The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1911-12-19
NOW FOR THE
BRANDING IRON
S. O. Bates, head OF /, tailoring
frm Chioa "a md IaEranua IL
CONTINUED from page ~

S. o. Bates, head OF a tailoring
firm, Chicago and LAGRANGE, Ill.
G. H. Mare, drug salesman, Chicago.
The jury will elect its foreman. AS
soon as the jury was sworn court
recessed, with the agreement that
District Attorney Wilkerson would be-
gin his opening statement on behalf OF
the prosecution late this afternoon
Unsparing in his choice of such
short words as criminal "lawless'
and crude in characterizing the bus
ness methods of the packing house
barons, United States District At
torney James H. Wilkerson today told
the jury ust rhat the government ex-
poets to show in proving their case
against the ten millionaire beef mag
mates. The defendants wriggled, i'm
der the curt words with which the
government prosecutor analysed their
business energy, and seemed out OF
eminent has been able to force them
to view since it started eight years
ago to bring them to trial.
The prosecutors address was care
i fully prepared chronological state
ment or the formation or an alleged
/ beef combine. He began back in
/ 1885. when Swift & Company, the
real pioneers of the business, were or
ganized and traced each development
j to date. 1t was an old pool, formed in
the early days of the industry, that
4 the packers got their ideas for domi-
mating the packing business, he said
i Notwithstanding the fact that the old
pool did not include corporations
packing the greater part of the meat
they were in control of the business
the attorney said, because of their
control of the refrigerating cars.
THE popularity of the business re
J quisnd unusual methods of combina
ton Wilkerson explained 1T was
| impossible that a combination with
l reference to the price of meat could
be made along the lines Of the stee
t trust, where there are six staple
;. grades Of the product In the mea
: business the perishable nature of tn,
e product and the fact that grades art
+ constantly changing, made the com
4 bination unique one"
Wilkerson went carefully into tn
test costs" of meat and said that tn
old pool divided the country up int
] seven districts, where Swift was allo
= ted 33 per cent in each territory, Al
g mour, 81 per cent; Morris. IA per cen
The Hammond Group, 13 per cent
L Schwarzchild and Sulzberger, 8 pc
q cent; Cudahy, per cent If an
e. Of these groups in the pool sold NOR
"a than their share In an allotted teri
V tory, Wilkerson said that they wei
C. fined-and one-half the fine went
the shipper whose territory was il
,r fringed upon, the remaining half
sr the pool for expenses. Each week tt
lie pool met on Tuesday and discusse
e. conditions, shipments, prices, etc.
s "These meetings were held Sc
reilly" he said. $50 criminal wei
lie these meetings in their nature, and 4
u crude their criminal purpose nbeir
only too plain-that 1t was finally d
ne cided to operate on different basi
ty in the old pool there was consta
Of The members kept breaking faith,
en- Becoming tired of resorting to t
he methods Of common criminals, Il
|. pool devised more effective pla
which they thought might have tt
appearance of some slight attempt {
their part to comply with the la
This resulted in the organization
the National Packing Company"
az Describing this concern. Wilkerst
nj said it would be proved that its me-
il bership was identical with the G
pool, and that the loan made for
- formation by Kuhn, Loeb & Compar
of New York, was. repaid by t
- creators of the new pool, not accol
ing to the way the companies agre
to take up the money, but in prop
tion to the beef they shipped or pat
- ed. Prior to this the several /
20 groupes had each acquired competi
- plants. The National Packing Co
- pany took over control of the
plants, he said. Stock was issued
the packers in the proportion OF thu
20 holdings in the absorbed corporatio
20 The original board of directors of
National Packing Company, Wiki
son continued, was exactly the saI
a' in it's membership, as the old p'
that dominated the business The n
= board met in exactly the same pla
a. at the same time, and according to
- same program. and the government
-ne counsel promised to show that
~ members discussed packinghouse d.
GO. prices, etc. After 1905, he said,
'nn specific minutes We're kept, which
az sire for secrecy was also shown in
ln barring from the meetings of even
w. secretary.