OCR Text |
Show PACKERS RULING TRADE jBig Five Bid Fair to I Dominate the Whole ! Grocery Trade, SECRET METHODS Exact Statistics Hard to Obtain and Country in the Dark. i I ' WASHING-TON, Oct. 16. Reiteration Reitera-tion of the claim that the five big packing companies of Chicago bid fair to dominate the wholesale grocery trade and already handle more than 200 foods unrelated to the meat parking park-ing industry, many of them directly competitive a meat substitutes i-made i-made in part IV of the federal trade commission's report on the industry, ! published today. "The extent to which 'he packer J should be permitted to enter unrelated unrelat-ed food lines." the report said, "is n matter whleh the public interest alon' should determine. "Two question, primarily economic are in vol veil: "Does this widening of activity re-suii re-suii In additional economics of production produc-tion and distribution? I i Mies li reuii aim "in ll (.ninone to result to ihe public in lower prices and better quality of product an I service0" Included in the list of commodities , said to be falling under control of the big fle are poultry and game, dairy products, lard and butter substitute-, canned and dried vecetabls and fruit, canned, cured and frozen fish, cocoa, coffee, molasses and cane, corn snd maple bq nip In addition Armour and company isJ said to be handling extensively soda fountain preparations and utensils. 'Owing to the maze and secrecv of the packer's methods of conducting; much of his business," It adds, "exact ; statistics on many of these commodities commo-dities are not available for the coun-try coun-try as a whole. "Many companies manufacturing or handling these commodities are con-' trolled by packer Interests, no hint of which is disclosed by the names un-der un-der which they operate and even a thorough-going examination may fail i io uncover the packer connection In ever) case." Four of the packers. Swift. Wilson. Armour and Cudahy, the report states, j through subsidiaries and not including includ-ing family controlled companies,, handled in 1918. 19.5 per cent of the es- j timated toial of shipped dressed poul- j try and 33 per cent of shipped eggs. The same four handled 49 per cenf j of all factory made cheese in 1918, the' report says, and adds: That the hie fixe are in a position I to control 75 to so per cent of the' r-heese of the state (Wisconsin) La generally eonceded." Lihby, McNeill and Llbby. a Swifl oneern. alone handled 10.9 per cent Of all evaporated and condensed milk in 191S, according io the report. "The Armour Grain compan, a fai tor In the cereal and breakfast food I business, reported surplus undivided I profits for the year 1918 of $5,426,83". jafter deducting- a 78 per cent dividend on capital stock, the report Bays, adding: add-ing: "The year's net earnings amounted to 290 per rent on the capital stock and 67 per cent on ihe net worth of the company, including capital, surplus and undivided profits as reported at the close ot the tlscal year 191(i ' Production of lard compound- and substitutes bj the five packers during the lirst six months of 1917 was placed at 49 4 per cent of the total 'and oleomargcrine at 61.0 P r Cent Complete fi-ures to show the packer pack-er interest in canned foods, such as j fruits and fish were not available, h' i report says, but the business of the; 'big thr ' was shown to be large and growing Thi Llbby company's canhi I i food sales alone showed a 225 per cent Increase In 1918 over 1915. Lib sales of canned salmon increased from t j per cent of the world pack in 1915, to 9 7 per cent in 191R. "So complete has become the con- j trol. especially by Llbby. McNeill and LJbby, oer the p neapple supply," the! report reads, "that one of the large ; wholesale grocers In the country wk-- j linablt In !n mi miner of 19 1 s to - cure any supply whatever." iM There is sufficient evidence, the rj port continues, that the "big five" are nm dividing the field among themselves. Iljl "If Armour and company's special- IHl ties are largely concentrated along uW such lines as rice, cereals, certain jt kinds of canned foods and cheese and t IU each of the other fixe great packer. 111 concentrates his specialties along a rE f few well chosen lines, the profitable fl fields become pretty well covered and iif pretty well ruled by the five." II j The report declares the meat pack- jftl ers "are larne speculators" and thai St their control of capital and credit en- t'l ables them to buy in such a way as to 'I, 1 1 -sell "upon a market in which their i! purchases have forced up the price." jV It also asserts tho packers have ex- .ft traordinary buying and marketing il' power, due to certain advantages, per- V haps not always unlawful, but cer- ll talnly often unjusiifiablc. Elj Among these advantages are enum 1 : crated packer control of 44.8 per cent ; of all cold storage facilities, their re- ii J frigerator car service, the "highly fax - I H orable rules" obtained by the packers 1 for mixed carloads of fresh meats and ! If packing house products, permittlnc them to iuclude a great variety ot goods "foreign to their slaughtering business," with resulting discrlmina- A lions not alono in service, but also in Mg ime.s. mmM "Fntil the packers are shorn of the 111 transportation advantages." the n Si port says, "there is no way of iiieas- 1 uring their true industrial cttlcienc.x ." CHICAGO, Oct. 16 Louis F. Sv. nt, j president of Swift and company, tods issued a statement denying the J i charges that the fiev big packers by enlarging trade of the country which are contained in the latest repoit uf the federal trade commission. Mr, j Swift's statement reads in part fill 'In the first place the packers do cl not control anything. Swift and com-pan) com-pan) Is in active competition with aii othpr packers in the purchase and sale of ever product bought and sold. "The charge that the fixe packers bave divided the field, each specialising specialis-ing on certain lines, is absurd sv iL lljH and company handles only such products prod-ucts as logically result from belnv k r Ufl the packinc business and such othp jfl products as can be handled efficient Ix through ii- sab-s organization ind refrigerating equipment Swift ini company's sale of grocery product;; f J amount to only a Utile over on-. p r cent of the total wholesale grocery business The five large packers i v gether handle not to exceed three pci cent. 'MH "The trade commission's figure.-! Vim Showing the percentage of OOUttl butter and eggs handled by the laro ti'll packers are greatly exaggerated 'Svl "Wc have issued figures base . I 'i department of agriculture rep showing that Swift and company bai dies only about six per cent of tho total quantity of these products sold fA In the United States. "There Is no combination or agre menl With other packers in the hs dling of these products or to divld 1(9 territory in their purchase or sale.' 'iH |