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Show nE PACKERS TO fROSi''IC,OTE,0 Ihiieii Attorney General Directs Di-rects Action Against , "Illegal Combination"; Law to Be Enforced. President Prepares for Expected Address to Congress; Plans for Combating H. C. L. "WASHINGTON', Aug. b Anti-trust suits against tlio great meat pneking firms were announced today by Attorney Attor-ney General Palmer as the first concrete con-crete development of the government ' campaign to reduce the high cost of living. Armour, Swift, Morris, "Wilson and Cudahy, who havo been pictured in the investigations of the federal trade coin- mission and before congressional committees com-mittees as a great combination in control con-trol of food products, arc to be haled again before tho federal courts by special spe-cial prosecutors. The evidence in hand, Attorney General Gen-eral Palmer declared, indicated "a. clear violation of the anti-trust, laws."' Whether the prosecutions would bo civil or criminal the attorney general declined to state, merely recalling that the law provided for both. The history of all the government s anti-trust prosecutions in twenty-five years does not show a single individual ever serving a jail sentence for a violation. viola-tion. There are evidences that the government gov-ernment hopes for some in tho present campaign. While ho was announcing prosecutions prosecu-tions of tho packers, Attorney General Palmer was unleashing his special agents on a country-wide trail of profiteering prof-iteering and food hoarding. These pros editions conic under the food control law. FOOD HOARDS TO BE FERRETED OUT. All 'Unilofl States atlorncyn were instructed in-structed to ferret out food hoards and libel Ihcm under federal law. "This is t lie most important business before tlio country today," announrnd the attorney general, "and I propose to have the law enforcement machinery of the novorninent; sidetrack everything to 1 his job." Preside n t Wilson con tinned to ' vo close attention to the food cost problem and declined ;t proposal to postpone hh address to congress until Tuesday next, week instead of thin Friday. Kepubli-ean Kepubli-ean Floor Leader Mondcll of the houf:c suggested the postponement because of absence of members from Washington, but the president declined. There waj no i n t i mat ion from t ho I White House as to t tic nature of the ! recommendaf ion 8 t he president would i . (make in addressing congress. From the ! trend of tlio jo eminent, "s activities Jin an attempt to solve the Jiving cost ! problem, however, in the view of pev-era pev-era ofic.ials, the president probably would deal with tln-sc subjects: PROBAHLE PLAN OF THE WHITE HOUSE. Fnlareinent of tho provisions of tho Lever food control law, to malt ft it operative op-erative after the proclamation of peain and a ppli cable to shoes, c'ot hi n , and all l;('c necessaries in addition lo fond. Fe''i;;la j nn to reach the smaller individual in-dividual profilccr as well as "bi business'' bus-iness'' extortion. Fe'i slat ion to define pro f i t rerin (Continued on rago 1, Column 4.) wmm ties STEP FOB CHEW FOOD 1 (Continued From Pago One.) ;hercbv making easier prosecution under un-der existing laws. Laws to make speculation in necessaries neces-saries a crime. Legislation limiting the margin of pro! 1 1 on necessities. Anotlier major development of the day was the making public of the federal fed-eral trade commission 's report on the -dine industry investigation. This report re-port charged that the high price of shoes resulted from excessive profits taken by every factor in the trade. Tho packers, tanners, manufacturers and retailers re-tailers all shared in the blame. The report re-port was placed before Attorney General Gen-eral Palmer today. WILL ENFORCE LAW TO FULLEST EXTENT. The hoarder "is tho