Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1919-10-29

Of the federal tariff board and former
member Of the house, was given an
ovation by Republicans and Democrats
alike at the Popular Government
league luncheon here this week, when
his candidacy for the United States
senate was announced. He was lauded
cheered by Federal Trade Commits
sioners Murdoch and Colver, among
others, when he began his speech on
the food monopoly and the way to deal
with it.
Kent proposes, If elected to the SEN
ate in his race against Senator Phe-
Ian next year, to make the fight
against the Big Five packers and their
monopoly the chief business of his Of
fetal life. Public ownership of the
channels of the food trade, and public
control of terminal retail as we'll as
wholesale markets, is his platform.
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 into that
city and sell them to Mr.. Packer at a
price which is the Chicago price minus
the cost Of freight on live hogs from
Jacksonville to Chicago. They sell
bacon in Jacksonville at the Chicago
price plus the cost of shipping bacon
from Chicago to Jacksonville But
the hogs are slaughtered in Jackson
vile, and the bacon Is produced there.
The big packer saves all that freight
mileage. And the farmer and the con-
sumer pay double mileage to the
packer for transportation that never
happened"
, His instance Of saving freight was
even better. The federal court in
Chicago has just fined one of the Big
Five packers the sum of $500, which
was paid, for the miraculous altera-
ltions made in freight bills in order to
show bigger damage" to fresh meat
i'm 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 inspector
noticed that every time a car laden
with fresh meat, face powder, canned
beans and sauerkraut was held up on
the road, damage claim for spoiled
meat came in to the railroad admin
'lstration, and was duly approved and
paid. But on most of these bills of
lading the total 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.
Somebody had "kited" the weight Of
the fresh meat in each car, after it
had started on it's journey, so as to
make respectable-sized claim for
damages.
The case was proven on the bills of
lading. Mr.. Packer paid the fine. He
had been saving freight, sure enough.
The public had been getting off at the
usual stop.
"This thing only happened in pub
lie, in the federal court" said Colver,
"and that's why it did not get noticed
in the newspapers. You can't blame
the editors for overlooking it If there
was an advertisement that needed that
space In the paper that day."
Phosphate Trust Boosted.
Secretary Of Agriculture Houston,
whose scope of authority is largely in
creased by the fact that President Will
son no longer controls any part Of the
administration, has shown his hand
again. He announces that the depart
ment, "in the circumstances, would not
be warranted at the present time in
naming a fair profit for phosphate
rock or bulk acid phosphate"
The circumstances to which he re-
fers are the conditions explained to
him by the producers of phosphate, in
conference at his Office. These gen.
tlemen want to charge the farmers
what they think the traffic will bear.
Mr.. Houston warns the nation,
solemnly, that any profteer may be
prosecuted, and If convicted may have
to pay a fine Of not over $4,000 or be
imprisoned not over two years, or
both. His refusal to say what will con-
stitute fair profit, however, will be
taken by the phosphate ring to be an
invitation to 90 ahead