Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1919-08-22
PACKERS ARE
BOTH DAMNED
AND PRAISED
Stock Raiser Praises big
Five" And WHOLESALER
4 Leads The Attack

Washington, Aug. 21.-Dehuncia-
ton and defense of the big Five"
packers, their methods and alleged
were mingled in approximately equal
proportions before the Senate Agri-
cultural Committee today Is wit
nesses discussed the Kenyon bill
which proposes to license. the concerns
and to deprive them of refrigerator
cars and stock yard facilities.
Henry w. Lynch, representing, stock
raisers and their association in Cali
fornia and Arizona, led the defense,
while Louis H.. Haney Of Jacksonville,
Fla, appearing i for. the Southern
Wholesale Grocers' Association, made
a direct and unqualified attack on the
packers and all their activities. The
packers growth and strength, Mr..
Haney asserted, was due not to their
efficiency, but to their financial power
and their control Of refrigerator car
service, which gives them the .privi-
lege of a common carrier without
They now have Is per cent Of the
wholesale grocers' business in the
United States" he said, land were
tending toward monopoly" The
wholesale grocers interest in the
situation, he said, paralleled that of
the public, because h temporary
policy Of the packers in underselling
abandoned whenever they attained
practical monopoly. -
Mr.. Lynch simply said that "the
packing industry represents the SELL
ing end Of we stock ~raisers. When
you demoralize or hamper them-as
this bill does-you hurt us" r. A.
Eastwood Of Norfolk, Va, a wholesale
meat dealer, assured the committee
that he had always found the packers
fair and square in their dealings"
Mr.. Haney dealt a considerable
length with the refrigerator peddler
cars, which he classed as ''storehouses
on wheels, rendering an exclusive
service, at prices cheaper than rail-;
road service can be rendered others,
and more speed" y
/ When Senator McNary Of Oregon
asked for a method Of giving equal
access to the distribution facilities,
Mr.. Haney said it could be done
easily.
1.-THE packers ought to be required
to sell their cars to a corporation or
said, taking bonds in exchange. Then
the rates could be made sufficient on.
their use to render a profit, and the
company could operate them as ef-
ficiently as the packers"
"In the handling Of the foodstuffs,''
he said. ."the packers acquire owner
ship of factories, and can forego the
wholesalers profit, if they wish, in
order to undersell.
Then they only deal in those gro
Gerry lines in which h most profit Is
made" he added. They won't handle
salt, sugar or flour. They make inn
mense purchases of a certain product
in q territory where it Is plentiful
and sell it in territories where the
prices are higher. : They are only
scalpers in many Of these products
specializing, getting in and out when
the market suits them"
Senator wadsworth, New York,
wanted to know about the wholesal-
ers' propaganda" in favor of the bill,
and, Mr. Haney, who described him
self as an Economist and publicity
manager" said the wholesalers had
tried to counterfeit the packers cam
paign against it.
'The fact Of the matter is, you
want this bill to give your people a
business advantage over the packers,
it?" Senator France, Maryland, de
) mo. We feel there is a great
monopoly in foodstuffs being estab-
lished," Haney declared. I'VE are the
first to feel the inroads."
He said that wholesalers would OBJ
ject to the licensing requirements. inn
posed upon the packers, but Senator
Wadsworth interrupted to say sit was
not called. for
Senator Kenyon, with some bsper-
ity, announced that wholesale groc
ers have nothing to do with this bill. .
when Senator Wadsworth pursued the
point a little further, with especial
reference to circular letters sen out
by Haney's organization declaring
that it would be easy to get the
licensing sections of the Kenyon bill
modified so that they would not ap-
ply TO wholesale grocers.
THE packers business is too big
to be healthy" MI. Haney said. finally,
in defending the grocers' stand.
JAPANESE IDEA OF LEAGUE.