big part of the game right now," in the opinion of the government officials in charge of the el'forts to bring down prices, and Attorney At-torney (icneral Palmer indicated that he was depending largely on the section of the Lever act dealing with hoarding as cine of the most immediate means of forcing prices down. ''The price monger can be reached in another way," tho attorney general ;aid, adding that there was not much diiterence between hoarding and rof-iU'eriutf. rof-iU'eriutf. Tho attorney pnneral today pointed out that all or' the war time laws ov-crninc: ov-crninc: production and distribution of foodstuffs Mill were in rorce and that they would be used to tho fullest extent. ex-tent. The conditions confronting thv conn t ry row, ho sa id, are proper! f "lasMct as resulting from tin; war and are n part of war conditions. SAYS PEOPLE SPEND LIKE DRUNKEN SAILORS. Testifying before a senate committee invc-tiatintr living conditions in tho dis'rict or Columbia. Thomas K. Vil--on, j resident of Wilson and company, and chnirmrtn of the Insiitute of American Amer-ican Meat I'ackcrs, declared tliat the pai'lcora v. crc not prof i t ceriiu:. Tlie liieh cost of living, he told the com-miiteo, com-miiteo, was a world problem, and not local. ''The world is on a holiday and people peo-ple arc spending money like drunken .ailors without produeini, ' ' he added. Atturr.ey (letmral I 'n liner announced thai toe ovide'ic b ffro the federal trade '":iim:nif :on and n -in ni d t ocs of cnirress nd Ira ted "a olar viola t ion of tho antitrust. anti-trust. i.wm" ny ttiH packers, and that he I'.ad -ordered "prumpt action accurd-ii. accurd-ii. (;!'." 1 id'r J. Krcstd of the New Ytirk law ftrrn of Jerome, Hand fk Krrs.d will have rhariTM of the ca.sf. and Mr. 1'alnitr nn hr would K'vo auch assistance at the department uf Jusilco "as tho c.isu soenis to warrant." T'.y "coitdlnat Ion of pa ker." yr. I 'a I iikt said be meant Swift " o , Ar-rii'Hir Ar-rii'Hir V 'o.. MotiiH ro., Cud.ihy I .nk-Inr .nk-Inr o-'iniiany and Wbhon A '. Ho declined de-clined to say whefhor crnnlnnl or olvll suits would ho Inst it u led, but suld t h law made provision for hot It. H " would not say in what jurisdiction Hie suits would be brouRht. KKESEL TO DIRECT CASE AGAINST PACKERS. Mr. KreM, th man wlm will bo In ril re-:t clinruo of the prose. -il t ions against the packers-, headed the committee wnlel. exaniliii'd the . ', l.len submitted. Mr. I'alni'T raid ho hud u-ed Mr. Kre.ael til Rome of tho moat Intrlrate und cxai'tlnc work connect rd wit h the otf Ire of n :n properly custodian where It was essential essen-tial to show capabll It ies in Hift inj; uvl-dotire. uvl-dotire. A 11 district al tnrtiryfl In t ho I'nltod St a tes were ordered today by A t Inrnov 'b-iieral I'atnmr to proceed Immedla t e v In the. proeru' I'm of Jill porMous nuilty of boardu.j.: foodrruft-i nnd to libel tlie food-Mi food-Mi uf f'i for condeiiiMH t Ion. "This in the most Important business Itefore tho country today," Mr. ''aimer na.ld, Ir. ii n iiou in: nr bin art Ion. "I pro-pnan pro-pnan I o have (he law enforcement ma-rhlnerv ma-rhlnerv of t ho u overninent nldet i ai'k ev-erythlni: ev-erythlni: to !hi Job." "r. uid It Ions. ' na Id Mr. 1'a liner's tete-rrnm tete-rrnm to tho atlomeyn, "rooiulrn u country-wide ram pa Ikii a i;a Inst lm;inlTn and proflleeis and I derdre (be department of lust Ire f um every leal inraim avall-ab'o avall-ab'o to put mi end to t heo art lv It I cm.' Mr, I'nliiuw be even (hut profiteering nlw on n be reached by the vi-r nut on t , nlthouuli lv ban wild there In no way ht which lo punuih dlioctly a man K'Ulty of rxtnrlfinn 111 prlre.t 1 1 e mild lie was not rvadv to (ISi'iriN what ai-lbm he piopoHcd to take, and de-dlned to iiifliaie wbol her It would be Ui roil uli new Irytslal Ion or extra b');al nieaiin. |
