Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-08-15

It has long been an accepted state
ment illustrating the efficiency OF the
meat packers that they learned how TO
utilize every part Of the pig except the
sdueal. Now, at last, they nave dis
covered the economic value OF tne
sdueal, suppressed since 1920, Wnen
the Big Four Packers-or at that time
| big Five"-of Chicago were sued by
the United States under the Sherman
anti-monopoly act, and rather tnan
70 to trial-for they confessed they
were "guilty"-they consented to. de-
cree forbidding them to engage IN re.
tail business or in the productlon OF
other food products than meat. such
as canning, preserving or picking.
That case was in the Supreme Court
of the District Of Columbia. As the
defendants consented to the decree. II
never reached the United States Su-
preme Court.
In the ensuing nine yeats, great
changes have developed In business
through the building up OF chain gro
Gerry store systems. and within the last
two or three years these chain stores
and since the chain stores are grown
now to great systems. quite as mo-
ropolistic" as the Big Four Packers
according to the present argument OF
the packers-it is no longer fair and
equitable that the chain stores may do
what the packers Of that particular
consent decree" ere forbidden to do
sell both meats and groceries. So the
packers now enter the Supreme Court
Of the United states with a plea that
the consent decree" Of 1920 be set
aside as inequitable and unlawful.
X X \
u
The ultimate consumer" may look
upon the contest between packers ana
chain stores as an innocent bystander,
a neutral. or he may realize that while
the outcome may concern rival business
interests. its effect must come very close
to the consumers own interests.
For many years the plea has been
made that the wide spread between
what the farmer received for his prod
ucts. including live stock. and what
the retail buyer had to pay, was caused
by the too numerous "middlemen. IL
they could only eliminate the middle.
man and all of his profits. 1t would
benefit both producers and consumers.
In recent years, the unnecessary mid
dlemen" have been eliminated more and
more thoroughly, not merely by shift
ing the services of the nfiddlemen over
to the farmers Reconsideration Is
impracticable and of doubtful economy
but by organizing the work Of mid.
clemens distribution, so that almost
inconceivable economies become pos
sible.
quantities hundreds of times greater
than any individual stores can handle:
they take entire outputs OF FOOD
factories, in many cases. and. while they
began with groceries only, within the
last three years many chain store
systems have added meat shops TO their
groceries.
If 1t were a menace to public well
fare for meat packers to add groceries
to their meat shops. 1t Is now asked,
wherein lies the difference when gro
oeries add meat to their food stores?
This condition did not exist In 1870,
when the packers bowed to the author
ity of the courts and accepted the con-
sent decree" stopping the combination,
so far as they were concerned; astner
than undertake fight up to the Su-
preme Court of the United States.
+ X y X
Today according to statements In the
present petition of the packers, there
are 1873 slaughtering and meat pack
ing establishments In the United States,
and all except Armour 81 Co.. Swift d
Co. and two others not vet parties to
this petition are privileged to sell other
foods besides meats, because the con
sent decree" was an Injunction only
against five companies, of which one,
Morris Packing Co., later, was absorb
ed by Armour-and now affects only
Armour g. Co., Swift g. Co.. Wilson
Packing Co. and Cudahy Packing GO.
The latter two are not parties to the
present appeal, although II the appeal
he successful they viii be beneficiaries.
The other 1875 packers are engaging
in retail grocery and meat stores, upon
an ever increasing scalev-froni IS to 40
such stores being owned and operated
BY q company, although the practice
has not yet reached oil.
The Department OF Agriculture has
reported that chain groceries Of America
IA business amounting 70 eofae $50, O00,.