Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1919-12-25
us. CURBS PACKERS
GOVERNMENT ANTITRUST SUIT
AT LAST BEARS FRUIT.
"B|GF|vE' ABANDONS SIDE Line
Compromise Agreement Provides Deal.
ing in Meat and Provisions Only
Two Years to Comply.

IeuC > ANTITRUST suit against inc great
meat packers, began at President Will
sons direction last summer as part Of
the fight on the high cost of living, has
been compromised under an agreement
by which the packers will confine
themselves hereafter to the meat and
provision business.
An injunction decree to which the
packers have acceded will be entered
in the federal courts to make the agree
ment binding. Under Its terms, the
Big Five-Swift, Armour, Morris, Will
son and Cudahy-have agreed to di-
from their other commercial activities
and to sell their holdings in public
stock yards and their interests in stock
yard railroads, terminals, market
newspapers and similar "side lines"
Two years are given to comply with
the decree which affects 81 corpora
tons and 40 individuals.
Government officials regard the
| agreement as so complete that 1t will
remove any danger Of the packers mo-
nopolizing the dinner table OF the av-
erage American, inasmuch as the pack
ers will be forced to retire from their
domination of the markets and trans
portation systems.
The decree provides that the packers
must forever disassociate themselves
with all unrelated lines including
wholesale groceries, fresh, dried or
| hi or 1Avs
commodities used daily in the Ameri-
can home. They must abandon the
use of branch houses, route cars and
auto trucks, comprising their distribu-
ton system, for any other than their
| own meat and dairy products, and to
perpetually submit to the jurisdiction
of the United States district courts,
under an injunction forbidding all the
defendants from directly or indirectly
maintaining any combination, or con-
spiracy with each other, or monopoliz-
ing any food products.
| Retirement Of the packers from all
lines Of business except the meat and
produce business, ends fight of long
standing, which has been an issue in
elections and political debates for
years, the subject of much attempted
Legislation, the cause of the eXpendi-
| ture of thousands of dollars in investi-
cations and untold bitterness between
packers on the one hand and the gov
eminent, live stock producers and small
| business firms on the other.
| The present settlement is an out
growth of an investigation started by
| the federal trade commission by direc-
| ton of President Wilson on February
Z, 1917. A letter reviewing that work
and what it accomplished was trans
mitted to the White House by Chair
man Murdoch and his associates.
Bow to Public Opinion.
4 Chicago.-Segregat or disposal
of commercial lines not directly allied
with the meat and provision business
of the five great packing companies,
United States attorney general, an
nounced by the latter, will involve
reorganization of a huge industry with
assets of more than $1,00O00O,000.
The agreement was regarded by the
packers as marking an epoch in in
dustry in that for the first time big
business bows to public opinion.
The packers said heretofore they
have conducted their business with
regard to economies and legality.
They have been sure Of their econo-
mics and equally certin of the legality
of their business methods, they say
and now they have taken account Of
the good will of the public.