Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1919-10-09
TELLS SENATORS
ABOUT BEEF COSTS
This May Throw Some Light on
the Price You Pay for
Beefsteak.

| Testifying recently before body o.
! senator's in Washington, vice-presi-
| dent of one of the large packing con-
Germs IF. Edison White of Armour and
1 Company made the astounding state
ment that so far in their fiscal year,
which would cover the past eight or
nine months, his company had made
no money whatever on beef"
This statement is doubtless well
nigh incredible to the average man.
Yet it was made in full knowledge that
the senators had access to the COM
pany's books.
Recovering from the first shock, this
same average man will say, Eyes, but
the packers are shrewd; what they do
not make on the beef they more than
make up on the hides"
| But even this illusion was destined
to be shattered. Mr.. White explained
that his statement included everything
! that was derived from the steer as
purchased hide, fat, even. the In
Etestines which are used largely for
sausage castings. s s
Make Money, Neverthsiees
/ Well the packers make money-how
do they do it? Mr.. White admitted
that they did, quoting figures secured
by auditors Of the Food Administra-
lion, to the effect that packers profits
on food commodities of all kind last
year were / 6/10 cents on each dol
lar taken In. These would include
such things as sausage, shortening,
canned meats, ETC., in addition to fresh
meats, hams and bacon. On all the
products of his company, Mr.. White
explained, comprising both foods and
Inedible commodities, the profits dur
ing the same period were $40 cents
On each dollar sale.
4 All of which would lead many to
say that the packing business is not
well understood. 1t isn't. Yet as one
If the leading industries of the coun-
try, it's workings and, above all, it's
profits, should be familiar matters to
as. 1t is quite useless to crate against
the high cost of living without digging
into some of these fundamentals.
7 By-Products at Market Values.
One of the most enlightening bits of
Mr.. Whites testimony was his ex-
PLANTATION Of the way in which cost
price of beef Is arrived at. If a. steer
IS bought at $125.00 and hides are
bringing $1,000, in the open market,
then $1,000 is credited to. the. cost Of
Y the steer. If hides are selling at $23.00
4 that amount is credited. The. yisceral
4 tat, offal and everything else that
comes from the steer are likewise
I .redited at their prevailing market
values. What remains Is taken as the
cost price of the meat, The, beef car
:ass is then shipped to one of the 10
/ .al distributing branch houses. and
the manager there is given the cost
price with instructions to. sell the beet
at profit If he can. But in any event,
whether the local market be lively OF
1ull. he must sell for what he can get,
for the commodity is perishable one
and must be sold. .a
Manufacturers Profit on By-Products.
However, there is another hitch to
the packing business, quite as little
understood apparently, that goes to
show how loss on fresh meats may
De accompanied by a profit on the to-
tai amount of business done. Take
Tor example, the banjo strings afore.
: mentioned, which are made from the
ntestines of sheep. The department
that makes banjo strings (and like
wise surgical ligatures, tennis strings
etc., buys" the intestines from the
sheep-killing department, paying ex
actly the same price that these brins
when sold to the outside market. Or
this basis the string department manu-
features its strings and sells them
bringing profit into the business.
J In like manner the fertilizer depart
nent buys blood and tankage the soaI
: department buys fats; the glue depart
, ment buys hoofs, horns, bones ant
sinews; and SO on through the list o.
''by-products." The fertilizer, ths
soap and the glue, just as the music
strings, bring in a manufacturer
profit
In all cases these by-products
whether they be sold to outside man
ufacturers or to one Of the manufac
turing departments in the business Ca
the same prevailing market price,, ar
n credited to the cost Of the meat por
/. don Of the animals, just as In the In
t stance of the hides mentioned above
+ Thus the utilization of by-products
system of which we have heard much
and the method by which it is con
Quoted, show the packers manufac!ur
ing profit on a great variety of com
modities ranging all the way from
pharmaceuticals to glue, do, in reality
bear the burden of fresh meat prices
n
y Senator KELLOGG, Of Minnesota, in