| Show TELLS SENATORS ABOUT BEEF COSTS this may throw some light on tile the price you pay for beefsteak testifying recently recently before a body of senators Rena tors in washington a vice prest dent of one of the large packing concerns F edson white of armour and company madette ma dethe astounding statement that so tar far in their fiscal year which would cover the past eight or nine months hill company had bad made no money whatever on beet beef this statement Is doubtless well nigh incredible to the average man yet it was made in full knowledge that the senators had access to the com banys books Reco Turing from the first shock this same average man will say yes but the packers are shrewd what they do not make on the e beet beef they more than make up on the hides but even this illusion was destined to be shattered sir mr white explained that his statement included ever everything y t thlu al that was derived from the st steer e e as purchased the hide fat e ven even the intestines te which illch are used largely tor for sausage casings make money nevertheless well the packers make money how do they do 10 it mr air white admitted that they did quoting figures secured by auditors of the food administration to the effect that packers profits on food commodities of all kind last year were 1 cents on each doltar dollar taken in these would include such things as aa sausage shortening canned meats etc etc in addition to fresh meats hams and bacon on all the products of hl hi company mr white explained comprising both foods and inedible commodities the profits during the same period were 1 cents on each dollar sale all of which would lead many to say that the packing business Is not well understood it yet as one of the leading industries of the country its workings and above all its profits profit should be familiar matters to us it is quite useless to orate against the high cost ot of living without digging into some of these fundamentals byproducts by products at market values one of the most enlightening bits ot of sir mr whites testimony was his explanation of the way in which cost price of beet beef la Is arrived at it if a steer is bought at and hides are bringing 1000 in the open market then 1800 1600 is credited to the cost of the steer if hides are selling at 2300 that amount Is credited tile the visceral fat offal and everything else that comes from the steer are likewise credited at ther prevailing market alues what remains Is taken as the cost price of tile the meat the beet beef carcass Is then shipped to one of the local distributing branch houses and the manager there Is given the cost price with instructions to sell the beef at a profit if be tan an but in any event whether the local loell market market be lively or dull he must sell se for fo r what he b ie can get for the commod commodity f ty I 1 is s a perishable one and must be sold manufacturers atrol profit I 1 lit on byproducts by products however is another hitch to the packing business quite us as little understood apparently that goes to show how bow a loss on fresh meats may be accompanied by a profit on the total amount of business done take for example ample es the banjo strings aforementioned which are made from the incesti intestines nes of sheep the department that makes banjo strings and likewise surgical ligatures tennis strings etc etca buys the intestines from the sheep killing department paying exactly the he same price that these bring ft when sold to the outside market on this basis basi s the string department manufactures fac tures its strings and sells them bringing a profit into the business in like manner the fertilizer department buys blood and the soap department buys fats the glue department buys hoofs horns bones and sinews and so on through the list of products byproducts by the fertilizer the soap and the glue just as aa the music strings tr ings bring in a manufacturers profit in nil all cases these products byproducts by whether they be sold to outside manufacturers or to one of the manufacturing departments in the business at the same prevailing market price are credited to the cost of the meat portion of the a animals just as in the instance 1 I of the hides mentioned above thus the utilization of byproducts by products estem of which we have heard beard much and the method by which it Is conducted show the packers manufacturing broat on a gre great 1 at variety of commodities modi ties ranging ill all the way from pharmaceuticals to glue do in reality bear the burden of fresh meat prices i senator kellogg of minnesota in discussing of railroads railroad by the governa government ent said there never was wag a government 4 operation that was not no wasteful and inefficient it if Is 13 inevitable under i our organization that it should I 1 4 bo be so it Is not the province or f I 1 4 the prerogative of a democracy t pike like ours instituted fo for r the best I 1 government on the face of the I 1 earth to m manage a nago the business of off he be country congre binni record aug 5 art fear |
