The Waterbury Democrat., 1936-05-26

this city, William II. McGinn,
 local manager of Swift and
 Company gave an interesting,
 historical review of the firm lhe
 represents. He started with the
 incident of Gustave Franklin
 Swift buying neighbor's heifeF,
 dressing it and retailing it to
 home town folks, netting . pro-
 fit of $1O to the great packing
 company Of the present. The
 substance of Mir. McGinn's sd-
 dress on one of the great TO-
 Hnances of American business
 was as follows:
 The story of Swift & Company is the story of the growth of Amer icaS largest industry, meat pack ing. The history of the industry, and particularly of Swift & Com pany, its foremost unit, is filled with romance, diversity, struggle against enoromIis odds, and success in the best American tradition.
 It is a tale of pioneering, of the opening up of the west 8 half ce11- tury ago--and as well the already popuIous but prejudiced east. First a revolution of production and dis- tribution methods itl the west, then a complete change of buying habits in the consuming centers of the east.
 Gustayus Franklin Swift started in business for himself with a total capital of 920 when he was 16 years old. That was in 1855. He paid $l9 for c neighbours heifer, dressed 1t himself and sold the meat in his little home town on Cape Cod.
 Waste Eliminated
 From that time on he moved In an overwhelming area, investing his money for the next step in the great task of his life--to eliminate waste, which he hated, and solve the prob- lem of feeding America efficiently. In that day refrigerator cars were unknown and meat processing was expensive and uflscientific.
 By 1875, when he was S6, c. F. Swift had reached Chicago as a cat- tie buyer for his eastern firm. But his work, at which he 50 excelled that he was offered the then Jlrl- heard-of salary of $S,000 a year, did not satisfy him. He could see Tn it only the waste of shipping live cat- tie to the Atlantic Coast when only the 55 per cent of edible meat would be consumed.
 Almost alone in his vision, and entirely alone in his courage to act on his convictions, he saw his fu- ture in meat packing at Chicago rather than shipment of live cattle to the east. He began to experi. ment with winter shipments ot dressed beef. His first efforts were successful. Then summer ship ments engaged his interest.
 While others scoffed, he put his faith in refrigeration as the ele- ment which would one day, sooner than he then dreamed, revolution ize the live stock and meat industry of the nation.
 East Prejudlced
 Eastern prejudice against western heaf and refusal of the railroads to experiment with refrigerator cars were obstacles which would have de- feated the plodder, but not this de- termined young Yankee. He pullt his own refrigerator cars, 10 of them, and persuaded Q railroad which then had none of the live stock business, and hence nothing to lose, to nau' them. .vl
 He formed eastern business all. ances and by persistence tinaiiy broke down eastern prejudice. HIS rapid and varied moves, on every one of which he was forced to stake his entire capital and future, were successful, and within three yearS of his arrival in Chicago this crazy man Swift" as some termed him' had caused Q revolution.
 That revolution gave birth to an industry characterized by the Na- tional Distribution conference as the most efficient among 17 leading American distributing agencies in- yestigated.
 A glance at Swift & Companys volume and profits gives Key to the truth of that rating.
 First Profit $lO
 when c. F. Swift sold his Slv heifer he made profit of $lO. That was a common profit In that day. When c. F. Swift had completed Q dozen years ct the head of the infant Swift & Company profit Of two cents on the dollar of sales waS larger than the average. That woulu be the equivalent of 68 cents total profit on the original heifer deal-- scarcely enough to keep him III pusl- neSs beyond that first transaction!
 Packer profits, in other words, came down as volume increased, 70 the benefit of both live stock pro- ducers. who received more money for many moro cattle, and corsum- CTS, who paid less for much petteI meat and more of it. Producers ana consurners benefited in many other ways. also. The lively, healthy com petition in the meat packing indus try. in which even today the largest unit handles only IS per cent of the total volume, stimulated better mer- chandising.
 Masses of the population, for whom good meat had been Q luxury beyond reach before, were made available to the live stock farmer as a great new market. And the consuming public was benefited by a steadily increasing quality and standardization of output under es- tablished brand names, plus a wider selection and Q steadier supply than had ever been known in the "lOme- skilla age of hit-or-mies meat pack in0 t4f