"THE MEAT TRUST" INVESTIGATION

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 24, 23 October 1920, Page 13

"THE MEAT TRUST" INVESTIGATION

RESULT OF COMMISSION'S . FINDINGS; BIG PACKERS AGREE TO RESTRICTIONS

■ -In connection with:.the repqrt of tap Parliamentary; Committee on- tlie'peti-' tlon asking that, ft meaf export license be issued to Messrs. Armour.-and Co,, the Minister of Agriculture,. Mr. JJosworthy, on Thursday.evening read the. decree issued by the United States.against tho': "Big' Packers," as the biff meat firms are: called. This-.decree was the outcome of the: the'United.States Federal Trade Commission condemnatory of. tie. methods of the so-called- "Meat Trust." The "I% : Packers" protested against tl.e findings of the Comniiesion, bnjt, it- seems, according to. the United States AttorheyGen.eral; that they ultimately submitted to. the contentions of the Government.' Following: are extracts from a statement of the position made to the Press by Mr. C. Mitchell Palmer, Attorney-General:— . "Attorney-General- Palmer," the report states, "announced that the. five, big packers,. Armour and Company; .-' Morris and Company, Swift :ahd Company, Wilson and' Company, ant} Cudahy 'Packing Company, their main".' subsidiaries ami principal stockholders and ' managers; , had submitted to. nil. the contentions ,of thin; Governnjejit ,'antl consented to the entry of an injunction'.'deci'ee''providing for.the carrying out of these contentions/-' } - THE DECREE. .. Under the decree the defendants and each, of them either as a corporation or Individuals are. compelled in brief: (1) To sell under ' the supervision of the United States District Court, preferably to live stock producers and. tho public, all their holdings in public stock-' yards. • , ■■■ ■' ■"-.■■■ (2) To'sell under the same-supervision and in like manner all their interests' in stockyards, railroads, and terminals. # (S) To sell under the same supervision and in like manner, all their, interests.in • market newspapers. ■■• ■ , ' (i) To'dispose of all their interests, in public cold, storage warehouses except as necessary for their own. meat products. . (5) To forev.er dissociate , themselves with all unrelated lines, including-whole-eale irroceries, fresh, panned, dried, or salt fish, fresh,•canned,' or. dried, vegetables, fresh, crushed, dried, evaporated or canned fruits., confectioneries, syrups, soda' water 'fountain,,'.supplies, etc., molasses-, iams, jellies,.and oreserves, eaiiees nnd- Telislies, etc., coffee, .tea, chocolat/v cocoa, flour, sugar, nee. and cereals (with-an exception), er": craeV*»rs, biscuits, epss-vetti, vermicelli, macaroni,.cigars, china,.furniture, • (fiV.-To for ever abandon •' the use. «f their'branch house?, road cars, nud autotrucks, comprising thoir distribution sys-tem,-for any other than their own meat and- dairy products. ■ : • ;. . (7) To perpetually submit, to diction of the United •" States■ -District Court, • under an injunction : forbidding nil the' defendants from directly or ,n:Vlirectly maintaining any combination or conspiracy with «ach other or any .other person or persons, v or monopolising cr attempting to monopolise any' food proilnct in «ip United. States or indulging

in any unfair or : -unlawful practices. ,_ "The decree further provides that ]utjß- - is perpetually retained by the Court for the'purpose of taking _«mch other action, or adding at the foot oi the decree such other relief,-if any. as may become necessary ot appropriate for the carrying out-and .'enforcement of the decree; or for the purpose of entertaining at any time''lieredftef "any.::application which", the" 'parties. may make:, with rrespect to'this decree. ■ •-....- ''. "... . ' ■ PACKERS AGREE TO SUBMIT.'. "Immediately, upon Air., Palmer's becoming Attorney-General; in ..March, 1!)19, he-'personally tookup the.charges against the' nackers, and special assistants' .were asked to study the investigation of- the Federal Trade Commission, .all hearings before the congressional committees, and ' to' conduct 'independent investiim tions.' 'After eight month's of exhaustive work,...and. the-placing of one .branch oi the.matter before.a Chicago grand,jury, the results were ready to' be-placed be fore a "United States grand jury sitting In New York . for. .'the months of No vember and December'. Before- the 'open ing,: however, of the- hearings-before that' grand jury, Mr. Palmer was .'nbti-. fied that the defendants'.would' submit to ■ all' proper requirements of tho Government under tho lav. . .. " ■

