New-York tribune., 1911-12-30
PACKERS POOL EXISTED
Continued from first page.

held adioined the law Office Of my father,
\. III. Nccder.
What were your duties as secretary Of
these meetings
The preparation OF statistics" was the
reply.
what was done at these meetings of the
packcrs?"
Il received two statements every Mon
day from each of tho firms. Ono showed
! the total shipments in Territory A made
| by each firm for the week. The other
statement gave the prices received for the
fresh beef sold by each firm | tabuiated
these figures into one statement for use by
the hackers at the Tuesday meetings
Tho witness said he prepared weekly
statement showing the cost, average sell
ing price and margin OF profit on all heet
sold AT each point in Territory A. Tnese
percentage statements he said were mailed
% representatives Of each firm Monday
night in envelopes marked personal
Was there anything else on those en-
velopes executing the name and address,
asked counsel for the prosecution.
eyes. there was a return card in one
! corner with the name Henry Needer. NO.
J 2a0 Lasallc street. For time we hau a
/ postoffice box number stamped on the en-
| yelopc, but that was abandoned. as IL
p'"NS What was the number Of that post
! Office box
! u do not remember"
! Was there any other statement I'e"-
! larly mailed TO the members?
Alotnnents Made Every Week.
eyes: every TUESDAY after the weekly
| meeting / would send letter =" a,,, eaCn
] nc
! i'm pounds 10 be shipped in Territory y
/ during the current week"
Can YOU give us the form OF those let
! tcrs?'' -,
..They read about like this: Dear Sir
/ Your shipments into Territory for the
/ coming week will be % per cent OF your
! maximum allotment. or eW"'p) pouilus' p,
Did each member receive copy Oh
what the other was to ship
! Yes You talk like YOU had seen some
OF these letters. e,
well, maybe | have. repileu SPeCidi
Counsel Butler, with a smile.
/ Albert H. Veeder was called 10 the stand
at the opening Of the morning session lie
described the collapse Of the "billion dol
/ lar" merger Of the packing interests planned
! lv Armour, Swift. Morris and Cudahy in
/ 1902.
He told Of attending a meeting OF pack
ers in December. 1902 at the office or
Kuhn. Loeb & Co. in New York. at which
plans for financing the big merger were
discussed with Jacob II. Schiff.
Schff Cast Gloom Over Veeder.
! eve spoke Of the money needed for the
proposition, and 41r. Schif said conditions
/ in the money market were not propiuous,
said Mr.. Veeder. "IIe did not use the
word manic but when he got through he
made me feel like going out in the street
and selling everything I had. His talk so
depressed the packers that the idea OF the
I big merger was dropped. In few months
/ the fears Of Mr.. Schff were realized and
we had panic"
The witness then described the plight Of
the packers after the collapse OF plans for
the big merger.
Thirteen Companies on Their Hands.
"They had thirteen packing companies on
! their hands" Mr. Veeder said, "and were at
loss what to do with them. Three plans
were considered one was to divide them
among the promoters-Armour, Swift and
| Morris The second was to operate them
under a partnership agreement, and the
third was to put them into new organiza-
ton. The last plan was finally adopted,
and the National Packing Company was or
ganized on March is, 1903, with capital
of $4,000, 900"
Mr. Veeder denied that the division OF
| stock of the National Packing Company
was determined by the volume OF business
done by the owners, Armour, Swift and
Morris
On redirect examination the witness ad
mitted he did not know how these per
, centages were reached.
do you know what the packers con
sidered in making these percentages?'
asked Mr.. Butler.
That would involve probing the pack
: ers' minds | never attempted to put my
mind up against one Of these packers II
| did | always got the worst of it,"
The percentage of stock Of the Nationa
Packing Company was divided as follows
Swift & Co.. 1910; Armour & Co., 4O1l
Morris e. CO.. 1919
Several hours of the session were takeT
up by counsel arguing on the admissibilt,
Of testimony touching the operation of Ger
tain distributing corporations owned by thu
packers.
Judge Carpenter reserved his decision.