The daily banner. (Cambridge, Md.) 1897-2008, 1917-12-21
PACKERS IN HIGH
. FINANCE CAME
Made Huge Profits in Stock
Yard Deal.
SHARE LOOT AND PiCKINGS
Sensations Disclosed in the Federal
Probe os inside Causes of High
Cost of Living.

Washington, Dec. 21.-S -nsatton2,
disclosures Of high fin nee" hetwee l
the Chicago packers and the stock
yards and terminal railroads there
and promises OF more to c3mo-fea-
tured the session of the federal trade
comm ,ssion's invest CATION to get at
some Of the innerm0st causes Of thu
high cost Of living.
Bacled with an array of facts AMI
figure collected by trained inves: i
gators working under the $4,000
fund recently appropriated by cen,
gross. Francis J. Neney. in cN"rg
of the investigation for the ccmra re-.
sion. hr~27 cracking one sensation
after 80 other.
The session had wholly to do wi y
big operation in which $500 clerk
was IL" medium Of fOTmin" an s.,
Gee, o"@ corporation which took the
risk OF the Chicago Stock Ya~d al
Term;r8l railways being moved fu-.
Their " In developed e'tim ny
to show BOW he packers in return &c
rea the 'an oe Of enc of the partjc'.
pants, got thoir share Ct the p'uN.
de-" and took their "ptckinge" 7
C~dan Armour. it wGs said. got a.
tie profits over per cent.
The point OF the whole tr2nGo O.
as brought out by the tes+irs~-~ W.
thHt the packers vera III e"reniM~ n
NOV" Gv2v from Chicago: that a &c
porati was formed to take Over t.
stock yards properties and assume {
risk Of their becoming va1uIesS an
that as z result the enormous pr0fts
Of the words and terminal equipr2 n
was divided with the packers as an
inducemCDt TO them to continue tn
business in Chicago.
While the testimony dealt Cn1v With
that phase Of the packing industry
it was said the commission IS in pos
session of facts which vii broaden
the investigation to show whethe"
there is not a gigantic combination in
practical control of the country's food
supply
The inside tale of how the big trans.
action came about was laid bare by
the Introduction as evidence Of letters
passing between the organizers CT the
holding corporation and the stockhOld,
ers of the companies which formerly
controlled the yards and the railways,
One letter said the directors, fear.
ing a court decision against the re.
organization plan were anxious to get
it through before the decision came
down.
Interest of the packers in the cour
try's stock yards extends also to Kar
sas City. according to E. V. R. Thay,
er, president of the Chase National
Bank of New York. He sad he I'M
lderstood one of the packers owned
part of the yards there, but that the
others did not. He did not name the
hacker.
>sesgF 4Ff6yefs testfned ttfffat afthough
be owned less than 100 shares of the
Kansas City Stock Yards company
stock, 6270 shares appeared in his
name and belonged either to Morris
& Co., or to Edward Morris.
J. Ogden Armour, Thayer said, be.
came interested in the Chicago Stock
Yards as a result of the organization
of the Chicago Stock Yards company
in 1911. He added that the packers
were always threatening to move IN.
less they got something to stay in
Chicago.
An estimate of s6,OOO,OOO as the
amount paid to the packers by the
stock yards and terminal railway
companies to persuade them to remain
in Chica 90 was made in a letter dat.
ed August 49, 1911, and signed BY F
S. Moseley & Co., brokers. Boston.
At one time renewal of the leases
with the packers cost the Stockyards
company $3,000,O0O in bonds, accord.
ing to another letter signed by Nose.
ley & Co The letter said that each
time the contracts were renewed it
was a question of chow much will you
pay us?"