The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1919-12-25
GOVERNMENT AND
PACKERS AGREE
LEADING PACKING COMPANIES,
AFTER EIGHT MONTHS, CON-
cEDE TO DEMANDS
SMALLER COMPANIES NOW HAVE CHANCE
Will Confine Themselves Hereafter
To Own Products, Eliminating
All Retail Business.

The official outline of the agreement
reached between the government and
the big five packers as made public
by the department of Justice as fol.
lows:
Attorney General Palmer an
nounced that the five big packers. Am
mour e Co., Morris & Co., Swift &
Co, Wilson G. Co., the Cudahy Pack
ing Company, their main subsidiaries
and principal stockholders and mana
gers, have submitted to all the con-
tentions of the government and con-
sented to the entry of any injunction
decree providing for the carrying out
of these contentious.
Under this decree, the defendants,
and each of them, either as corpora
tions or as individuals, are compelled,
in brief;
"TO sell under supervision of the
United States district court, prefer
ably to the live stock producers and
the public, all their holdings in public
stock yards.
"To sell under the same supervision,
and in like manner, all their interests
in the stock yard railroads and termi-
nails.
"To sell under the same supervision
and in like manner, all their interests
in market newspapers.
Dispose of all their interests in pub
lie cold storage warehouses, except as
necessary for their own meat products.
"To forever disassociate themselves
with the retail meat business.
"To forever disassocate themselves
with all unrelated lines, including
wholesale groceries, fresh, canned,
dried or salt fish, dried or canned vege-
tables, fresh, crushed, dried, evapo-
rated or canned fruits, confection-
cries, syrups, soda water, fountain
supplies, etc, molasses, honey, jams,
jellies and preserves; ices, sauces,
relishes, ETC.; coffee, tea, chocolate,
cocoa, nuts, -four, sugar rice and
cereals (wth an exception to be
noted), bread waters, crackers, bis.
cults, spaghetti, vermicelli, macaroni,
cigars, china, furniture, etc.
"To forever aband n the use of the
branch houses, route cars and auto
trucks, comprising their distributive
system. for any other than their own
meat and dairy products
"TO perpetually submit to the juris-
diction of the United States districts
under an injunction forbidding all the
defendants from directly or indirectly
maintaining any combination or con-
spiracy with each other or any other
person or persons, or monopolizing or
attempting to mOnopoliZe any fooo
products in the United States or in
dulging in any unfair and unlawful
practice
"The decree further provides the
jurisdiction is perpetually retained by
the courts for the purpose of taking
such other action, or adding at the
if any that may become necessary or
appropriate for the carrying out Of
the enforcement of the decree or for
the purpose of entertaining at any
time hereafter in the application which
the parties may make with respect
to this decree
Immediately upon Mr. Palmer be-
coming attorney general in March,
1919 he personally took up the charges
against the packers, and special as
sistants were asked to study the in
vestigation of the federal trade COM
mission at hearings before the con-
gressional committees and to conduct
independent Investigations.
after eight months of exhaustive
work and the placing of one branch
of the matter before a Chicago grand
jury, the results were ready to be
placed before a United States grand
jury sitting in New York for the
months of November and December
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