New Britain herald., 1919-08-07
ass'EsR .EHE PROFITEERs.

e .@ "'1oo'
 The government, personified in At |torney 5.General, Palmer -apd his office has taken sts sFk tysahat. win prove ,of far rssehins alnsosrtanceT to the pub Die wfeRrit comes out for a prosecu- hlon1 af The packefs under antitrust assws and an Investigation of possible Ihpardfng of supplies with prosecu- |tions to follow in any instances of th1s means of .-sstcornering market that. is Eaand. The affairs of Armour
 l So., Swift : & Co.,, Morris &S Co.,, IsEAsen & Co.,, and the Cudahy Pack d1ag Eo. are to be thoroughly ex- nosed to the public eye through the 2law courts. Should the governm eut 2succeed in proving its cases heast Hines and jail sentences threaten the profteers, shoAld it not we will at $Ieast have the; satisfaction of know 3ipg that the high prices are not due lto Jack of faith on the part of the
 paeExers and will have a little more forbearance with our lot.
 ' The Attorney General states that he is Satisfied that the evidence ad-
 duced indicates a clear violation of
 the antitrust laws and he promises
 prompt action. The Big Five" are
 aceused of using their power in five
 1oun tsN7oing as follows: ,"Manipulat-
 t sIfge Stock markets; restricting in $tausfate and international supplies of floods; controlling the pricess of dressed meat and other foods; de- i Ffrauding both the producers of food land the consumers; crushing effective |eompetitfon: securing special privi- |lsges3 from railroads, stocl<yard com |Ianies and municipalities and pro- |1fsAering. The entire charge may we'll FeE suname led up with the final count, |tha5 Of prof1teering.
 In undertaking the task of bring ing the alleged prof1teers to justice the government has an extensive job lon it's hands but sthe benefit to. the public, granted that suitable means |are available to force proper conduct lon the@part of the packers in selling tifSif wares are found, will warrant aSg expense in prosecuting. The ex- atortionists, whoever they are, must ! be brought to time if we would exist. ! If the meat-purveyors are the ex- |fortionists they are the first that v,, 1cf oallad occOupt
 Tho loss to the country, of the pack ing and distributing organizations which the companies have built up Twill be by no means negligible. The Sd out of the world of commerce until we are sure that we have an alterna- Hive means, of supplying us with our needs. If they have been obtaining foo much for their service a check should be placed upon them rather hhan have their commodities dis Fbarred from the public by destroying the companies. This may be- easily Accomplished by making examples of "a few of the leaders through an ac- fual term in jail Heavy fines wilt ultimately come out of the consum- ,ers' pockets and will not harm the transgressor of our business laws.
 As a final alternative government lownership should be applied, with a sinvolved. We do not favor govern sment ownership, it eventually forces 2higher prices through the expensive 3politica1 systems usually installed EBut, in this instance, it might pay for "a time to run the concerns with the idea of eventually returningsthe or
 disrupting them after competition had
 been built up. We need the com
 panies and their systems if we did
 net we would not now be victims of
 possible extortion, the prices would
 not be coIlectable. Their strength
 has made 1hem necessary and also
 has made Sthem supreme. If the gov ernment can do what we desire with
 out disrupting the organizations, we'll
 and good If there is profiteering
 we ask that someone pays the price.
 Finally, if there is no other means to
 attain our ends, we will skirt the
 edges of starvation. Again we say,
 profteers must be called to account,
 now better than later, when it will
 be the harder to make them aware
 of their sins.