The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-12-20
JURY WHICH WILL TRY MEAT PACKERS ISNOW COMPLETE Government Attorney Be- gins His Opening
 Argument
GIGANTIC
 PRICE CONSPIRACY
Packers Organization Is Most Pow erful System of Throttling Com petition Ever Known to the
 Industrial World

Chicago December 19.-The jury which
 is to try the 10 Chicago packers charged
 with violation of the criminal provisions
 of the Sherman antitrust law was eon1-
 p;eted today. and the opening statement
 ot United States District Attorney James II. Wilkerson was begun. 1 In outlining the case MT. Wilkeraen bitterly declared that the defendants,
 through tho National Packing company.
 had continued the old pooling practices
 of packers. and had actually put into effect the most powerful engine for sup
 rression of competition ever devised in
 the industrial world.
 Judge Carpenter had scarcely ceased df-
 recting the summonins of new panel Of veniremen when counsel for the IT,
 dioted packers declared they were sa.is-
 fled with the 12 men in the box. The
 government attorneys also were content.
 and before the noon adjournment the
 oath was administered to the jury. and
 the decks were cleared for the actual
 beginning of the legal batte which is | looked upon as one of the most mo-
 nientous of the many ill which the .ed- erai power has clashed with corpora t.ons
 1 When MT. Wilkerson began his open ing address all the defendants were in ! the courtroom, and each listened intently
 as step by step the theory of the prose- cGtion and the facts on which it is based were presented.
 Tracing the history of the meat indus try in it's relation to the men under in- dictment, and going into great detail in
 his description of various phases Of the
 deeds which ho declared marked con- splracy to violate the law of the land, Mr. Wilkinson laid special emphasis on the following points:
 Points Emphasized That the combination represented by the 10 Chicago meat packers under in- dictment is the most powerful engine or l system for the suppression of compe-
 lion ii ts hsfory s, 6fs of the industrial world That the system IS so 1ngeniously de- vised and so closely guarded that the l men in the lower grades of employment are made to believe that the corporations { in the combination are actual competi- l tors.
 1 That the indicted packers, or their pre- decessors. have dominated the meat in-
 dustry and fixed prices. That the real purpose and design Of Inc National Packing coElpany. which was organized by members of the combination March iS 1905, is to continue the work.
 accomplished by the old pool"
 That the key to the system is the uni form meat used by members in figuring
 the test cost of production. That this test cost, arrived at by adding the killing charges to the price of cattle
 on the hoof and dedueting allowances for l.s.f Tot ter tta -s.f fln. cost and gives the packers a larger mar gin of profit than their own figures ndi- cate.
 ,'I will explain how the system of fig uring cost worked" continued Mir. Wii- kerson. Take the case of a steer weigh
 ing 1900 pounds at 50 hundred, making
 the cost of the steer $50. Add $2.35 killing charges The total is $62.35. "Deduct cents a pound Tor hide, 1) pounds; allowance, $2S0 Three cents
 pound for fat, 80 pounds of fat; allowance
 $2. 40; sum of allowances $520, making the net cost of the carcass $5715. If this ani- maj produced 600 pounds of fresh mear, divididing the net cost by the number of pounds would give the cost of 91s cents per pound as the test cost of the meat. Take a steer bought by another con- cern of better grade which costs $66; ad- ding the same killing expense and making the same allowance for hide and fat The result is that the net cost of the carcas is S6O S5 and the test cost of the meat l trifle over 10 cents pound. Apparently the concerns are selling at different | prices Actually they are selling on the same basis"
 | That the country was divided under the old pooling system into different divisions | and each member of the pool allotted | certain percentage of the business and that similar system is still in existence. Forfeits Paid 1 That a system of forfeits was paid to members who failed to get their percen- l tage of tho business of the different di- . | visions and these forfeits were in the na- 1 ture of fines on those members who ex-
 ceeded their allotment. That formerly the representatives of the csomDination met every Tuesday in the office of a Chicago lawyer and fixed | the prices of meat.
 That since the organization of the Na- | tional Packing company the directors of
 that organization hold meetings at which 1 the price of the product is fixed. l That a specially devised code of trade terms was used at these meetings where | prices were made.
 "The evidence which will be presented" | said Mr. Wilkerson, will show that no
 other conclusion can be reached than that | the National Packing company was used | for the purpose of continuing the opera 1 tions of the old pool and for that alone. | 'It gave first pretext for these gentle men getting together and discussing their own business in terms of the business of | the National Packing company and the National Packing company itself operated | to take the place of the old system Of | fines which were used in the days of the secret meetings because whenever one of
 the parties to the combination overstepped | in any particular market, and thereby in- | iured the business of that market, he was | fined.''
 | MT Willxerson ridiculed the claim which ! he anticipated the defense would make | that the National Packing company was an attempt to organize the benevolent monopoly
 Possess Papers Papers in the handwriting of soNe of ! the defendants and minutes of the Ma | tionai Packing company show that the business affairs of Armour, Swift and | Morris were discussed at the National | Packing company meetings" he said. | The district attorney had not concluded ! his opening statement when court ad- I iourned for the day. He is expected to finish at the morning session tomor- row When he concludes the first sov- ~~~~~~~~~~e CONTINUED ON PAGE 1O)