.. "Mr, .Palmer was convinced •, that in order to- prevent; the parent companies, and'subsidiary defendants', noting hyanri through ■' their principal'" officers, '. from .dominating, .controlling and "monopolis ing a very great proportion of- the ■ food supply of the native nation, and, thereby building up ■an unlawful ''-monopoly and control over' divere.and 'sundry; pro dncts 'and ..commodities "necessary to ..the Jife,. .Jt«alfh- and welfare of .the people of the United States, and,: by-similai methods, attempting to increase and extend said monopoly, and attempting by ■these means to artificially control the pupply and. prices of tho food of-the nation; and that, in-order to-put:-an end to any and all monopolies' which the. defendants 'had ■ created or obtained in interests, 'trade, or commerco 1 in .live" stock,- meat. products,. and. substitute food; and to prevent the continuance-of any unlawful -monopolies by the defendants in 6uch trade or commerce "in tae products and commodities described, -il .would..be.necessary .to:-... '. .-.'.'

-.'■( a) Place these defendants'under the jurisdiction of an injuction decree .in the United' States District Court in'Te lation to all unfair practices or attempts to monopolise. "'■ ".: ■".. =•■•'■'

''(b)'Deprive. 6aid defendants of certain instrumentalities, .facilities'.'and' advantages which they.might, use'to more.of. fectively perfect their attempts to opolise. ' ■■•■■..■

"(c).' CompeT the defendants' to-' .desist from dealing fa certain of tho substitute foods and certain of.the.unrelated commodities. ■•■"-■'■

"(d) Limit the- interest*.which the individual defendants might have in cor porations, handling certain _. substitute, foods and unrelated commodities.

"(e) Dissolve any and all contracts, combinations and conspiracies in restrain'oi trade or commerce between the several defendants.

"(fj Prevent said defendants from maintaining such contracts, combinations, 01 conspiracies '-with; each other',' or from .entering . into . further, icontracte',.combinations or conspiracies with each othe: n- vW rtthor ■ persons. FIRST ALLEGED EVIL-STOCKYARD OWNERSHIP. • "Tho. principal business'of .each'of the parent companies conducted by each company ' directly or 'through its subsidiaries, is the, slaughter of live'titock, consisting.of.'''cattle,',hogs, sheep, and calves,.• the'-dressing''of • tiho' carcasses, and the distribution.of the dressed meat in-interstate, commerce : through■ various means by'whioh. tho dressed ..meat reaches the retail butohers, • aliil • is.'by. tho retail butchers sold to fthe-con-sumers. Each of these concerns ; S the successor'• or natural, outgrowth..'of 'con- • ceras ofmany.yeare , 'standing..:.ln their inception-these concerns ■ devoted themselves exclusively, to thp slaughter of livo stock', the dressing of the carcasses, ami the, sale of the dressed, meat to retail butohera or ooneuancrs.- , .'. "Tho sftckyard was; and is in theory, a public market place to which allwho wish to .cither buy or sell may have free access and the right to trade. Tho stockyards offer to the native oattlo raiser tho opportunity to dispose of his live stock for an. immediate cash price. Contiguous to such stockyards, commission men. dealing exclusively in tho sale, of live stock, locate themselves. These commission men attend to the enreof' live stock upon its arrival, effect the sale..of the stock so consigned, attend *•'its -wOiffoinffi collect the proceeds of '

