The Washington herald., 1919-01-20
FOOD PIRATES"
MUST DISC0RCE,
CRY OF B0RAH
Idaho Senator Calls Upon
Nation to Punish Groups
of Pro6teers.
SCORES HOOVER PLAN
Dollar a Year" Men
Mulcted People, Claim
Of Angry Scion.


organization. every group and class
Of citizens and every great institution
to force the three great food industries
of the United States to disgorge their
swollen profits taken from the people
during the stress of war. declared
Senator Borah. of Idaho.
Senator Borah has been conducting
private inquiry into the activities Of
the grocery brokers. the meat packers
hand the sugar combination for more
than a month. He has collected many
Itartling facts and plans to place them
before the conutry IN an effort to show
hat drastic legislation must come
pom, II huge postwar taxation is to
Be avoided.
Charges Food Trust.
In discussing the situation. he said:
I have no desire to be sensational;
I have no desire to raise a false hue
and cry. I am so anxious lest people
will say 1 am eIaggerating that
know that I am conservative in my
statements. But this can freely say.
through their relations with the Food
Administration vast concerns in the
United States control and dominate
the food supply Of the United States
And they are making immense profits.
Here are the figures Of the five great
packers profits from 1912 to 1917.
will place them before Congress.
ls12-s1s. rs, ,OOJ
ls12soO, ,217. .OOl
I9l+s22, los. eco.
19-5-s4O. .C52. 600.
1916-S6O. 759. 900.
I9lT-s95, So, 900.
1t is true that the packers industry
has been expanded, and that they
have been investing additional money
in plants, but no one can say that in
five years a concern can show an in
crease of five times in its profits with
out someone being gOuged.
Here are the figures on Armour and
Conpany's profits on capital and sur
plus in the same period. These figures
are given me by u1e of their oWu aO-
eOurtauts, who confesses that -~eeS--
thing ~ done By the company to con-
Ceal profits and who says that his fig
ures are. in his belief. minimum and
not ma ximUm.
1912 s. .7O2. 900. 6 per cent
2-s6.15S,OOO. 81 per cent
1SI+s7 $40 OOO. 80 per cent
fg15-$ 81. 156. 200. 1O2 per cent
19IG-s22, SAG. 900. 1872 per cent
19IT-S27. .137. coo. 1913 per cent
At this time there are thousands OF
our own people in this country who
are starving. At this time. according
TO we'l-luthenticated press dispatches,
hundreds of thousands of children in
New York and Chicago and other
great cities are not only kept out Of
school for want of clothes, but are
actually dying for want of food,
others are committing suicide because
they cannot respond to the lips that
are begging or food Yet. in face Of
this. il is a fact. over the signature
of the meat packers themselves. that
their profits. under the Food Admin
istration Of this country as conducted
by Mr. Hoover amounts to all the way
from 20 to 10 per cent for the best
two years.
CritieIses Hoover Policy.
The trouble with the history of
our Food Administration in this
country is that we have permitted
men to be in charge who by train
ing and environment have no
thought for or consideration of the
taxpayer. the ultimate consumer.
They have taken the line of least re-
Sistence. they have depended upon
the representatives of the food
trusts to say what should be charged
for food.
Il don't care who the man is; if
he is paid $4,000 a year salary by
the packers and comes down to
washington to work for the people
of the United States for 81 a year,
he gives the former $4,000 worth
Of consideration and he gives the
taxpayer. which means you or /. just
about 81 worth. Our highest courts,
made up of men whose integrity. il
unquestioned. will not let man pass
upon a case in which he has ever
been interested directly or Indirect
ly.
Enormous profits scandalous
profits, have been made in food in
this country and it is high time that
every thinking man of the country
stood up and called for an account
ing and for The repayment of the
blood money, for that it what it is,
that has been taken from our peo-
pie by greedy schemers who have
no thought of anything in this
world but the accumulation of