY.
That None Viii Be Spared
In the Prosecution
ARRAIGNMENT OF The
PACKERS IS StVERI
Most All of the Indicted Men Live il
Chicago and They VIII De Brought
to Jersey City to stand Trial
for Offenses

New York. February 25.-SiX grea
packing companies and II packers, seN
eral of them multi millionaires, social,
and industrially prominent, were in
dicted by Il grand jury in Hudsoh
county, New Jersey today, charge
with conspiracy in limiting the supply
of meat and poultry.
The Indictment is drawn under the
law of New Jersey, which provides
upon conviction a maximum penalty
three years in the penitentiary or
$1,000 fine or both. The offense
extradictable which means PRACTICAL,
all the meat dealers must successful,
escape extradition or come to Jerse,
City for trial.
Prosecutor Garvan of Hudson coun
ty tonight said that he would motif,
the defendants of the indictments am
would be ready to force extraditioi
in every case where the individua
concerned is not willing to face triai
voluntarily.
None, he said, will be spared. The
defendant corporations are: The Ne
tional Packing company, Armour
Co. Swift & Co. Morris & Co., Ham
mond Packing company, G. Fl. Ham
mond & Co, and individuals J. Og-
den Armour, A. Watson Armour, Louis
f. Swift, Edward f. Swift Charles H.
Swift. Charles II. Swift, Edward MGR
ris, Ira N Morris, Arthur Meeker Ed
ward Tilden, L. A Carton. Thomas 4
Wilson, Thomas ]. Conners, f. a. Fow-
Ter, L. J. Heyman, James f. Bath
gate, Jr. George ]. Edwards, Freder-
ick b. Cooper d. L. Hartwell. Henry
B. Darlington, A. A. Fuller and Lem
uel c. Patterson.
The indictments, which bristle ii
their arraignments of the men named
also refer to divers others as be
ing responsible"
These latter persons, however, arc
not specified.
Backbone of Industry
The foregoing list of names, 1t viii.
be seen, represents the very backbone
of the great packing industry of this
country and contains two Armours
three Swifts. and two Morrises. All
for the most part are residents oi
Chicago together with less important
personages in the packing world. Thei
Indictment brings to climax the first
concerted effort in the east to fix re-
sponsibility for the prevailing abnol-
mally high price of commodities.
Jersey City as a cold storage cee-
ter, where the packing companies OF
the west maintain vast warehouses
in which countless thousands of pounds
of meat and poultry are stored, proved
"A fruitful source of inVeStiRat
More than month ago the inquiry
by the grand jury was started. Cold
storage plants then were inspected
witnesses were examined, and today
the indictments We're handed up in the
supreme court before Justices Blair and
Corey.
The proceedings were formal in :ho
extreme and there was nothing dra
matte in the presentation of the docu-
ments VIII ich will mean the trial ~
jury of some of the most prominent
men in the Unietd States charged III
effect with cheating the public.
Ira n. Morris sent a letter to Jer-
sey City this week from Chicago to in
form Prosecutor Garvan that he hal
retired from the directorate of Nor
rs Co, but nevertheless he was IN
dicted. 1t is stated.
Frederick B. Cooper, James e. Bath
gate. George J. Edwards, d. Is. Hart
well, IL. Is. Darlington ana n. a. futr
ler are said to be officers and eastern
agents of the National Packing cop.-
pany. Capiases for the arrest of all
the defendants will be issued immed-
ately and the grand jury will resume
its Investigations Wednesday next
Cooper is the New Jersey managerfor
Swift & Co.
Changes in Indictments
or the alleged manipulations the indict-
ments after voluminous and repeated legal
references to the defendants. charges they
did meet ard conspire within the juris-
liction of this court. wilfully, unawfully
and feloniously devising. contriving and
intending for their own unjust, excessive.
immoral and unlawful profit and gain to
injure, defraud. prejudice, damage, cheat,
impoverish and oppress the public and
the people by cornering and limiting the
necessary and reasonable supply of meats
and poultry for consumption by the pub
lie ard the people of said city and said
county, so as to produce artificial
scarcity In the supply of said meats and
poultry and to greatly, excessively and
extortionately enhance and increase the
cost and price thereof"
According to the indictment an illegal
agreement to thus control prices was en-
tered into by the defendants as far back
as March l. 1908. when it is charged a.
meeting was held in Jersey City at which
the defendants "wilfully, unlawfully.
frauGulentiy and extortionately' bound
themselves together to maintain and ex-
ercise control over monopoly of the
meat and poultry supply and to arbitrar-
lily and unlawfully increase the price of
meat and poultry. and not to sell to the
public meats and poultry except at ex-
olbtant prices agreed upon"
The indictment goes on to state that
mere driblets of the supply were put on
the market at stated intervals, small
quantities agreed upon by the defend
ants, and thus they curtailed and restrict
ed The supply for the purpose of '.ic-
titiousiy. arbitrarily and unlawfully in
creoslng prices to the public"
Warehouses Are Blamed
No attempt is made to recite the loss