Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1919-01-21
ARMOUR WARNSU,S,
NOT To INTERFERE
WITH Bic PACKERS
Don't Threw Monkey Wrench
Into Gears Of Business; Ex-
plains High Price of Meats.
INSISTS THERE S NO TRUST
;, Associated press 70 t1verv rvcnint

II, Associated Press 90 Every rvcninz
Washington. Jan u j Ogden Ar
mour, president Of Armour and Company
told the House Interstate Commerce ON
mission today that pending legislation to
regulate the uent packing industry WAS
"reactionary and part Of Il probably nri-
constitutional and warned Congress that
IF monkey wrench IS thrown INTO the
gears OF this business ia effects would be
felt IN uanv other lines of industry
IF The ability Of the pocking industry
10 function properly Is impaired he
assorted 1t will affect the livestock IN
dustrv, and II IN turn Will affect corn
prices Wheat "ll then he drawn m.
md 50 will hrca1 and 90 will labor. and
80 will everything that has lor lts basis
the wealth rroduced by agriculture
Cats ACTION RrAcTionkRy
"Thc theories on whlch pending lcgie-
latlnn ~ based arc not constructive, they
are not progressive They arc rcactinnary.
They would disrupt tic grcat manu-
featuring and marketing machinery Which
half = century nf enterprise aas evolved
md the results would hc detrimental not
alone to the leading industry 81 this ma
tlon. Int rven moro 81 that portion of tha
public which produces and ~ tho entire
public which consume food
Regarding thr possibility of govern
mcnt ownership of stootrar.ls .nd ofaer
adTncts fl fhc packing lnduatrr Mr.
Armour said
Ownership hy fhr government implies
rcd tape 1ni restrictions whIch cannot
help hut add to tho costs ~ tho service.
costs which must eventually be horne
either ~ the producer or tho consumer
Government ownecratp implies TOO the
the abolition of tire private initiative and
enterprise which h4s made II pos3kie 10
erect an efficient &c yard almost over
night whom occasion justified i
ATTACKS GovERNWF vT's METHODS
The government, won know. does MT
mako up IS mind very quickly on slieh
matters, 9s Is evidence bv tho yc4rs-old
controversies over tie building of post
Offices Or such comparatively trivial
matters ~ to whether cities should have
underground mail chutes
Profits made ~ Armour and Company
Mr. Armour declared represent , return
Of less than two cents on every dollar ri
sales The margin of profit IN he pack
ing industry IS the smallest enjoyed by
any industry OF national consequence
Gross yolumts Of sales by his company
IN 1918, nc StI2. ilfalitII TIb| .tisJlHFjt
compared with 1915 COO, 900 in 1917. h,It
the net income was II thc rate 81 nine per
cent On the average net capital invest cd
He added that lie 400 per cent stock
dividend in 1916. whereby the capital
stock Was raised from so 900 900 10
500 0000 was made possible hv re-
investment during preceding years II
seventy-one per cent ot the aggregate
earnings.
EXPLAINS WHY MEATS ARE HIGH.
The high price of meat, Mir Armour
sad, was the real reason why President
Wilson ordered the meat packing IN
vestigaticn bv the Federal Trade Com
mission Within the past four years. he
SAID. the prlcc Of live hogs had Increased
245 per cent and costs Of labor, clerical
help and fuel had doubled
As only seventy per cent of = hog Is
edible and the remaining thirty per cent
OF by-products have not Increased ia
value as rapidly as the live animal. he
SAID. it could be understood why bacon
today cests three times what i did four
years ago He added that prices oi live
cattle and sheep have advanced at a
pace with that OF hogs.
80 Trust, He AFFIRMS
Charges by the commission OF collision
among he five big packing firms 10 con-
troll prices were denied by the witness,
who asserted
Armour and Company arc not now
and have not bcen for many years party
to any poal, arrangement. agreement OF
combination fer the control. regulation or
limitation. or restriction Of the purchase
Of livestock or he sale Of any Of the prod
ucts or by-products thereof
Mir Armour declared that there was
keen competition between his arn and
Swift, Morris. Cudahy and Wilson. and
denied that there was any combination
among the packers t. fix prices.
NoT To RETAIL Or eAN GOODS
Regarding the charge cf outside lines
by the packers. he declared the Armour
Company had undertaken the sale Of
many lines which 1t does not manufacture
only because OF the demand frcm their
customers. Who could not obtain salts
factory service elsewhere
IT, denied that his firm had entered or
intended to enter the retail business. or
that il wAs Interested in fish and vege-
table canneries
Armour and Company the witness
asserted owns no livestock cars and only
sufficient refrigerator cars to handle its
own goods efficiently