The Elk Mountain pilot., 1918-02-21

so that he would ask questions that
would bring answers from Mr.. Du-
rand, calculated to allay the suspi-
cions of the public that Durand had
been "kept under cover for just such
purpose" Mr.. Durand later de-
clined to be party to this plan, but
his friendship for the beef trust was
such that he made political reports
to Swift and edited the beef trusts
defense book, free of charge. 1t
should be said that the matter of Du-
rand's connection with the beef trust
has been brought to the attention of
the board of regents of the Univer-
sity of Minnesota, and members
have declared they will now investi-
gate Durand.
Tho packers even tried to "get to"
Chairman Hurley of the federal trade
commission. when they concluded that
their favorite scheme for congress
sional or bureau of markets investi-
CATION was going to fail. They tried
to pry into plans of the federal trade
commission and, according to letter
Of Henry Veeder to L. F. Swift, Mr..
Hurley gave them rather encourag-
ing information. Henry Veeder is
special counsel for Swift & Co., and
general counsel for the beef trust as
we'll. In his letter of July 1916, Mr.
Veeder said:
II was also informed that if
the federal trade commission be
instructed to make an investiga-
tion under this resolution they
would make such an investigation
as though it originated with the
commission; that is, the investi-
cation would be made by the fed
eral trade commissions own ex-
aminers and Investigators with
out publicity or dealing with the
firm or industry concerned, and
there would be during this inves-
tigation public hearings during
which attorneys might appear
and cross-examine witnesses"
Mr.. Hurley. however, was trans
ferred to the shipping board and the
outline of the investigation that the
beef trust attorney forecast was
somewhat changed. Instead of hav-
ing their own attorneys to cross ex-
anime witnesses, and tying the inves-
tigation up with the red tape of
courts. Heney is getting the facts
and the public is finding out the inner
workings of the beef trust.
At the time that these efforts of
the packers to prevent investigation
were being made in congress, the
business men of St. Paul, with the
aid Of l. F. Swift, were negotiating
to get the Armour Packing company
to enter the Northwest-the St. Paul
market-in Competition with Swift"
It will be recalled that in my last
letter I recounted how Armour got
his bonus of $1,OOO,OOO from business
men. and how Swift, the sole dictator
of the market helped to buy Ar
mour's competition. Before Swift
came to St. Paul, nearly 80 years be-
fore, he too had demanded bonus
from the community and got it.
At that time the stockyards and
packing plant were owned and con-
trolled by the late A. B. Stickney,
president of the Chicago & Great
Western railway. Mr. Stickney built
up the packing industry as feeder
for his railroad but it didn't thrive
in his hands as he wished. He wanted
a genuine packer to make it more
paying feeder for his road. Presi-
dent William Magivny of the St. Paul
Union Stockyard company, told on
the stand the sad story of how Mr..
Stickney searched in vain for some
one to give the industry to. Accord
ing to Mr.. Magivny, all Stickney
wanted was someone who woald ac-
cept the institution as a gift. At
last Stickney ran onto Swift, but
Swift wouldn't allow Stickney to give
him the plant right off hand. He de-
manded $1,000, 600 in shares of stock
of the stockyards company, which
Stickney controlled.
Anc Chpithi sCoSh was ioiscu Aioii
81, l,OOO, 900 to $2,O00,0O0 and the new
issue was given to Swift. Swift
wanted the packing plant for 999
years at a rental of 81 year, and
Stickney gave him that. He wanted
all the land connected with the in
stitution and Stickney gave that.
Swift hadn't put up dollar to pay
for these things, Mr.. Magivny said.
When the deal was closed, Mr. Stick
ney heaved sigh and asked:
"Do you want anything more, Mr..
Swift9" and Mr.. Swift shot back the