The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1919-07-18
MArKAr0ss FREE PRESS

toes, beans and coffee. and Increased
their sales at SUCH a rate that in
certain lines they have become fac
tors of great moment. Here again
the selling organization OF the pack
ers, built up in connection with their
NEST business, assures them almost
certain supremacy in any line of
food handling which they may wish
to enter. g
"Armour's drive into the rice
market in a single year is perhaps
the most striking instance of1their
personalities in this directions Early
in 1917, Armour & CO., first under
! took the handling Of rice, and in
that one year sold more than 10000
900 pounds of rice, thus becoming at
a single move, on the statement of
the vice president of the company,
the greatest rice merchant in the
world During this period the whole
sale price OF rice increased Is per-
cent. n }s
Even the oldest and most strong
ly established wholesaling houses
find that line after line Of their
merchandise is being absorbed by
the packers branch house system.
First the packers encroached on
the handling of butter, eggs and
cheese, then on canned goods, and
on various kinds of package goods;'
and now are handling increasing
quantities of rice. coffee and other
: staples.
"In 1917, the Big Elves combined
sales of meats and all other COM
modities totaled7 $2,127,245. 900; in
1918 they were over $3,000,000, O00"
Big Five Dominance in the Meat
~ Industry. W. a
The Big Five in 1916, according to
Commission figures, slaughtered 82.2
percent of all cattle slaughtered by
Interstate slaughters; 1914 percent
of all sheep; 1856 percent of all
calves; and 61.2 percent Of swine.
"As to both cattle and sheep" the
report states, "the percentage of
control by these five concerns
constitutes monopolistic po-
sition, considering the harmony with
which the five work together in
their purchase of animals and the
extensiveness of their distributing
systems. These combined percentages
J d
gree of influence over the price paid
to the producer and over the price
. paid by the consumer, sufficient, If
exercised, to account for. a large
share of the suspicious and COM
plants that have arisen over the
meat industry"
The explanation of the 61.2 per-
cent slaughter of hogs lies, the re-
port points out, in the nature of the
products. The advantage of the big
packer to utilize by products most
efficiently has less scope in hog
slaughter because only some 10 per
, cent of the live hog goes to bypro-
ucts as against 20 percent of cattle.
Also, the big packers lose the spec
ial advantage OF. their highly .deyel-
!, oped refrigeration and private car
line systems, since cured hog prod
ucts do not require refrigeration in
shipping. For these reasons, the re-
port stated, nearly all the independ-
ent Interstate slaughterers confine
their interstate trade to cured hog
products; and In fresh meats do
|. principally . local business.
s. si Isl Al !. 4 s. sss 10.
!. StduSHtc1os OH Wu41cS41< NJt<tl 0I
j interstate slaughterers, the Big Five
percentages Of slaughter in numbers
of head are: Cattle, 74.5; sheep, 7S.5;
:. calves, 62.5; swine. 569. DC
"The ability of the large packers to
! undersell the small islaughterer To-
cally," says the report, ''is a potent
weapon, even. if unused, to keep
him from undertaking any aggres-
sive campaign to. increase his bus
mess. The branch houses and ped :
dler car routes of the Chicago
Packers cover the country with such
network that the local slaughterer
realizes that he cannot maintain
himself against their distributing
system if he should attract their un-
favorable attention by aggressively
trying to increase his volume of bus
mess. The local packer. though
able to compete in the local market,
fears to exert his full powers. His
strong tendency is to come in under
the umbrella of big packer prices
and to content himself with mod
est share of the nearby business.
Evidence on this point and on COM
petitive conditions generally is given
in other parts of the report.
Average monthly holdings Of non
perishable meats during 1916. the
report shows, were for the Big Five
as against all other interstate slaugh-
terers; of frozen beef, $50 percent;
smoked ham and bacon. 64.1 per-
cent: dry salt pork, sos picked
pork. 70.5; total meats from swine,
700.
Big Five Control In Twelve Great
Packing Centers.
The Big Five control OF interstate
slaughter ut the twelve great pack
ing centers-Chicago. Kansas City,
Omaha, st. Louis, New York City,
St. Joseph, Fort Worth st. Paul,
Sioux City Oklahoma City, Denver
and Wichita-was during 1916, 944
percent of cattle; 891 calves; 94.3
sheep and lambs; and 81 swine.
"In the Chicago market--the iarg-
est in the country-the Big Five
slaughter ST. percent of all cattle
slaughtered here for interstate COM
merce; 93.6 percent of calves; 96.5
sheep and lambs; and 67.3 swine,"
the report states. "Ine the remain
ing eleven cities they have 97.6 per
cent of the total cattle slaughter"
Big Five Control Of Stockyards.
I Receipts of live animals at stock
yards controlled by the Big Five
No ckers inclttdiups sChicapO az forn