The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-02-05
MEAT REGULATION !. BY GOVERNMENT IS ADVOCATED BY STOCK PRODUCERS
Tell Committees This Is Only Means of Prevent
 ing the Cattle Busi-
 ness From Being ~ Destroyed
ry Asfoclnted Fress

w ashlngton, February 4, A government regulated mo- nopoly of the meat industry was advocated by live stock producers today before the Senate agriculture committee and the House interstate com merce committee as the only means of satisfying both the producer and the consumer anC preventing the cattle business from being destroyed.
 George Armstrong, cattleman of Fort Worth, Texas, recommended to the Sen ate committee that legislation be en- acted which would give the government control of the entire industry and per init 1t to fix the prices of livestock, meat and labor. He said both producers and consumers had just grievances against the present system and that only government intervention would prevent continued agitation.
 CATTLE MEN FACE RUIN
 Edward c. Lasater member of the ex- ecutive committee of the National Live stock association and former chief of the livestock and markets division of the feed administration, told the House com mittee the cattle industry would be de- stroyed if the government did not take stn ir,,, iat al de producers just profit. He declared more cattlemen were facing bankruptcy today tha,. at any other time in the history of the industry.
 MT. Lasater charged the food adminis- tration was responsible for large losses suffered by livestock producers. He said the packers were assured good profit on everything they handled, but when the producers asked for the same privilege Food Administrator Hoover told them 1t could not be done and that they should be willing to make some sacrifices to aid the country to win the war.
 The witness said the result was the credit of the producers was destroyed and that they had lost so much money they now were forced to sell almost all their calves with the consequent threat to the future meat supply. SAYS HOOVER UNFAIR MT Hoover seemed to have every ones interests at heart except the pro- ducers." he stated, The treated them unfairly from the start" While MT Armstrong was testifying before the Senate committee he was asked concerning letters bearing on his relations to the five big packers. One of these dealt with his purchase of stock in the Fort Worth Record. The witness explained that he had helped to purchase controlling inter est in this paper. advancing $1O,0O0 borrowed on notes indorsed by Armour & Co and Swift & Co.,, but denied his purpose was to give the packers con- trol of the paper
 MT Armstrong said his purpose was to change the "socialistic. viewpoint" of the editor, Clarence Ousley, now as sistant to Secretary Houston. MT. Armstrong said he later disposed of his newspaper stock and was convinced now that Mir. Ousley's idea of govern ment were nearer right than were his own at that time.
 MT. Armstrong saidshe knew nothing about another arrangements. referred to in letters read by Francis J. Heney, in which the packers obtained stock in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram as se- curity for loan to the paper.
 Henry Veeder counsel for Swift ,&
 
 testified concerning his connection with the pools conducted by the big packers for 10 years down to 1902, and after several clashes with MT. Heney. protested he was not permitted to an- swer questions properly.
 Formation of pools by the big pack CTS was to prevent an oversupplied market and to keep prices stable, MT Veeder testified. One pool was brof- en up by Schwarzschild & Schulzber- ger, an independent company. flooding the market. he declared.
 But could the small packers break Up combinations of the big packers to- day?" asked Mir. Heney.
 "They could if they had enough capi- tai to stick it out" MT. Veeder re- piled
 ONLY CAPITAL NEEDED
 They would have to have more money than England" commented Mir Heney
 Widely published advertisements of Where the Swift dollar goes" were criticized by members of the commit tee during the testimony of l.. D. H. Weld, manager of Swift & Co.'S re- search department
 Senators Norris and Gronna said the advertising was misleading and would give readers of country papers the i'm pression the packing concern was mak- ing profit of per cent instead of 12
 MT. Weld said the advertisement pointed out that 2.04 out of each 100 cents of sales went for profit S5 cents for live stock and the remainder for ex- penses.