THE TERMS OF THE DECREE

the sale, and remit to the consignor after deducting customary commissions. Stockyards render certain services to thoshipper,' for which they make charge— to. wit: Yarding (furnishing the facilities and performing the sen-ices of placing and keeping, the animals in pons and watering them), feeding, and selling. food,' : weighing, ■' dipping, bedding, cars, and often'loading and reloading. •' "The yardage charges aro ordinarily baaed.. upon an nrbitrary chargo per head for each kind of stock, but in - some instances it is basid upon the hundredweight The charge for feeding :is fixed by tho stockyards, and includes the services .rotulered in feeding. The ■ amount of tho charges made or to be made for the other items of services or materials furnished, is also fixed by the. stockyards or those who are in control of. tho yards . Tn connection with each! stockyard,'there is a need'for certain ■ facilities and conveniences for the benefit of either the, shipper or the buyer of -the- live slock. The stockyard, "by reason of its dominating position, controls these conveniences and facilities. In furtherance of. the tendency to. centralis the market, it became of advantage to establish slaughter-houses and' packing' plants either within or adjacent to tho stockyards. .Tile stockyard

companies generally own or control nli iho nvail.ibio land ivithin the yards, ant at most of tho important yards the lain

surrounding thb yards is owned by companies Icontrolled by tlie stockyards company or its principal stockholders. In fact,' new companies as a rule can sccuro desirabk packing sites only, from the stockyard companies, or from these land development companies. The owners of stockyards companies are, therefore, in a--position to determine what packing companies, and how many plants, shall b» established at the yards. "The cattle Ti'jtser is in many instances depnndpnl: upon" bunks or loan companies to finance him In the rearing of his live stock and until such time as the stock shall have-been sold. ,In the nature of their business, it is a great, advantage Ito these banks to locate in or near stcekJ yards. If, • therefore, lies within thepower of the;. owner of the stockyard company to designate how many and which banks or loan companies may establish .themselves at the yard. "The commission men and tradersat the stockyards .must have offices-.in or near t'he yards...: They can get such accommodations only from renting or leasing from the. stockyard_ companies. I'or the purpose such, office space, each yard has a. large building or series, of buildings, offices in which are' leased to the commission men. The commission men uro allotted pens, and inasmuch as it is of great advantage to a commission man to.be able to dispose of his customer's live stock at the. earliest possible hour, the location of pens raost'favourable to the prospective buyer is of great advantage. ' "Theso-conditions tend to give the ownership• of- the 6tocl;yards into the hands of the packers, with,improper control .of prices. and competition.

SECOND ALLEGED eWI-TERMINAL RAILWAYS, , "It has been charged (hat the centralisation of the market at one site, and the resultant;, growth of -the packing nouKs-in 'or..flbo,u.t:fhat market",- of necessity required 'termirnl railways to facili-tate--tho switching of cars from the rail-roads-to the stock yards, from the yards to the packing plants, and from (ho packing plants to the railroads. These terminator stockyard railways- are'usually, 'owned; by the. stockyard companies, or by tlioso in control of the stockyard companies Control of Hip» raihays carries .with it-the. power 10. grant or withhold sidings.-.spurs, or otlier accommodations which may be required by the packing'noiiso, and. those in control of eaiu-terminal -railways are (hereby, in a. poßition;.:td-'discriminate other packers Or independent buyers by practising delay in .loading ■ the animals -bought by' said packers or independent buyers in switching' tins: loaded cars to the connecting lines. *' .' • °

THIRD ALLEGED EVIL-MARKET ;• -PAPERS AND JOURNALS.'-. ■

, "In-addition ■to having n free market in which to dispose of his live stock, the cnttlo raiser -requires full, accurate, iurl unbiased reports of- the demand for lira stoc»c, the prices prevailing and the character And kind of stock required, together -with. •' other ■ information as to market or trade conditions". The cnttlo raiser, of'necessity is located at places remole 'froriiXthe. market, but rarely accompanies hjs shipment to the market, a ; iid. by < reason of the cost of shipment and'of; fe'cding.-in. transit and while being held for sale, i(: is imperative that ho dispose of bis stock when once he has shipped. : For his guidance he reliea largely upon the trade papers and journals. - Control of these papers and journals furnishes a-means -whereby the flow, of stock to the market may be increased or decreased, to the benefit of the slaughterer. ,; " - '

"It. -is therefore evident that control 6f the stockyards and of the other facilities appertaining to the stockyards, carries with it:'

•-"(a)'A-profit* derived from the meat industry levied'upon it and collected. before' the'/animal is "slaughtered, all of which'profit, however, evidences itself in tho' ultimate cost which the consuming public must par for the' dressed beef. : ; f '(l) : A potential means of favouritism in- dealing with commission' men and of influence 'over them, a power to grant monopolies carrying with, it''consequent' profits.to.banks, cattle loan institutions, rendering'plants.and concerns supplying food for' live stock and others.

