Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1919-01-22
]. OGDEN ARMOUR
DEFENDS PACKERS
Denies That Profits of His Com
pany Have Been Ex-
cessive.
COST OF ANIMALS JUMPS
Head of Big Packing Concern De-
clares Wages Have Greatly
Increased Also.
COST OF ANIMALS JUMPS

I.'O
armour OF Chicago, king meat packer
OF the United states. to-day told the
packers story Of their own business
to the House Interstate Commerce Com
mittce.
Hc is the first Of the heads Of the
big five" packing companies 10 come
before the congressional committees;
now working on the packer bin rec
commended by the Federal Trade Com
mission.
lie started to read carefully pre-
pared statement, controverting the
charges OF the Federal Trade Commits
sion. shortly after 10 O'Clock this morn
ing. but after an hour his voice. more
accustomed 10 the low tones of office
and telephone conversations bcsan TO
rail him, and X. -. McManus. the press
representative Of his company was
substituted. In the afternoon he was
subjected to a careful cross-examina-
ton by members of the committee for
over three hours.
COUNSEL FOR SWIFTs
PAYS CLOSE ATTENTION
In the audience sat Henry vcedcr. of
the counsel for Swift & Co. whose
name is linked in packing history with
the Heedcr pools. the early medium
bE which the packers apportioned the
country into buying and selling ter
ritory and mainta ined their packer SUI
eranitN. over their domain. From time
to time swift smiles flashed over
Needer's face as he marked Mr.. Ar
mours failure to meet some question
or az the witness drove some point
and rivalry for packer supremacy be-
tween the two great companies
Mr Armour traced the growth Of
the little Milwaukee packing firm OF
Plankington & Layton, in the sixties.
TO It's present mammoth proportions OF
a business Of 1ssl.cooooo in 1918. II
had grown through efficiency in man
agement and operation. ne explained
and by the re!nvestmcnt of the greater
proportion Of lis earnings in it's busi-
per cent Of its earnings had gone bacl.
into the business and only 12.1 per
cent he'd been declared dividends. he
explained.
PARTY TO ANY POOLS
Armour & Co. ere not and have
not been for many years party in
the most remote degree to any pool.
ton of any Kind whateverH for the
control. r~-ort-limtlatlon or
restriction of theSpurchase of live stock
products thereof the witness said
In his formal statement,
Mr., Armour contended that The
ing business were less than in mos:
large businesses
RIG SLUMP IN PROFITS
on EACH DOLLAR
Our gross sales in this country in
1913 were ,SGl, 900 900. compared with
75.O00.o 600 in 1917 he told the COM
mittee I'm spite of this increase our
net profit was but l.S cents on each
In 1917 Our net income was sl5.247.-
Ss753. at the rate Of per cent on our
net capital invested and 14.7 per cent
on our common stock ate after prSv's,oihis TSn 1niis
lion dollars, or only Der cent, has
been paid out IN dividends on the com
mon stock. we being compeiled 20 20 re-
invest the balance. over sl3.ooo.Noo. in
the business to meet the ever-increas-
ing demands for additional faculties.
This is in addition to S60.0o0.0OO We
borrowed for this same purpose on our
debentures.
Our business is predica,ed on =
rapid turnover Of big tonnage AZ d
small margin Of n1oh' quick n tnrhovsr nt.
we are suffering from them, but we
are helpless before them; % nao nr Onr isoop ,hap
ir the preceding year and the same
il isls sioO'0oooo0 more than !"
COULD NOT EARN PROFITS
ALLOWED By FOOD BOARD
Commenting on the margins OF profit
allowed by the food administra tton' Mr.:
Armoug said tha, beeSnse S'n - OF s,rm mapSH, pSy
a fraction OF the amoun; allowed on
volume. and only about one-hnlf the
au1horizsd return dn on invested srs csP''a ns
cent on volume and per cent on
capital invested in the meat producing
nere ne of hs
Taking bacon as an example OF tre
high cost of living. Mr.. Armou-
if~ee 5 costs SIS Suhhiins ike Ss 10 cents
pound he said. while you bought il
four years ago for 25 or 80 cents In
agl1 paid ntirs Tor I'VE heEi IN GhifaE
si745. it IS the same and even highsr
now.
PRICE OF LIVE HOGS
INCREASES 245 PER CENT
The increase in the price OF the live
hog during the four years figures 245
per cent. But hogs dress an average
mainder is by-product material. and
did not increase in value as rapidly as
the animal on the hoof. SO the 70 per
TO carry all OF the price increase. On
top Of that. the cost Of our labor and
our fuel was practically doubled. and
into our production was up in proper
tion. The bacon had to carry all that
cost cos when hen It went to you in the mar
three times what 1t did In 1915. The
same thing Is true of other meat foods.
,no1t Ihers rs, is no packer manipulation of
cheaply as we can. I wouldn't try to
te you that we didn't. And we get as
much ms we can fo- our products. bu;
the laws Of supply and demand ab-
control.
ARNIOURS
WITH STATION PORTER
Armour & Co. is like the Union Sta
ton. Sca take cab there and se,
out. The negro porter takes your grin
to the station, and you tip him for il.
You pay him for service. It's an ac-
Gommodatton TO you. That's Armour.
We make market for the producer
ana produce needed commodity for
the consumer Because we do n big
volume Of business we can produce Il
Sheapiy for the consumer. That's to
his advantage. But II the price of
.!yssstock to the producer goes TOO low.
he'll quit producing livestock and
we'll have nothing to sell to the con.
snmer; st,n We must be OF service and
On crossexamlnatlon, Mr.. Armour
told the COMMITTEES, that figures showed
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