The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1918-08-28
pROFITEERS BENEFITED
BY THE WAR IN 1917
Ford Dealers, Clothing Manu-
facturers and Oil Men Have
Fortunes Swollen.

| Ulcers in 1917 were more NUMEROUS
in business devoted to food produc-
ton and distribution, cotton and
wooden manufacturing and dealing,
coal mining, iron, copper, aluminium
and other metal production and oil
production and distribution, accord
ing to a Treasury analysis of income
tax returns.
In addition thousands of small
concerns in a great variety of in
dustrial and commercial classical
tions made profits ranging from 100
to 5000 per cent above their nor
NAL profits for pre-war years, which
even then, were considered high
Detailed information en- the ex-
tent of war profiteering has been
given Congress recently in compli-
ance with resolution requesting
it, and the Federal Trade Commits
son is understood to have obtained
considerable information from the
income reports in preparation of
its criticism of the meat packing in
6ustry.
Money in Contracts.
In citing certain industry or COM
morce classifcations as containing
the largest percentage of protiteers.
the Treasury has made it clear that
not all individual businesses in these
groups have gathered in swollen
earnings. This is true particularly
of coal operators, some of whom
made enormous profits, often sever
al hundred pei cent higher than
good earnings of former years, while
others made barely enough to pay
justified dividends.
With few exceptions, manufactur-
ers of clothing and shoes reported
big profits This was true OF most
concerns holding Government con-
tracts, many OF which were let early
in the war when the Government
felt compelled to stimulate produc-
ton of the vast quantities of sup
plies needed by the army. Scores
of income reports from suit, shirt,
underclothing and shoe manufactur-
ers showed earnings of from 80 to
100 per cent on invested capital.
Lumber production, stimulated
by the sudden enormous demand
from cantonments and other Govern
ment operations, netted forest and
sawmill owners, as well as distri-
butors, profits several times above
those of normal years.
Oil Profits Enormous.
Oil producers made enormous
profits, which they claimed were
justified by the rapid depreciation
of properties and the extra financial
hazard of their business.
Despite high cost of labor and
other factors entering into mining,
the Treasury analysis shows that
very few iron, copper or aluminium
mines failed to make tremendous
profits for their owners under the
Government policy OF stimulating
production Producers Of silver,
gold, platinum and other precious
metals profted to a lesser extent.
Automobile and motor truck
manufacturing was highly profita-
bic, although income returns show
that earnings of different plants
were far from uniform, some max
ing as high as so percent on invest
ments and others less than 10 per
cent.
Food Dealers Get Theirs.
Meat packers, -four millers and
Gamers apparently stood at the top
of the list of food profit-takers, ac-
cording income returns. Farmers
also made money heavily last year,
but not enough of their returns have
been analysed to justify general
statement of their profits officials
say.
Profiteering was by no means
confined to big business interests.
Small scale producers in thousands
of cases reported profits equal to
the aggregate of from five to ten
years earnings before he United
States entered the war.
More than 800 clerks of the In
ternal Revenue Bureau have been
employed in tabulating income re-
turns for the last six weeks and
transmitting these in weekly or BIZ
weekly installments to the Senate,
where the reports now are being pre-
pared for examination by the Senate
Finance Committee in connection
with its consideration of the new
revenue bill.
Names of individual companies
are not reported, since these by Law
must be considered confidential un