| OCR Text |
Show PACKERS MAY RE CURBED Trade Board Urges the Government Monopoly of Refrigerator Cars. PACKERS IN CONTROL Big Five Should Not ! Have Advantage Over Other Shippers. WASHINGTON, Auc. 26. Declaring that the step is necessary to control the business of the five largest packinc companies the federal trade commission commis-sion In a special report to President Wil on recommends that operation of refricerator cars and of cars used for transportation of meat animals be de clard a government monopoly, it .recommends further that the property concerned, including icing stations an.' other facilities as well as the cars, be acquired by the government and rail roads thereafter be licensed and owned by them. The big packers, the report says, now own 9u per cent of all the re trigerator equipment in the countrv suitable for the transport of fresh meat. t ne present country wide system of distribution by the five bis packers has grown up from their control of re. frigerator car lines in conjunction with various pools," the report says in part "In turn the volume of traffic of the five packers has enabled them to secure se-cure from the railroads advantages over competing shippers Formerly in I the shape of direct rebates, these advantages ad-vantages are now usuallv in expedited service to the big packers' cars, in favorable fa-vorable mixing rules which include all many articles not related to the packman pack-man yarticles not related to the pack-ling pack-ling industry; by allowances paid to ,shme of the big packers by carrier for a part of the transportation service; by favorable arrangements and leaso of stockyards by the railroads to some of the big packers; and by the sale to the railroads of humping posts manufactured manu-factured by a subsidiary of one of the big five. "The small independent packers' cars are misused aud diverted, frequently fre-quently being out of the service for ex i. ndeii periods in vr r.il in. i.mo r a -long as six months. In 1917 the cars lof the "big five" and their subsidiary companies maintained an average of SO. 8 miles per car per da, while the average for cars of their competitors, the independent packing companies was only 54.7 miles The commission'.-, investigation of the private car owner ship has developed the fact that while I packers claim losses, the report says "a proper revision of their car accounts." ac-counts." shows the car operation has noted some profit This amounted to 6.8 per cent in 1912, 4 per cent in 1914. and 4.3 per cent in 1917. "The prompt and efficieut handling of the traffic in meats and other pei- I ishable foods is of great public concern," con-cern," the report says in making th recommendations, "and it is also important im-portant that all shippers should have equal and adequate service. The recommendations rec-ommendations are made to correct present inequalities of service and rates as well as lo prevent the dangers of monopolistic advantages." Thomas E. Wilson, president of Wilson Wil-son and company and chairman of the Institute of American Meat Packers, in a statement here today said the packers were willing to submit the justice of the packers' demands In "the report on private car lines" to the common sense of the American public. pub-lic. "The trade commission presented a report diametrically opposed to h, handed down by the interstate commerce com-merce committee composed of men trained In railroad work." said Mr. Wilson. Alter a six year study of the question the interstate commerce commission com-mission report said. 'An important part of the interstate commerce of the country is transported in privately owned cars. It is to the interest of the owners, carriers and public that their operation should be continued under such rules and regulations as will assure their efficient handling without discrimination against any shipper or nartieular description of traffic' |