■ "(c) A means to prevent the establishment 'of new-packing plants and to hamper the growth of' those in existence. "(d),A means to prevent the development.'and, limitthe number of new markets and to centralise and restrict business to -the stockyards so controlled.

"(b) ; Peculiar? find exclusive' access to information-' concerning receipts'- and sales, of .live .stock, it? disposition, and the dissemination of information to the producer,. ; , METHODS PURSUED. "The parent companies and their controlling heads, appreciating the advantages whiclr were to be gained by controlling the stockyards and tho facilities pertaining thereto, the stockyard terminal railways nnd market' papers and journals, and realising that the uso of sucli instrumentalities might thus enable, them to obtain a primary profit, not only. out of the sale of livo stock purchased and slaughtered by them, but also on.that purchased and slaughtered bv their competitors, and realising tho opportunities thereby to repress and discourage (he .development of independent packers and slaughterhouses, aud to control, the shipments of meats to the various markets, set about tho acquisition of the various stockyards and the appurtenances and . privileges incidental thereto. -This in. many instances was ■dono by ; a concert, of action, and pursuant to a common understanding. In most instances the acquisition of control of the aforesaid stockyards by any one or more of the .parent companies was acquiesced in by the othors, and in all Instances" the ownership or control of atoekvards by other packers, or by any: one', in fact.,'otlier than Hie parent companies or one of their members or their controlling heads, was discouraged and opposed. "In pursuance of a common purpose, plan, and design, outside investors and independent packers have gradually ken forced, out as dominating factors both in tho ownership and management of most of the important stockyards, n.iul haw been replaced by the paront companies or their, representatives. . This aoquisi-,

tion has been accomplished; by various methods. In tho earlier years, by exacting slock donations under threats of nioviug away their packing plants; later, by cash subscriptions to stock, generally bciow par, and in other instances by voluntary reorganisation of stockyard communes in order that the paront'companies and their controlling iieads mighli gain a controlling or dominating power in tho yards, and thus be induced to continue, to. maintain their packing plants.threat. By these various means the.parent companies, direotly'or'indirectly, .through their controlling heads, hnvo been enabled to obtain control of substantially' all of tho large stockyards of ihe country. They now have, either iointly or separately, a controlling interest in twenty-two of the fifty market stockyards in the United- States. The stockyards bo controlled by them, and tho percentage of stock severally or jointly controlled in each'company, are as follow. (Here follows a long list.) CONTROL AND PROFITS. "Tho parent companies have availed

themselves of the control so acquired by them in the stockyards aforesaid to elect the officers and directors of said stock-

yards, and to.-dominate and control tho policies thereof. They have grnnted exclusive privileges, such as the right topurchase dead animnls, the right to furnish supplies and facilities, and Hie 10--cation of cattle banks ami cattlo loan companies, to concerns and corporations

in which they, or some of them, or individuals who are stockholder's in said parent companies hold the controlling stock, nil of -which has been done with

