The Holly chieftain., 1919-03-06
HIGH PRICES FOR NEAT
EXPLAnED ~ SWIFT
Packing Cenpany's YearSDook for
1919 Gives Reason for High
Food Costs.

Some of the reasons for the pric-
es of poultry. butter. and eggs are
explained in the 1919 Year Book of
Swift e. Company, which has just
been issued.
Butter. eggs, poultry and cheese
are highly perishable products.
which are subject to rapid deteriOr-
alton. according to the Year Book.
which continues:
Therefore they require suitable
facilities for their collection and
distribution
The principal reason why We
handle these products is that We
have q nationwide distributing and
selling organization composed of Z.
600 refrigerator cars. over 400 branch
houses. regular refrigerator ear trips
to towns not having branch houses.
refrigerating facilities. corps of sales
men and expert handlers of perish
able products, and delivery equip
ment for reaching retailers. This
distributing organization was built
up primarily to take care of our
fresh meat; not to use it for other
perishable products, which require
similar handling, and which reach
the same class of retail dealers,
would obviously be an economic
and social waste.
Swift & Company handles such
a small percentage of the total
trade in poultry, butter, eggs and
cheese that it, of course. has no con-
troll whatever over market prices.
We are also in keen competition
with all other packers in the buy
ing and selling of these commodi-
ties.
I'm order to make still more ef
fective our handling of these pro-
ducts we have established properly
equipped plants throughout the
producing section where butter,
eggs, and poultry are gathered from
nearby communities and where they
are skillfully prepared and graded
for market. These commodities are
then largely shipped in carloads di-
rect to our distributing houses in
\ different parts of the country, thus
enabling them to arrive at the prin-
cipal population centers In the very
best condition. The route from pro-
ducer to consumer is the most di-
rect that Is possible, and the num-
ber of landings is reduced to
minimum.
This system of gathering and
marketing results in an ever-ready
cash market for the producer, and
\ also brOadens his market, because
OF our extensive distributing facili-
ties. The use of cold storage war
houses in connection with this sys-
| tenn has also tended to broaden
the market, make it more stable
throughout the year, and has gen
orally tended to increase prOduc-
tion of the commodities handled. At
the same time it affords consumers
the opportunity to buy the best pos
sible products throughout the
whole year, and at more uniform
prices than would otherwise exist.
"The exertmely high prices of but
ter and eggs during the winter. OF
1918 have been causing consider
able alarm and misgiving, especial
ly since the production of both
these commodities during the past
year has been heavier than usual.
THE principal reasons for the ex-
tremely high prices of these pro-
ducts are, first, that domestic de
mand has been very heavy because
of high wages and general prosper
ity; second, the fact that the gov
ernment was Obliged to make tire
mendOus inroads on the stocks
held in storage, and third, the fact
that the profit margins allowed by
the food administration kept the
price so low during the early fall
that storage stocks were used up
too rapidly.
I'm the case OF butter, the govern.
ment, without any warming, com
mandeered 60 per cent OF the stocks
held in storage in August. 1918.
This left only a small fraction OF
the usual storage stocks available
for ordinary commercial channels,
and this amount was soon practl-
cally used up. Because OF the re-
sulting shortage of storage butter,
the demand for fresh butter has
been so great as to raise the price
to a high level. No substantial re
lief from high butter and egg prices
can be expected until the heavy
u la