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Show COMMISSIONER GARFIELD'S REPORT RE-PORT ON BEEF INDUSTRY. Tho report of Commissioner Gar-Oold Gar-Oold on .the bcof Industry has at last bcon published. It must bo somo-what somo-what of a surpriso to thoso who havo boon Indulging In wholesalo advorso criticism upon tho methods of tho Chicago packers, as It discloses farts and figures which clearly show that tho great food producers havo beon Innocqnt of tho serious offenses with which thoy havo been charged. Thoy liavo been for a long timo accused by? uowspapors all over the country or oxtortjonato prices demanded, and obtained, ob-tained, of depression of, values of pat; tlo at tho various stockyards whoro-their whoro-their business la- conducted, f pnoH mous profits wholly' disproportionate to the capltat.'dmployed," aldj,ln gbn-oral, gbn-oral, of so carrying on thblrJbiisinosa that tho public, undor an, orgaulssod system . of " spoliation,. wprp-.'b'Glng robbed fo'r Iholr 'exclus.Lvo 'b'oriclltv Wo .find now, h'owovor, "that not a slnglo'ono ot'thesd charges 'has been sustained but, bn tho contrary, that rigid and searching lnypBtisatlon, officially of-ficially inqdo, has resultcdin com-ploto com-ploto acquittal. Instead of extortion it Is shown that no industry can bo found whero so narrow a margin of profit proYalls tho actual records and original entries, en-tries, to which tho commissioner had freo accoss, showing that tho highest high-est not profit any of tho packors made on their gales of beof was two and three-tenths per cent in 1902 and In ono lnutauco that tho profit realized In 1904 was ono and eight-tenths por Tho variations in tho market prices for cattlo aro, exhaustively treated and no ovldenco of nny kind Vas discovered, dis-covered, "or oven hinted at, tondlug to show that values of cattlo aro in tho sllghtost degreo improperly nffectod or controlled "by packors at any of tho chief confers of tho industry. On tho whole, tho report completely disslpatos tho provalont Idea that great fortunes nro being amassed by illegal and impropor mothods employed em-ployed by westorn packers, showing that notwithstanding J-ho high prices for beef prevailing in 1902 tho business busi-ness was loss remunerative than in yeaw characterized by normal values, both for cattlo and product. Ho says "that tho year 1902, Instead of being ono of oxorbltant profits, as has been commonly Bupposod, was less profitable profit-able than usual. In fact, during tho months when tho prices of beof wero tbo highest, somo, at least, of the leading packors wero losing money on every head of cattlo slaughtered. It' was not posslblo to advnnco tho prices of beof In full proportion to ho groat advance in tho prices of cattlo at that tlme.'i After all that has been written reflecting re-flecting upon tho great' business Interest In-terest engaged In tho murkotlng and distribution of tho product of ono ot tho greatest of our national industries, indus-tries, it Is gratifying to all fair minded peoplo that tho prejudiced attacks upon it havo failed of verification; and tho groat western packers may bo congratulated for having passed through such a searching und thorough thor-ough official Investigation unsmlrchod. Tho rosults of this Investigation, based as It is upon exhaustive data, ofllclally obtained and verified by I United States government exports, must bo nccoptcd without hesitation, I as tho Investigation was mado under circumstances that guaranteed com-plpto com-plpto accuracy with a posslblo dlspo- , iltlon indeed, to arrive at ontlroly different rostiHe. |