The producers news. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1918-1937, 1919-10-31

Colver, among others, when he be-
gan his speech on the food monopoly
and the way to deal with it.
Kent proposes, if elected to the
snate in his race against Senator
Phelan next year, to make the fight
against the Big Five packers and
their monopoly the chief business of
his official life. Public ownership of
the channels of the food trade, and
public control of terminal retail as
well as wholesale markets, is his
platform. i
SOME PACKER FRAUDS
Chairman Colver of the federal
trade. commission told an audience
the other day that he could cite proof
that the packers are indeed Saving
freight and freight mileage" in their
grand system of economy. Also he
could show where the public got off
in the process.
Farmers around Jacksonville,
Fla.," he said, "bring their hogs in
to that city and sell them to Mr.
cago price minus the cost of freight
on live hogs from Jacksonville to
| Chicago. They sell bacon in Jack
cost of shipping bacon from Chicago
to Jacksonville. But the hogs are
slaughtered in Jacksonville, and the
bacon is produced there. The big
! packer saves all that freight mile
| age. And the farmer and the con-
sumner pay double mileage to the
packer for transportation that never
happened"
This instance of saving freight was
even better. The federal court in
Chicago has just fined one of the
Big Five packers the s.lm' of $500,
which was paid, for the miraculous
alterations made in freight bills in
order to show bigger damage" to
fresh meat in freight cars than the
value Of the fresh meat in those
cars.
This miracle of arithmetic on the
part of the packers claims Office
was discovered by accident. An in
spector noticed that every time a
car laden with fresh meat, face pow
der, canned beans and sauerkraut
was held up on the road, damage
claim for spoiled meat came in to
the railroad administration, and was
duly approved and paid. But on
most of these bills of lading the to-
tai figures were strangely roughened
or mutilated. He looked on the
. back, and saw that the carbon copy
: of the original totals was less than
the total shown on the front. Some
body had "kited" the weight of the
fresh meat in each car, after it hao
! started on it's journey, so as to make
a respectable-sized claim for dam
! ages.
The case was proven on the bill:
of lading. Mr. Packer paid the fine
He had been saving freight, sure
enough. The public had been get
: ting off at the usual stop.
|sThis thing only happened in pub
!, lie, in the federal court" said Col
1 yer, "and that's why it did not ge
noticed in the newspapers, Yol
: / can't blame the editors for overlook
r ing it if there was an advertisement
that day."
PHOSPHATE TRUST BOOSTED
S Secretary of Agriculture Houston
q whose scope of authority is Target
d increased by the fact that Presiden
: Wilson no longer controls any par
i that needed that space in the pape
q of the administration, has shown M
e hand again. He announces that tn
d department, Gin the circumstances
: would not be warranted at the pres
y ent time in naming fair profit fo
e; phosphate rock or bulk acid phos
ID phate."
The circumstances to which he n
fers are the conditions explained
N him by the producers of phosphate,
lie a conference at his Office. These gel
W tlemen want to charge the farmer
lie what they think the traffic will bea
S. Mr.. Houston warns the natlo
O. solemnly, that any profteer may
es prosecuted, and if convicted ma
lg have to pay fine of not over 5000
ne or be imprisoned not over two yeaal
d, or both. His refusal to say Wn
at will constitute a fair profit, hoWeve
of will be taken by the phosphate I'll
e. to be an invitation to go ahead.