The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1912-01-05
SAYS BEEF BARONS MET WEEK.
LY TO APPoRTloN TERRITORY
AND FIX PRICES.
PACKERS ARE 0YERRULED
Letters Hid Names Of Com.
professionalism Disbanded Be-
tween 1896 and 1898 and
Then Resumed.

from 1893 to 1896 and that it, after
s%uspending operations for two years,
resumed control of the country's fresh
meat business was given in the pack
ers' trial by Henry Veeder. who al
mitted that he acted as secretary of
the organization.
1t was the first positive testimony
offered by the government regarding
the existence Of the old pool which
met under the name of "postoffice box
No. 247" every Tuesday to fix the
price charged for fresh beef, agree on
the price to be paid for cattle and al
lot among its members the amount of
meat to be shipped into the different
centers of distribution.
Between 1893 and 1896, the men,
bers of the pool we're Armour & Co.,
Armour Packing Company. Cudahy &
Co., G. H. Hammond & Co., st. Louis
Dressed Beef company, Morris & Co.,
and Swift & Co., according to Henry
Veeder. In 1898 Schwarzschild &
S%ulzberger entered the combination.
He testified that a record was kept
Of the amount of meat shipped to the
different branch houses and weekly
statements were sent to the members
showing the cost, average price re-
ceived and the margin of profit on
fresh beef in the different cities.
Attorney for the defendants made
an unsuccessful effort to prevent the
witness from answering questions re-
garding the inside workings Of the
packers pool. but Judge Carpenter
over-ruled every objection and direct
ed the government to proceed with
the presentation of its case.
Veeder described the geographical
division of the country used by the
packers as follows: Territory ALL
east of the Mississippi river and north
Of the Ohio river except Illinois;
Territory bail south of the Ohio
and Potomac rivers and east Of the
Mississippi river except West Vir-
ginia; Territory C-Chicago; Terri
tory D-St. Louis and all Of Illinois
except Cook county and all of Iowa
except Council Bluffs.
He said this division had been In
existence ever since he knew any
thing about the packing business.
Mr.. Veeder said that the state OF
Colorado was known as Territory e.
Other sections Of the country were
not included in the alphabetical list.
Continuing the witness said:
1.-THE companies at these meetings
were identified by letters. Armour 4
~ uyo Lrnun &C A urr0yr Do~LS~~
company as B, Cudahy & Co. as G.,
Hammond & Co. as D, st. Louis Dress
ed Beef company as E, Morris & Co.
as F. and Swift & Co. al G.
"In 1898 Schwarzschild & Sulzber-
ger Joined the meeting and were des-
ignated by the letter @, and Swift 4
Co. became known under tho letter H.
The meetings we're held on tho
sixth floor Of the CouDselman build
ing. There we're nine or ten rooms
used for these meetings. There were
no signs on the door.
"All tho firms who attended the
meeting paid their proportionate
amount Of the rent and other expenses
which was determined by the volume
Of business done in fresh beef in ter
ritory A."
In response to a question Mr.. Wee
der replied:
II received two statements every
| Monday from each of the firms. One
showed the total shipment in territory
A made by each firm for the week.
The other statement gave the prices
| received for the fresh meat sold by
each firm. l tabulated these figures
into one statement for use by the
packers at the Tuesday afternoon
meetings."
The witness said that he prepared
a weekly statement showing the cost.
average selling price and margin Of
profit on all beef sold at each point
in territory A. These percentage
statements, he said. we're mailed to
representatives of each hrm Monday
night in envelopes marked Per
sonal."
Every Tuesday afternoon after the
weekly meeting l would send q letter
to each member notifying them Of
their allotment in pounds to be ship.
ped in territory A during the current
week"
Can you give US the form Of those
le~tters?"
They read about like this: Dear
Sir-Your shipments into territory
A for the coming week will be 80
per cent Of your maximum allotment,
nr 3 OOO 600