The Caledonian-record. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1920-current, 1921-12-12
ATTY. STEVENS
SPEAKS FOR
VERMONT CROCERS
Wholesalers Doing Bust
ness of Twelve Million
Dollars Annually

OO1luI . xAIllkudIy
lou Washington Correspondence
Striking directly at the food sup
ply Of the nation by reason of its
monopolistic tendencies, the pro-
posed modification of the Govern
ment's decree forbidding the big
packing houses from handling
groceries and other unrelated pro-
ducts is characterized by Attorney
Roland +. Stevens, of White Riv-
er Junction, as next to the con
ference on the limitation Of arn1a-
ments the most vital issue before
the American people today"
Vermont has a particular int n
est in the result of the exhaustive
hearings now in progress in Wash
ington before the special Interde-
partmental Committee appointed
to get at the facts in the case and
present a recommendation to the
Attorney General, for all the
wholesale grocery houses of the
Green Mountain state are vigorous
!" opposing letting down the bars
that would give the packers any
further control Of food stuffs than
they already enjoy. Mr.. Stevens,
who as member of the Vermont
State Board of Control is widely
known throughout that common
wealth, is one of the special
counsel board that is combating
the modification of the decree.
Testimony has been presented on
both sides Of the question for
week or ten days, and at the con-
clusion of this part OF the hearing
the lawyers will present their ar
guments. Associated with Mr..
Stevens are Former Senator Hokc
Smith, of Georgia, representing
the Southern Grocers' AsSocia
ton; Breed, Abbott and Morgan,
of New York. who appear for the
National Wholesale GrocerS' Asso-
citation: and Chauncey f. Richard
son. of Washington.
Although Vermont has no def
nitely organized association eli
wholesale grocery concerns, M.
Stevens represents the entire list
of Vermont wholesalers, as fol-
olws:
Burlington Grocery Company,
Burlington; Spauldinr and Kim
ball, Burlngton; Rutland Whole
sale Grocery Company, Rutland:
f. D. Keyes and Company, Rut-
Tend; French and Bean Company,
s.. .Johnsbury St Johnsbury
Wholesale Grocery Company, St
Johnsbury; Montpelier Grocery
Company, Montpelier; Cross. Abb
bolt Company, White River juno
ton; De Witt Grocery Company,
Brattleboro; and Bennington Gro
Gerry Company, Bennington. They
are credited with doing twelve
million dollars worth of business
annually.
"From the point of view of the
ultimate consumer, that is, the
American people, this issue is of
tremendous consequence said
Mr. Stevens today in discussing
the salient aspects of the case
for its affects their food supply Vi
tally. In fact it is my opinion
that next to the conference on the
limitation or ornaments now 60
ing on in Washington, which is in
tcrnational in its scope, the most
vital issue before the nation today
is the question whether there
should be a modification of the de-
cree restricting the packers to the
handling of their own products
and forbidding them to deal in
non-rclated products.
"This decree was entered under
the former Attorney General with
the acquiesccnce of the packers,
who doubtless feared prosecution
under the Sherman Antitrust
law. Nor arc the packers them
selves today openly seeking its
modification. Nevertheless, testi-
mony that has already been ad-
duccd tends strongly to establish
o close connection between the
packers and some of the propon-
ents of the modification. For eX-
ample, the Western Gamers As
ISOLATION passed a resolution urg-
ing the modification of the decree.
Later it appears, as we have
shown in testimony. this resolu-
ton was rcscinded at a meeting
of the association attended bv a
large part of its membership,
which declared the original meet
ing illegal because of the absence
of quorum. However, it appears
further from the testimony that
Armour and Co., executed a large