Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-12-23
Armour Statement Denies
Efforts to Cover Up Any
Facts Government Sought
BY the A.sociated Peas.

| CHICAGO, December al. Ogden
Armour. head OF Armour & Co. tonight
issued a statement denying that any
effort had been made to cover up" in
| formation sought by the Federal Trade
Commission now investigating the
packers, asserting that the commits
sions examiners had been given full
access to the records of the company,
and detailing his part in the purchase
| OF the common stock OF the Chicago
Junction Railways and Union Stock
yards Companies and the formation OF
| the Chicago Stockyards Company. The
| statement follows:
Agents and examiners of the Fed
| eral Trade Commission have been Civ
en- full access and have been diligently
at work for the last two months going
& Co, in addition to which we furnish
| ed. some six weeks ago. answers to
questions prepared by the commission,
setting forth in detail full information
| Of our corporate organization and
business, and our interests in subsid-
| larry and auxiliary corporations, in
Guiding the Chicago Stockyards Com
pany. Thus the thinking public will
| not be mfsied into believing that this
was anything that we have endeavored
brought to the attention OF the COM
mission at the present Washington
hearing, as the press dispatches indi-
Gated.
Asked to Join Syndicate.
| I'm 1910. Mr.. F. H. Prince of Boston.
who for many years had been the con-
yards, visited Chicago and ased me
| il / would Join him in syndicate of
capitalists. in which l was to have a
|one-f1fth interest, which was to acquire
I lrv L. - 10
Chicago Junction Railways and Union
| Stockyard Companies. agreed to take
and pay for such an interest, and did
SO in my individual capacity in the
same manner as I have taken other in
| terests in banking and investment
years. and as any investor in the coun-
try would do. having belief in Chicago
as q livestock center and the natural
Increment in value that would accrue
with its development 1 acted in con-
| junction with no other packer. and such
action can never be construed in any
way as anything which might or can
affect the cost of Armour & Co. products
any more than the investments / hold
in banks, railroads, or other stockyard
companies.
Cannot Control Company"
| This syndicate, under Mr.. Princes
| direction. subsequently resulted in the
| formation of the Chicago Stockyards
| Company, in which I acquired a one
fifth stock interest. and promptly
| transferred the same to Armour & Co.
| No other packer ever acquired, or had,
| or now has. any stock In the Chicago
Judged from the relative size of that
one-nfth interest, Armour &c Co. hare
not, and cannot control the company,
have had no voice in its management,
fed in re
policy.
ut seems to me highly inconceivable
that any one can be led to believe
seriously that my Individual action as
tempt to find way to cover up or con-
ceal alleged fllegitimate profit for
Armour & Co. in any wise affecting the
| cost of our product, our company doing
an annual business of over 100000. 900.
when careful reading of press reports
of the testimony at Washington dis
closes that all we have ever received
from our investment was $3s.S00 quar-
terly in dividends.
Charges for Services.
For the information of the public,
| let me add that a stockyards company
! is not engaged in the purchase or
slaughter OF live stock. but simply in
buyer and seller may meet and trans
act business, and renders a distinct
service, for whic,, nominal charge is
made. Stockyards companies charges
for services are the same today as
thirty years ago, and are in no wise at
fected by who owns their stock
IF it is to be judged improper that I
or Armour e. Co. should own an
interest In a stockyards company, it
would be equally pertinent to maintain
that we should not own a share of
stock in a railroad which transports
our products, and with equal force
that no business man in this country
should own stock In any transportation
or other facility the cost Of whose
service might enter into the cost of
his product
Urged by Citizens Committee.
I'm tho matter OF bonus. paid or to
be paid us in connection with the con-
struction Of our packing plant at ST.
Paul, last year we were waited on by
a citizens committee. urging us to build
plant there. and volunteering to