Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-08-17
WAR PROFITEERS
ON FOOD AND DRESS
[Continued from First Page.1

ell Congress recently in compliance
with resolution requesting it and
the Federal Trade Commission is un-
derstood to have obtained consider
able information from the income re-
ports in preparation of it's criticism
of the meat-packing industry.
In citing certain industry or COM
merce classitications as containing
the large percentage of profiteers,
the Treasury has made 1t 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 several
hundred per cent higher than good
earnings of former years, while 9TH
ers made barely enough to pay JUS
titled dividends.
| Wearing Apparel Gives Profit
With n few exceptions manufac-
turers of clothing and shoes report
ed high profits. This was true of
| most concerns holding government
contracts. many of which were let
| early in the war when the govern
ment felt compelled to stimulate pro-
| duction of the vast quantities of
| supplies needed by the Army. Scores
of income reports from suit, shirt.
| underclothing and shoe manufac-
| turers showed earnings of from
thirty to 100 per cent. in invested
capital.
Lumber production, stimulated by
the sudden enormous demand from
cantonments and other government
| operations, netted forest and saw
mill owners as well as distributors
profits several times above those of
normal years.
Enormous Profits I'm Oil
Oil producers made enormous
profits, which they claimed justified
| by the rapid depreciation of property
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
profited to lesser extent
Automobile and motortruck man.
ufacturing was highly profitable, al
though income returns show that
earnings of different plants were far
from uniform, some making as high
as fifty per cent. on investments,
and others less than ten per cent.
Meat Packers in Front
Meat packers, flour millers and
Gamers apparently stood at the top
of the list of food profit-takers, ac-
cording to income returns. Farmers
also made money heavily last year,
but not enough of their returns have
been analyzed to justify a general
statement of their profits. officials
say.
Profiteering was by no means con-
fined to big business interests. Small
scale producers in thousands of cases
reported profits equal to the aggre-
gate of from five to ten years earn
| ings before the United States enter
ed the war.
More than 800 clerks of the In
ternal Revenue Bureau have been
EN- ployed in tabulating income re-
turns for the last six weeks and
transmitting these in weekly or BIZ
weekly instalments 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-
less the President specifically author
ICES publication of tax returns.