The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-08-05

through 12 of these 50 yards (Chica- go, Kansas City. St. Louis, Omaha, St. Joseph, St. Paul, New York city, Fort Worth. Sioux City, Oklahoma City, Denver and Wichita, and the four largest yards alone receive more than 52 per cent. of the cattle, 43 per cent. of the hogs. and 51 per cent. of the sheep. Thsse four markets, which dominate all others and which largely determine the prices of cattle, hogs and sheep for the entire coun- try, are Chicago. Kansas City, St. Louis and Omaha
 70 The five big packers either jointly or separately have an interest in 2S of the 50 market yards; they control a majority of voting stock in 22 of these yards, and are jointly in tercsied in 15 of them. More than S4 per cent. of the animals pass through the yards in which they have an interest
 In addition to the 20 yards controll- ed by stock ownership the Commis- sion said the Big Five also control the Union Stock Yards of Omaha through 36S per cent. ownership plus control of proxies for other voting stock. and control the Wichita Union Stock Yards Go. through 41-7 per
 
 Wards in which the Big Five are not interested, the commission found, are com paratively unimportant.' Of all live stock slaughtered by interstate sIaughterers, 7O.1 per cent. of all anf- rnals-s1 per cent of cattle, 65-3 Of calves. 7S.5 of sheep, and 5S of hogs are slaughtered at these IF prtIncl- pal yards.
 8. Both before and since the big packers acquired this financial inter est in stockyards they have received from the yards companies many mil lions of dollars in cash, bonds and land as bonuses for locating packhng plants at the yards.
 "4 Taken as a whole a, very small Der cent. of the present voting stock held by the big packers in the pr1n- cipaI stockyards represents acluai cash investment by them; the greater part of it was given to them by the yard companies and local citizens as bonuses or by the yard companies as stock dividends, or, through the or ganization of new yard companies to take over control of existing yards +hev obtained stock without equiva- lent cash investment. Moreover, the biz hackers have in numerous cases forced the original owners to rel1n- quish control
 .5. The earnings of the packer controlled yards have sufhced to pay the large cash bonuses to the packers and to increase the outstanding capl- tai stock from surplus earnings to many times the original capital paid , in and at the same time pay regular reasonable cash dividends on the out ! 4a-,5f,,o- caoi+aIization The large part of this increased capital stock has gone to the big packers as stock l bonuses or gifts and as stock dfV1- dends.
 "-There has been much complaint | or7, the part of producers of livestock ! and livestock commission men as 10 | inc inferior facilities and serVlces
 which these packer controlled stocK- 1 wards give; there is also a wide com nlaint against the high rates Wh1ch | these stoc11yards charge for their ser
 vices-praticularly the feed charges' ! "7. The big packers have used their
 -,,,,,eroq1s stocIlyards to make large | profits and to increase their conroi | over the livestock market ana the l oeatDacking industry a whole ] "S Although an increase in the | number of stockya7ds, markets ana | meat packing centers may be regard | ed as desirable, the big packers use
 their power to prevent the develop rnent of such additional market ana l slaughtering centers.
 Control of Livestock Markets. | .sThe ability of the Big Five to de- | terrnine from day to day the general 1 level of livestock prices is tncontro- vertible," says the report Their .r,andpulation of the livestock market
 is summarized by he commission as l follows:
 ..The livestock market in the United i States is dominated by the five DIE | packing companies because
 "1. They control the principal stockyards at which livestock prices | for the nation are made. "2 They buy most or the livestock l which are sold at the principal | stock yards markets; and "S. They have, through their con- | trol over the stockyards and the exer- ! else in concert of their great buylne ! mower. influence over the activities O. | many of the livestock commission | men who are supposed to represent ! the interests of the live stock proouc- CTS, whose agents they are. "In the exercise of their power over the livestock market "1 They discriminate against, ana put at great disadvantage ahoep@i Hent buyers-independent packers, or
 
 com petftors in the market "2 They manipulate on occasions the livestock market in such a way as to cause extreme and unwarranted flu citations in the daily prices paid for livestock.
 "The principal results of their do- rninfon over the livestock market are:
 '1. They have eliminated many Of their previous competitors at the stoclSyards and have prevented new ones from coming into those yards.
 "2. They have restricted the meat supply of the Nation by manipulating daily livestock prices and thus dis couraging the producers of live stock.
 "When the packers buy animals in the country, the price is based on the nr@vailing price at the stockyards
 -kets. As to whether the pro- ( -cer is benefited by country buying