The Vashon Island record. [volume] (Vashon, Wash.) 1916-1919, 1919-10-09
TELLS SENATORS
ABOUT BEEF COSTS.
This May Throw Some Light on
the Price You Pay for
Beefsteak.

Testlfying recently before body OF
senators In Washington. yieepresi.
dent Of one Of the large pncling con
Germs az. Edison White Of Armour and
Company made the astounding state.
ment that so far In their fiscal year,
which would cover the past eight or
nine months, his company had made
no money whatever ON beef
This statement is doubtless well
nigh incredible to the average man.
Yet Ii was made In full knowledge that
the senators had access TO the COM
pany's books.
Recovering from the first shock, this
same average mRn win say, Yes, but
the packers are shrewd; what they do
not make on the beef they more than
make up on the hides
But even this Illusion was destined
TO be shattered. Mr.. White explained
that his statement included everything
that was derived from the steer as
purchased-the hide, fnt, even the In
testines which are used largely for
sausage castings.
Make Money, Nevertheless.
Well the packers make money-how
do they do III Mr.. White admitted
thet they did, quoting figures secured
By auditors of the Food Admlnistra-
ton, To the effect that packers profits
on food commodities OF all kind last
year were / 6i10 cents on each dol.
lar taken in. These would include
such things as sausage, shortening
canned meats, ETC.. In addition to fresh
meats, hams and bacon. On all the
products Of his company, Mr.. White
explained. comprising both foods and
inedible commodities, the profits dur
ing the same period were $40 cents
on each dollar sale.
All of which would lead many to
say that the packing business is not
well understood. II isn't. Yet as one
OF the leading industries of the coun-
try, Its workings and. above all, It's
profits, should be familiar matters TO
us. 1t Is quite useless to crate against
the high cost OF living without digging
into some Of these fundamentals.
By-Products at Market Values.
One Of the most enlightening bits Of
Mr.. Whites testimony was his ex-
PLANTATION of the way In which cost
price OF beef is arrived at. II steer
is bought at Sl2500 and hides are
bringing $1,000 In the open market,
then Sl0o0 Is credited to the cost Of
the steer. II hides are selling at $1,000
that amount is credited. The visceral
fat, offal and everything else that
comes from the steer are likewise
credited at their prevailing market
values. What remains IS taken as the
cost price OF the meat, The beef car
cass Is then shipped TO one of the To-
cal distributing branch houses, and
the manager there Is given the cost
price with instructions 20 sell the beef
| Mt profit If he can. But In eny event,
whether the local market be lively or
dub, he must sell for what he can get,
I
and must be sold.
Manufacturers Profit on By-Produets.
However. there is another hitch to
the packing business, quite as little
understood apparently, that goes to
show how n loss on fresh meats may
be accompanied by profit on the to-
tai amount OF business done. Take,
for example, the banjo strings afore-
mentioned, which are made from the
intestlnes OF sheep. The department
that makes banjo strings (and like
wise surgical ligatures, tennis strings,
etc. buys" the intestines from the
sheep-kllling department, paying ex-
actly the same price that these bring
4 when sold to the outside market. On
this basis the string department manu-
Z features Its strings and sells them
bringing profit into the business.
In like manner the fertilizer depart
ment buys blood and tankage; the soap
department buys fats; the glue depart
ment buys hoofs, horns, bones and
slnews; and so on through the list of
"by-products." The fertilizer, the
soap and the glue, Just as the music
strings, bring in manufacturer
profit
In all cases these by-produets,
whether they be sold to outside man
ufacturers or to one OF the manufac-
turing departments in the business Cat
the same prevailing market price,, are
credited to the cost of the meat por-
ton of the animals, just as in the in
stance of the hides mentioned above.
Thus the utilization of by-products7
system Of which we have heard much
and the method by which it is con
Quoted, show the packers manufacture
Ing profit on a great variety of com.
modities ranging all the way from
pbarmaceuticals 10 glue, do, in reality
bear the burden Of fresh meat prices