The Connecticut labor press. (New Haven, Conn.) 191?-1921, 1920-04-17
AT. OF |. LAWYERS
PRESENT LAW TO
CONTROL PACKERS
Ask Congress for Board to Super
wise and License Food
Purveyors.
ALSO TO SUPPLY NEWS
Would Take Stockyards and Cars
Out of Monopoly
Control.

ne recent appearance OF Jackson II.
Ralston, counsel for the American Fed
Grafton of Labor, and Henry Sterling,
Legislative representative of the Fed
Grafton, before the House committee on
agriculture endorsing legislation to con-
troll the meat packing industry is of the
greatest significance in the big fight
with the packers. Both Mr.. Ralston
and Mr.. Sterling made it clear that the
American people demand such legisla-
ton.
Mr.. Ralston stated that the Fedora
ton has made careful study of the
situation, and has come to the conclu-
sion that the care and control of stock
yards should be regarded as a part of
railroad service, while the railroads
should also be compelled to furnish re-
frigerator cars, and packers should be
debarred from owning refrigerator cars
because their private ownership gives
them advantages which non-owners of
cars could not enjoy He discussed the
provisions of the Anderson bill with
the purpose of which he expressed
hearty sympathy, but presented for in
corporation in the record a bill drafted
to meet the desires of the American
Federation of Labor.
This bill provides for national food
commission of FIVE to be appointed by
the President with the consent of the
Senate, and with the interesting pro-
vision that any commissioner, or the
entire commission, may be removed by
vote of the Senate. The bill empowers
the national food commission to issue
licenses to packers and those engaged
in distributing stock yard news, and
market news, and also to compel any
licensee to refrain from engaging in any
business not covered by the license. 1t
requires the railroads to acquire all
stock yards which during the calendar
year preceding that in which the bill
goes into effect, handled over 100000
head of cattle or over $4,000 hogs, or
any stock yard which may handle such
number in any calendar year here
after; and also compels the railroads to
acquire all refrigerator cars and pro-
hibits them from handling any live
stock in commerce in such yards or
using refrigerator cars unless owned or
controlled by the railroads except
through special arrangement by the ma
tional food commission.
Mr.. Sterling, legislative representa-
tive of the American Federation of La.
Dor, read to the committee the resolu-
ton adopted by the American Fedora
ton of Labor at its last annual conven-
ton, to have legislation introduced ito
prevent the monopolistic control over
food products now exercised by the
meat packers. He said: "Our mem
bers, and / think others, have had sus-
picions that the packers are growing
stronger than Congress and that Con-.
gress will not regulate them" On being
asked by members of -the committee
what he meant by that statement, Mr.
Sterling replied that after the packers
tremendous campaign against the report
of the Federal Trade Commission, the
Labor people had become apprehensive
as to the effect upon Congress and the
people, and, said Mr.. Sterling, "had no
confidence that any satisfactory 1egisla-
ton would go through" He also said
that our Republic cannot exist while
such great aggregations of wealth con-
troll or even exist. We have an oil
trust and steel trust, as we'll as food
trust, and the American people are be-
ginning to realize that some method
must be found to control these great
aggregations of wealth.
M. W. Borders, counsel for Morris
& Company, attacking the legislation to
control the meat packing industry called
attention to the agreement made by the
attorney general with the packers, and
claimed that the court decree based on
this agreement covers all the points IN
dispute between the packers, and the
producers and consumers, and there
fore, make any further packer control
legislation unnecessary. He said it
would be very hard to draft a bill
which would be valid and enforcible.
Mr.. Borders stated that the stock
yards were worth great deal, millions
upon millions of dollars, but argued
that the producers and live stock grow
ers had lots of money and could buy
them In answer to Mr.. Marsh's ques-
ton for the Farmers National Coun-
Gil how the packers would be able to
discover who owns the stock yards,
since the Federal Trade Commission
was unable to find out, Mr.. Borders
said, after trying to evade the gees
ton, that the packers are going to give
the attorney general all the information
they could.
Attorney General Palmer did not
fare much better before the House
committee on agriculture than he did
before the Senate committee. Although
admitting that he did not have such
confidence in the Sherman antitrust
law as he did before the United States
Steel corporation decision the attorney
general said he regarded it to the bene-
fit of the public that the packers should
deal in dairy products because they
though their refrigerator car system
kept down the prices during the non
seasonable periods.
The committee cross-exam1ned the
attorney general at length and it seems
clear that he failed to shake the con-
viction of a very large number of the