Arizona republican., 1916-12-07
STOCK MEN ARE FOR
 INVESTIGATING THE
 PACKING INDUSTRIES
Republican A. p. Leased Wirel

Republican A. p. Leased Wire1
 CHICAGO, Dec e.-Delegates to the annual session of the conference on marketing and farm credits devoted their time today to consideration of the packing industry as it is related to the stockman.
 Debate followed the presentation of papers treating with the raising and marketing of livestock.
 Many speakers insisted that the whole industry as proposed in the Bor- land bill, should be investigated, not as an attack on the packing industry, but to discover where lies the waste which some economists assert accounts for the absence of substantial profit.
 w. H. Parry of the federal trade commission, was an attentive listener. IL is this commission which the cattle men asserted should make the investi- gation.
 D. B. Heard, of Phoenix, Ariz., presi- dent of the American National Live stock Association, and A. A. DeRicqles, of Denver, Colo, secretary of the as- sociation's market committee, advo- cated inviting the aid of the packers in solving the problem of the cattle men.
 MT De Ricqles suggested that possi-
  trolled would be good thing, and that it even might be for the good of all con- cerned if the packers, who are also the biggest wholesalers, should go into the retail meat business.
 Speakers today included also NJ. L. Mcclure, president of the American National Livestock Exchange of Kan sas City, Mo; T. w. Tomlinson. secre- tary of the American National Live stock Association, Denver; George K. Andrews, commissioner of agriculture for the Missouri Pacific railroad, St. Louis: r. l.. Burke, ranchman of Omaha, and F. C. Lasater of Texas, said to own the largest dairy herd in the world. Another speaker was Henry krumrey of Wisconsin. who said that the packers last summer purchased 50 per cent of the cheese made in his state. He said that the packers bought cheese at II and l5 cents which reached the customer at from 25 to 30 cents. The address of Mir De Ricqles was the principal one devoted to livestock In the course of his remarks he said: "A continued study of the special market question leads on in the direc- tion of the idea of monopoly. The more you dig into il, the more you are con- vinced that 1t is n monopoly and per haps you also believe that instead of destroying this monopoly and experi- menting with something else, we had better take charge of it SO as to elim- mate it's bad features and continue the good ones.
 "I think the principals in this pack | ing house business are convinced that | they should ease up a bit on the old | time market pressure. I am satisfied | that d great many things have been 1 done at market of which they were not l informed, and even if they did know it, l believe that they have come to the | conclusion that it is not good policy to | continue to put too much pressure on | either side of the business; that is, re- l duce too much the price of cattle that | are bought at market. or to hold the l dressed beef at too high a value. In l fact, l do not think they have as much l Co say about the price of dressed beef as we think they have, because I mo- 1 ticed a butcher in New York City who 1 was bidding for several carcasses con- | siderably less than the salesman want i ed. When his bids were not accepted he went shopping at other packers. l That was a revelation to me, as I all ways thought hat the retailer had lit | tie to say about what he paid but it looked as if he had il pretty much his own way"
 In New York City. the speaker said | the retailers cart their wholesale pur- chases in their own wagons, which he said often were unsanitary.
 | Tt has occurred to me-" he said "that as an economic move. we may finally ask the big packers to add the retailing | feature of the business to their under | takings. We woud then be dealing with responsible parties whom we could hold to account for unreasonable price: or unsanitary conditions"
 MT De Ricqles said that his commit tee had arranged a conference with tn, packers. and that the packers would D, asked to join in a petition for an in vestigation by the federal trade com mission. Their previous refusal to d, so, he said. had placed them in a ques tionable position.
 Arthur Meeker. general manager O Armour X Co, and many others con nected with the packing industry there were among those present. None O
 them, however, was on the program o | speakers.
 Mir Tomlinson said that the Ques-
 tion was asked why, if the packln, business was so profitable, more peopl
 didn't go into it. He said the reasol lnIYn1I \ m