El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-03-20
PACKER TELLS WHY MEAT PRICES
ARE HIGH; DENIES LARGE PROFITS
J. Ogden Armour Says If People VIII Pay Same Price
for AL Parts Of Beef, as Packer Has to Do, Steaks
Would Be Cheap; If People Would Buy Hog Livers
and Hearts, Hams Would Not Be So High.

were busily pumping blood through
the hog2
Loss to the Packer.
whether il be good business or not,
I tho fact remains that a consldera Bile
I portion OF the pOrker has to be sold
for less per pound dressed than Il
cost per pound alive II ought to be
apparent to anyone why this is true.
! More people want hams and bacon
than want pigs feet OF hearts But
no way has been found to raise hogs
{ that consist Of only hams and bacon.
IF we could obtain for sweetbreads
and melts and tails and baclzbones the
same price that we secure for hams
and bacon, then the price OF hams and
baon would be reduced and the other
prices raised until al the meat from
1T-cent hog would sell at prices which
are only slightly above the 17-cent
mark.
The Same With Beef.
eIn the beef field much the same
circumstances exist People want sir
Ioin steaks. tenderIoins and porter
house But every time We kill steer
to get sirloins. we put a beef heart
on the market, too Likewise do we
make il necessary 70 dispose OF
chucks, TANKS. neck. rounds and the
various other cuts that are less in
demand but which figure in the
LLAAAaEE o. the i've animal AgA IA
that. our wholesale price list Shove
lungs selling at 8 cents 2 pound
although we pay four or five times
that much for them. If consumers
we're willing to pay higher price
Tor lungs, the price OF strlotns could
be reduced
The consuming public has to pay
enough for the meat from the whole
steer to recompense the farmer for
producing that meat and to reimburse
the packer for Strengthening, dressing,
preparing and distributing. So II the
consumer won't buy the neck meat eE-
cept at q discount he viii have TO pay
for the neck when he buys porter
house OF the particular cut that is
most IN demand.
Profits OF Packers.
NOW just a word as to profits. in
view of the fact that the uninfoFmed
sometimes suspect that they are IN
duly large Including every branch Of
our industry in the United States
and some of them are more profitable
than are the strictly food lines-We
made, last year. a profit OF 5.6 cents
when we sold a dollars worth Of
goods. On that basis, a good sized
hardware store doing business Of
$4,000 a year would pay its owner
$500 and the corner grocery doing
$4,000 q year would show profit OF
FagI-
"On strictly food products Of all
kinds, Armour and company earned at
the rate Of 221 cents on the dollar
last year. A tobacco store conducted
on that basis and doing a business OF
$4,000 a year-and that is q pretty
good business for a small tobacco
store-Would show a profit at the end
Of the year OF only 1921
what The Owner Gets.
glance at the market reports in any
paper tells the story Meats cannot
be cheap when hogs are selling al 81
per 100 pounds live weight and when
steers on the hOof cost from SIS 10
SIS per 100 pounds. Those are the
prices paid 20 the farmers and stock
raisers today and who shall say they
are not justified in view Of the high
price Of feeds and the increased cost
OF labor and the other factors which
enter into production OF meat
mals2 NY knowledge Of the stock