Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1919-10-17
TRADE BOARD SEES
PACKERS CONTROL.
OF NATIONS FOOD
Section of Report Declares
That Whole Grocery Busi-
ness Is About to Be Alb
sorbed by Them

WASHINGTON, Oct. 16.-Reitera-
ito of the claim that the five big
packing companies of Chicago bid
fair to dominate the wholesale gro
Gerry trade and already handle more
| than 200 foods unrelated to the meat
! packing industry, many of them di-
rectIy competitive as meat substi-
tutes, is made in part " of the fed
eral trade commissions report on
the industry, published here today.
THE extent to which the packer
should be permitted to enter unre-
! lated food lines (even assuming le-
Ultimate competitive methodist" the
report said, 'is a matter which the
public interest alone hhould deter
| mine.
1.-TWO questions, primarily eco
nomic, are involved:
Does this widening of activity re-
suit in additional economies, of pro-
duction and distribution?
Does it result and viii it continue
to result to the public in lower
prices better quality of product
and service?
"a third question, not here dis
cussed, relat ted to the ultimate eff
| feet Of such vast and powerful or
CARNATIONS on the political and So
cial fabric Of American institutions"
Included in the list of commodities
said to be falling under control Of
! the "Rig Five" are poultry and game,
dairy products, lard and butter sub
stitutes, canned and dried vegeta-
bles and fruit, canned, cured and fro
zen fish, cocoa, coffee, molasses and
cane, corn and maple syrups. In ad-
dition, Armour & Co., one of the five,
| is said to be handling extensively
soda fountain preparations and uten-
| sils.
| Control Varies
The extent Of packer control va
ries with the locality and commodity
"and the dealer whose business is
being absorbed" the report asserts.
Owing to the maze and secrecy
Of the packers methods of conduct
| ing much of it's business" it adds,
"exact statistics on many of these
commodities are not available for the
country s a whole, which will show
just how far the packers control
| has reached.
! MANY companies manufacturing
! or handling these commodities are
| controlled by packer interests, no
hint of which i disclosed by the
names under which they operate and
even a thorough-going examination
may fail to uncover the packer con-
| nection in every case"
Packers Spectators
The report declares the meat pack
ers "are large SPECTATORS and that
their control of capital and credit
enables them to buy in such a way
as to resell upon a market in
which their purchases have forced Up
the price" It also asserts that the
| packers have extraordinary buying
and marketing power due to certain
advantages, perhaps not always un-
| lawful but certainly often unjusti-
| fable"
Among these advantages are emu
merated packer control of 44.8 per
cent of all cold storage facilities
| their refrigerator car service, the
highly favorable rules" obtainO- by
the packers for mixed carloads Of
fresh meats and packing house prod
ucts, permitting them to include a
great variety Of goods foreign to
their Strengthening business" with re-
sulting Determinations not alone in
service, but also in rates.
Until the packers are shorn of
the transportation advant~~'0~ grant
ed them by the carriers" the re-
port says, "there is no way of meas
uring their true Industrial efficiency"