the intent and purpose, and has had the effect of discouraging and suppressing the establishment of independent packing establishments' ■ and' dwarfing the growth of such independent packing companies, which. mjgut then bo in existence, to enahlo said parent compnnies, their subr sidiaries or tbe individuals who own and, control tho parent. companies ' and] their subsidiaries to obtain vast profits from the' management of the stockyard and the granting of 1 the iprivilegcs ap- ; purteiiant thereto, which profits are real-, ised. not only upon the live stock purchased by the packer's, but upon that purchased by their competitors, and have thus enabled them to enjoy, and realise such- profits without the same, appearing or being disclosed in the. profits, of the parent companies; and otherwise to further the attempt of said parent companies to monopolise tho meat industry of tho country and artificially control the ultimate prico which the consumer pays, for meat and meat' products. "To cure these evils, tho decree about to be rendered perpetually enjoins all of the defendants, and each of'; them either as corporations or as individuals, from owning any capital stock or other interest, either directly,or indirectly in nny public stockyard market, stockyard terminal railway, or nurrkct paper 01 journal; and further provides that within ninety, days such of the defendants as have interest in public stockyard mar kets, stockyard terminal railways, or market papers or journals-'shall file in the Court. where the decree is entered for the Court's approval a plan' for divesting themselves'of such interest. It is to be hoped that these stockyard companies will be acquired under the Court's order by -.either the producers of live stock or'by the public at large who can impartially administer them. TJnder ail impartial-administration, most of the evils 'complained of' in the live stock business can be cured. "The decree further. provides for an injunction' forbidding all 'unfair practices or combinations in. reference to the control of meat or its prices, and nndei this clause any of the defendants violating this injunction can be summarily punished by the.Court. Therefore, such evils in the meat businos9 as are :iot corrected by the public ownership of/the stockyards, stockyard 'railways'and stockyard newspapers, can be Tcndily corrected, under the supervision of the Court.

FOURTH ALLEG_ED_ EVfL—COLP

storage" ware houses.

"Under this decree, the defendants, and ail of them,- aro perpetually' enjoined and restrained from owning, directly of indirectly, any capital stock or other interest whatsoever in any public cold storage wirehouse in the United- States, exceDt'such.-as the ciitferent cpihpnni«s need for the storing of the-ir own. meat products, and they ai'o' required to dispose of their present holdiiifrs in such warehouses under the direction of tho Court . ■. ■ . ....

■FIFTH _ALL_EGED_ EVIL-SUBSTI

TUTES.FOR MEAT,

"The' investigation demonstrated .thai ev«n with a. practicnl of the supplies of meat in the country tho price could not be controlled. by the defendants without tho control -of. substitute

"That if meat prices advanced out of proportion to those of other substitute foods, the consuming public manifested a tendency to turn to such rotstitutes. To prevent this it is charged that tlie defendants sought by contro ling the nation's supply of fish, or canned fruits,-cereals, milkr poultry, eggs, cheese, and other substitute lood* oX'arily -handled by wholesalejroce . or produce dealers. To necomp] sh this purpose, the defendants availed themselves' of the advanta K es. at hand in the auto-trucks., route cars, branch houses, and storage warehouses owned oi C °«ff facilities!- intended primarily tor the silo of meats," .were employe , with comparatively ( no increase ot or - head in the distribution, of the■ suWtute foods ■ oud unrelated commodi ies. T t detodal were- thereby, enaWed to reach remote spots. Tneso attempt, to mononolise have resulted in conipletecnuSoln many of the substitute food lines. TheY-have made substantial headway »j others. The control-.was extensively and rapid y increasing Now-folds were "era dually being invaded. Yearly .great nuntb'er S y of competitors abandoned vne contest and quit business or sold, out.to the parent corporations or their subsidiaries. Unless prevented by tins decree, the defendants would have, within the compass of a few years, controlled the quantity and price of practically Syc » article of food found on tho American table

j-IROWTH OF THE BIG PACKERS,

"In tho fifteen years from 190-i to 1919, Swift "and Company, Armour and Company, Wilson and Company (Inc.). and the feudally. Packing .Company, accordm.* to their, financial reports,, grew .irqin. a net worth of approximately 92,000.000 dollars to a net worth of "approximately 479,000,000 dollars, but in this came Period .'they paid' in cash dividends 105,000,000 dollars. ' Only 89,000,000 dollars of their increased worth was represented in capital. Though always aserting ft very low rate of profit, on sales, tho five parent companies have grown so rapidly/that their combined net profit for 1919 has equalled nearly the amount ot their total sales in 1901. The sales' themselves in' fifteen years have increase;! until, for tho fiscal year 1918. they reached tho vast sum of 3,200,000,000 dollars. This was realised from meats, substitute, foods, and unrelated lines, as hereinabove set forth.' In statins' these figures, account has been taken only, of profits and sales ta the parent companies, find subsidiaries included by t)i*m uoon iMtir'imoks. So account has Iwen taken of the many corporations which aro owned or controlled l>v tho same family or financial interests as own <r control the parent companies. "In addition to these profits, thorn have-, been other vast profits,, difficult or ascertainment, realised by tho individual!-: by virtue-of .either their personal control, of other', packing houses and slaughtering' companies or their interests in stockyard's, terminal railroads, rendering companies, cattle loan institutions, anil banks, and other eoryoratiouK. all of whioh corporations have their inception and depend for their prosperity upon advantages or privileges growing out ; of the interlocking control of the stockyards'.and stockyard appurtenancem "The parent ccy.ipanies. or the individual defendants, and their families maintain and control 571 corporations or concerns, including 131 trade names They have a significant -minority stock interest in 95 others, and an interest of unknown extont in on additional 93. Thus the total number of concerns in which they have control or interest is some 702. Practically all of tlieso companies, however, come under the jurisdiction of tho court Ih'rougii the miming.' of the above-mentioned defendants

