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Show EiLAMEiri THE FARMER RETAIL DEALERS SAY PACKERS AND FARMERS ARE RESPONSIBLE RESPON-SIBLE FOR HIGH PRICES. Deny That Any Agreement on Prices Among Retailers Exists and Will Not Assume Responsibility for Prevailing High Prices. Washington. Retail meat dealers placed upon tho farmers and tho packers pack-ers responsibility for the higher price of meat In testimony given beforo the senate commltteo Investigating the increased in-creased cost of living on Tuesday. Five retail men from New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washing- in wore heard and Walter Brown, n Washington dealer who kills his own lent, was tho only one who did not admit that the price of meat had gone up at least 10 per cent during the last five years. Mr. Brown insisted that prices were practically tho same now as then. All agreed, however, that competition competi-tion among tho retailers kept the price to tho consumer as low as possible. pos-sible. Each witness vigorously denied tho retailers woro responsible for prevailing prevail-ing prices, and none would admit that any agreement on prices existed among them. Whllo no ono charged that the packers pack-ers were In a combination, nil tho witnesses wit-nesses who had dealings with them declared there seemed to bo no competition com-petition for retail trade. When complaint com-plaint was made to tho packers about advancing prices, they said tho latter oxplalned that the stock was scarce. |