Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1919-01-31
,CO|GRf:ss IN DOUBT l bOuT PACKERS REPRESENTATIVES, k
Annearance May Grant
 Them Immunity
COMMISSION REFUSES
 TO NAME WITNESSES

Need More Evidence Than
 Anonymous Allegations 1 Washington. Jan. 3o.-Questions o' whether appearance of packers rep
 rAsentatiyes before Congress woui' ,, xrrant them immunity from pfosecu fs t;on a .under federal laws and ot com 1 /, no,l;ng the federal trade commisslo 'i ta a;sc,ose the identity of witnesse VI. mon whose testimony charges oi .J an ,t luSon were brought .against the hofor pteor .. CTS came up today at hearings peaoi it the Senate and House commlt1eees. e'. m nr Louis F. Swift, President oi omt hn [. and Company, after conterrmg W., WI, m5 rd his counsel, told the Senate agrieu isa a m tnro committee he would wave al o" pe riohts he might have in respect to II e' testimony regarding the abandonme
 of the M. K. x T. railroad s1o ,no , v vards ait Ft. Worth, Tex, iocat ! N ss~~.J.,lants in which Swift ana Col @ near !. .-s--"-'Nr and Company we pany and Armoe. rr,
 1 interested. JdfcCVFiIpmpn
 The question of possible i. D,
 for the witness We raised when tra,., els :s. Z: heney egan questioning MT. owl1t With egard to the abandon- llielIL ol tir railroad yards. Members 1l & Ine esol.mittee said evidence had
 been reftrred to the department of .I;.att' .,'Eaat;' which was considering it's ap- I Piicae e5n to the Sherman antitrust .s .aw There was an argument among nie, neniee,i.bers as to the effect of MT. oe'Mft's testimony on His status in the Cent of prosecution and it finally bhded when MT. Swift said he would waive any rights he might have.
 Must Name Witnesses.
 T. E. Wilson, president of Wilson and Company, was testifying before the House interstate commerce, com- mittee when members brought up the matter of requiring the federal trade commission to furnish the names of the witnesses. MT. Wilson denied that there was any collusion among the particulars to fix prices. Repres- entative Winslow of Massachusetts then said it would be useless to pro- ceed further with tie question un- less the committee had something more to base questions on than anonymous allegations"
 MT. Winslow said each packer who had testified had given satisfactory answers to all charges except those made by the unnamed witnesses. He suggested that, the committee ask the trade commission to submit their names and that the witnesses be call ed to testify.
 Would Demand Names.
 The suggestion was embodied in resolution offered by representative Decker of Missouri, which specified that if the commission refused to give the names, the committee should demand them. Objection wes made by Chairman Sims, who declared the committee did not have that power. Mr. Decker replied that the commit tee could go before Congress and get the power if necessary. The investi- gation of the packers, he said, had in- volved such important matters that it was necessary that it be completed SO the public could "be informed whether the packers should go before grand jury or be given clean bill"
 Want Evidence.
 Representative Winslow said he did not doubt that the trade commission was inspired by honest motives, but that the committee should not accept second hand evidence as the basis for legislation.
 Mir. Decker's motion was seconded by Representative Dillon, of South Dakota, but vote on it was not talk en because several members objected.
 In taking up the examination of MT. Swift regarding the M. K. & T. yards. Mir Heney read letters to show that Swift and Company and Armour and Company had refused to ship live stock over the railroad as long as the road maintained it's yards and that later when the yards were abandoned an agreement was reached to ship a certain volume of stock on certain days. M Feeding Yards.
 MT. Swift said the railroad stock yards were "merely feeding yards" l" had not been successful, and probably would have been abandoned by the railroad anwhow.
 "You and Armour refused to ship on the Katy in order to bring all the livestock to your yards though, didn't you" asked Mir. Heney.
 "There were negotiations with the railroad, but as to how far they went in the way of threat, l don't know" was the reply.
 "It wasn't case of threat,N con- tinued Mir. Heney, you simply With- drew your business from the Katy X I've may have withdrawn some MT. Swift started to say but wan iIl- terrupted byI MT. Heney, who said !: .You withdrew so heavily that you | force6 (Ii4 katy to close its stock yard6 IT return for your shipping . cofl IT mo1tnt of stock. " ; 1t said he 0uc