The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1919-07-18

car routes of all interstate slaugh-
terers.
"The branch houses" explains the
report, (which are located in the
cities and large towns, are supple
mented by a wide reaching 'peddler
car service, which consists of re-
frigerator cars loaded with meats
and provisions operating over what
are known as car routes. These
peddler cars are in effect miniature
branch houses on wheels, reaching
thousands of small communities
where trade is not sufficient to jus
tify the investment in a branch
house" Branch house and car route
sales of the Big Five for 1916 were
58.2 percent of their total sales for
that year. or over $925,000,000. Dur
ing that year, the Big Five sold
through these means some $780,
100000 pounds Of commodities, or
something like 65 pounds per capita
for the entire population Of the
continental United States; or 1856
pounds per capita of population liv
iHg in cities or towns or over 5000
Inhabitants.
Branch house sales of fresh and
cured meat by all Interstate slaugh.
lterers in 1916 showed the Big Five
, sold 94.9 percent of fresh meat.
&C.. 5 percen. of cured meat, and 92.8
of fresh and cured combined.
The 1920 Big Five branch houses
represented in 1916 book value in
vestment of $30,275 $50, with sales
of $7S3343.549 AS to branch houses
where both land and buildings were
owned, the investment was $20,184,-
AIT and sales $33s,S66, 1ss-an in
vestment per dollar of sales Of six
cents. 49, 4
TIE Big Five in South America.
From establishment of a single
plant in Argentina in 1907 by Swift
& Company, the American Packers,
Swift, Armour, Morris and Wilson,
had developed by 1917 until for that
year they exported 574 percent of
all exports of frozen and chilled beef
quarters from Argentina and Uru-
quay.
at is significant of their power
and the rapidity of their action
says the report, "that in 1910, three
wears after their entrance into the
River Plate (Argentina) field, they
had secured control of over 40 per
cent of the trade; that in 1915 they
had substantially IS percent; and
that their weighted average control
during the eight years from 1910 to
1917 was IS percent. In this period
they exported nearly 22,800,00O
quarters of beef from these two
South American countries, which
represents well over 100000 head
of CATTLE"
The American packers control OF
are associated with IL meat compan-
les or holding companies in South
America, according to their reports
to the commission.
Chronological Growth of the Big
] ~ ~ Five.
Commenting on an elaborate table
of "The Packers Progress 1857
!, 1877" the report says:
"To reconstruct the economic and
financial history that lies behind
this bare record of outward change
would be an undertaking replete
with human interest There can be
little doubt that such history, If II
could be written, would reveal i'm
agitation, energy, shrewdness, and
indomitable determination on the
part of the founders Of these great
slaughtering companies, but would
also reveal, even if obscurely, a
back ground of wreckage brought
about by unfair and oppressive
methods followed by these packers
in their progress toward their goals"
From four slaughtering plants in
the decade, 1858-1867, the Big Five
had built or acquired by 1917, 81
slaughter plants-22% times the
number in 1867. In the ten years
from 1908 to 1917, their number of
slaughtering plants increased 60 per
cent. '5 -
! Swift, Morris and Armour increas-
ed their cattle slaughter from $780,
sos head in 1898 to 5,157. $3.50 in 1916,
doubling their kill in those eighteen
years. From slaughtering- 74.9 per
cent of cattle slaughtered in inter-
/ state commerce in 1907-190S, the
tBig Five jumped to S0.8 percent W
1916 1917; from SO percent in calve
to 1876; from IT'S in sheep to Sc. g.;
from 53.2 in swine to 60.2. In the
face of this nine-year growth of the
Big Five, the Independent interstate
slaughterers lost ground in actual
number of head slaughtered as well
as in their proportionate shares. In
1907 1908, all interstate independ
ents slaughtered 1,7S6,120 cattle and
by 1916-1917 had dropped to 1,7S3,-
51S-their interstate slaughter cut
down proportionately one fifth in nine
years. During this period, the Big
Five slaughter grew from 5,330,155
head to 1916 971. In sheep. the in
dependent fell off from 2,753,458 to
only 1,524,617; while the Big Five
increased from 6,949,087 to- $685.
801. The Independents lost over
one half in sheep and lambs; three
itenths in calves and over one-sev-
zenith in swine.
Starting with two branch houses
in 1884, the Big Five had Eli by.
1894; TAB by 1904; and operated IL
12o in 1917. 81
n0nD III rDnn AucDAcc