Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-08-07

profiteering in foodstuffs here yes
| terday afternoon.
William blessing Of Omaha, head of
the beef department of Cudahy &
Co., was the witness. He pre-
scented to the committee the following
| list of wholesale prices on various
| cuts of beef sold yesterday by his
company in this city to the retail
meat dealers:
Loin cuts, 25 to IS cents a pound.
Round cuts. 20 to 80 cents a pound.
Ribs (roast beef. 20 to 33 cents a
pound.
Chucks. ~ to II cents a pound.
Plate cuts. to IL cents a pound.
Brisket, 8 to 10 cents a pound.
/ Shanks, 8 to 20 cents a pound
Retail Dealers Next Week.
The committee continued its hear
ing OF the packers this afternoon,
with Representatives Of Swift & Co. on
the stand. 1t expects to finish with
to have retail dealers on the stand.
The committee will ascertain the
prices charged for various cuts Of
beef by the retailers and seek to
| learn why they have such a wide mar
gin over the wholesale prices and why
the retail prices have remained up
while the Wholesale prices have fallen.
While the Department of Justice
was announcing that antitrust suits
would be filed Immediately against
| the i've big packers. representatives
of two of these companies, Wilson &
committee that they courted the full
est investigation and insisted they
had not prof1teered. 4
Thomas E. Wilson, president of Will
son & Co., offering the fullest CO.
operation to the committee in dealing
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living, said that he spoke not only for
his own company, but also for the In
stitute of American Meat Packers, in
Guiding about 200 packiong houses, or
all except three or four in the country.
He revealed the fact that this organi-
cation of the packing houses had been
formed in the last two or three weeks,
with himself as chairman.
1t is incorporated under the laws of
the District OF Columbia, he said, and
is designed to cooperate with the
government in any way the govern
ment desires; to put before the public
all the facts with regard to the pack
ing business; to study the problems
Of the packing industry and to dis
seminate the knowledge gained to Its
members.
n reply to ? question t.. 1 Sy Senator st,r
phatically denied that the institute
had been organized with view to
control prices.
Packers Statement.
After he had been heard by the Sem
ate committee, Mr.. Wilson made the
follwing statement to the. press re.
garding the suits to be brought
T had harly expected that. The facts
shown by the Federal Trade Commits
sion do not Justify suit by the gov
eminent. The Department OF Justice
is looking, around for somebody to
make the packers the mark. do NOT
think the suit is the way to go about
1t. The Department of Justice Will
get no satisfaction out of the pack
ing prices"
Discussing before the committee
charges that the packers have prof.
teered, Mr.. Wilson said that Its prohts
had been only about SIS per cent last
year on its Investment. He said that
figures of the United States Steel Cor
poration showed that its profit had
been about twenty times as great
ers last year. Figuring another way,
Mr.. Wilson told the committee that
the packers profits per person on
meats in the United States had been
"You pay enough to allow that much
profit when you purchase 9fnecktles.
he added. He predicted thatthe profits
Of the packers this year would be 1855
T. Mr.. Wiison.said that what was need
ed was frl understanding between
the packers. the producers ana the
packers and the producers. and the
government, he said. could the oil.
ferences which have arisen be ironed
out He said there would have to be
something moro than legislation.
Solution Of Cost Problem.
Asked what suggestion he had to
offer Congress in regard to the high
cost Of living problem the country
ut is not local question with the
United States. It is a world propo-
sition. It cannot be solved in min
ute. The people of the world are still
on holiday outing. They are spend
| ing money all over the world lavish
~, like drunken sailors. as they say.
They are not producing. The people
must come to their senses I was all
| over Europe within the last two
months, and 1t is tho same every
where. There are plenty Of laws here
| have not been doing what the report
Of tho Federal Trade Commission says
| they have been doing. II they have
been doing such things then the pack
| ers should be punished. II all the
data are produced. however. 1t will be
shown that they have not been doing
| these things"
| Mr.. Wilson said there had been a
considerable drop in the prices paid
for cattle on the hoof since the armi-
stice was signed, from 2 to cents a
pound, and that the wholesale prices
| charged by the packers had respond
| ed and been lowered considerably. He
was asked why the retail prices had
not also been lowered on meats. He
replied that his company was not in
| the retail business and that it would
be necessary for the committee to call
upon retailers for this information.
| He said, however, that there are many
things to be taken into consideration
in the retailers price, including the
costly delivery service demanded by
the public.
"operated at a Loss"
He told the committee that Wilson
& Co. had been operating its branch
! in Washington at q loss during the
last two or three weeks. The beef Is
sold here. he said, for all the COM
pany's agents can get for 1t. The re-
| tailers, knowing that beef is plentiful,
drive hard bargains for it. He testi-
fed that his company had no control
It made NO attempt to obtain such
control. In the carcass. y said. beef
shipped to Washington was selling
! from 1916 to 22.79 cents q pound, &C.
cording to the grade.
Senator Sherman Of Illinois asked
Mr.. Wilson about the so-called unre-
lated lines of business, including the
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