BEEF TRUST AT HOME

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2256, 16 September 1914, Page 8

BEEF TRUST AT HOME

AUSTRALIAN; INVESTIGATIONS A SERIOUS MENACE ' Some months ago Mr. C. C. Cherry, who .is attached to the Australian High Commissioner's office in London, as veterinary inspector in connection with tho frozen meat trade, was commissioned by the Commonwealth Government to. go to tho United States to investigate the conditions of the trado there, especially in regard to tho operations of the Beef Trust. Mr. Cherry's report has now been made available. He confi'rnis- many previous statements regarding the : methods of the Trust, and sounds' a warning as to how Australia is menaced by the possibility of tho trust gaining an influential footing in the Commonwealth.

Mr. Cherry's inquiries in America were of a tolerably extensive character, and were carried out with' due regard to his' knowledge of the operations' in Australia of-some of the large American packing-houses..,.. His investigations, too, were facilitated owing to the fact that they were'.' incidental to his study of the United) States Federal meat inspection system. In the first place, he quotes statistics which vividly show the decrease in the American meat supply. Thus, according to the U.S.A. records, there were on the farms and ranges on January 1, 1907, 51,566,000 beef .cattle, and on January 1, 1914, 35,855,000 head, showing a decrease in seven years of 20 per cent. -During the same period the population increased by 12,000,000. There was, however, a fair increase of dairy cattle. The number of sheep killed in 1913 exceeded that of the previous year by over 5,000,000. Yet statistics reveal that in 1913 there were only 51,956,187 sheep, as against 57,216,000 in 1910. Concerning pigs, he says, the ravages of cholera have of iate years largely affected the hog trade, and is reflected in the total I slaughter of. 32,287,538 head in 1913, as compared with 34,966,378 head in the previous year. In regard to the system of .marketing and selling-, he says that doubtless a great 'quantity of the livo stock that enters the establishments known as, the "Beef Trust" passes through the livo stock yards, and also through the hands of, the commissioners, yet in the aggregate, there is much stock bought direct on farms and ranches. Cattle fattened on brewers' grains are frequently bought direct at distilleries, while hi the late,.sprmg much grass cattle are also purchased in this inanuer. It'is evident, lie adds, that the latter procedure allows the larger packer,to a certain extent at times to control the market and 'regulate the output by placing in cold stoics surplus carcasses. There- are no public auctions .of live stock in the' United States at the principal markets, as in Australia. The sales are conducted by commissioners, somewhat similar to the sales of live stock in the United Kingdom; that is, they are privately bargained for. There are also in connection with the markets live stock exchanges, the.membership of which, Mr. Cherry understands, is confined to commissioners and others engaged in the trade, and does not include members of the firms known as tho beef trust. Dealing with tho general attitude of the trust to other secions of he trade, Mr. Cherry remarks that "the inferences I have deduced are that as long as the ordinary packer or trader does net become a competitor with the large packers or : beef .trust' in the interState' trade or' otherwise encroach on the custom already established, no obstacles are placed .in the way, but if the small packer should act to the contrary, various means arc devised to oust him.

lii regard to the attitude of the trust towards the producer, 31r: Cherry says that "personally,' I do not think the producer has much to complain of.. The prices obtained by" tho producer and their basis are fair. The livo stock commissioners, in their own interests, secure as good a price as possible; still, it is fairly evident that representatives of Armour, Swift, and Morris have at least a mutual understanding as to the prices to be given for tlie day for certain qualities. They furthermore have the.power as the principal buyers, 'when they consider prices asked are too high, of standing off and compelling the commissioners to acccptiprices which nevertheless may be legarded as equitable." Turning to the attitudo of the beef trust towards the consumer, Mr.. Cherry is emphatic. "Tho consumer," he says, "is undoubtedly exploited in. certain times of the year when there is abundant, grass-fed cattle 'available. Tho largest packers have facilities for putting away surplus meat, thus regulating the output. In summarising.his views he says that '.'.'past prosecutions have proven ' that there has been a 'Beef Trust' composed, of some six large packers; that the anti-trust legislation (U.S.A.-). has had no material effect on the 'Beef Trust' ■other than suppressing railroad rebates and. breaking up the: National Packing Co., which prevents legally .any formal meeting.of the large packers conjointly for the purposes of restraint.of trade; that'certain .large packing- firms, particularly Messrs. Armour, Swift, and Morris, the greatest factors in the United States' meat trade, mutually work together, and. give uniform prices for certain qualities of livo stock; that the producer generally obtains fair prices for his stock; that the consumer is. exploited to a certain, extent; that a progressive competitor of tho Beef Trust is apt to be ousted from his business, unless he concedes a share in it to mem- ■ bers of the Beef Trust; that there is no law in the United States to prevent un-der-selling." -This last point is doubtless an important one, together with the questions of limiting the quantity of export meat; and the buying of outputs as far as the Australian meat trade is concerned, because it was chiefly owing to certain American interests in the Argentine flooding tho Smithfield (England) market, and under-selling their Argentina competitors, that certain Argentina companies were recently ousted from the trade. The question of buying Australian output is one, to my mind, that requires serious consideration. Already, I understand,, two outputs for this season from Australian works haye been purchased, but as to whether they have been purchased by anyone in connection with tho 'Beef Trust' I cannot say." Finally, Mr. Cherry, believes "as a result of my observations both in Amor-', ica and in England, that Australia has much to fear by the incursions of • the meat firms that'are units of the American 'Beef Trust.' In tho interests of the community, I maintain that the Commonwealth requires good, healthy competition, good'works and many, With capitals at least of £50,000, and with modern plant commensurate, with the output."