"Jn the years that have passed, tho parent companies have acquired 01'orgaiised many other concerns and have maintained them so long as they were useful for their purposes. When no

longer useful, these concerns so acquired or organised lutvo been dissolved mid their businesses have been merged into that of the parent'companies or into that of other subsidiaries. Such dissolved corporations and concerns are omitted in the above compilation, except in such instance as the name has been continued as a trade name. The total of 702, above stated, therefore falls far short of representing the number of concerns that cori pornto and. individual, defendants Jiavo acquired or have • organised in furtherance of their general scheino and plan of action already explained. It would be an enormous undertaking; to determine the decree of control exercised by tfie defendants in all of these various interests. Enough has been ascertained to indicate that the zrowlh has bean rapid and that if permitted to continue unchecked in a matter of a few years the control would ho- complete. "In I.IIG tho business of Armour and Company jn canned fish, vegetables, and sundries, canned an<i. dried-, _ fruits, fruit preserves, arid grape juice amounted to 0.396,036.73 dpllars' In 1918, two years later, the same company's volume of business in these sauio items was 39.520.000 dollars, over sixfold increase. . While part of this increase of business may be attributed fo the increase of population, and the consequent increase of consumption, the greater part thereof was acquired at the expense Of competitors "Of.the corporations which have been aeouired by the. parent companies in recont years, the large number are concerns manufacturing or soiling these substitute foods or unrelated commodities. This fact, together with the increasod activities of the parent organisations themselves in these, lines, indicated a well-defined purpose oil their part to secure control of the market for mc.it 6ul>s(itnl»> foods.

"In addition, to the companies in which, conirol has been acquired by outright purchase,'the parent companies have in a large number of instances contracted fo; 1 the exclusive output of many other companies engaged, in the production of the substitute foods and the unrelated commodities. The outputs of these plants are marketed by the parent companies, or by their subsidiaries,.through.the distribution facilities of the. parent companies. In this fashion, tho parent companies control the output, of these eon-

cerns and the market price of their products as completely as ihough'.they themselves owned tho producing companies. ' "Tho principal agent in stifling competition in the unrelated lines was, M has baen stated, the fact that (he distributing system of the great packers was an efficient and cheap way of linndling not posesssed by their competitors. . OUTSIDE LINES BARRED. ' "For the cure and prevention of these euls, this decree will provide an injunction perpetually enjoining and restraining the corporation defendants, and each of them, their successors and assigns, from owing any. capital stock or other interest.in any corporation which is ill tho business in (ho United States of manufacturing, jobbing, selling, transporting, distributing, or otherwiso dealing in fresh, canned, or salted iish; fri-sli, dried, or canned vegetables; fresh, dried, or evaporated fruits, . colil'eottonerv, coffee, lea, cereals, etc. '.'''And, further, perpetually enjoining

and restraining said corporation defendants from engaging in or carrying nit tho •manufacturing, Jobbing, sellittg, transporting, or otherwise dealing in'ally of these articles, with the exception of grain and cereals and a few articles moro or less necessary in the conduct of their business. The exception of allowing somo of the corporations to continuo the business in cereals was considered necessary because some of them had 'been, in business since prior to tho timo they eii"aged in the meat business, and the prevention of their 'use of the distribtitiii" system minimises the evil of thoir continuing in Hie cereal business. But in general, the decree eliminates all the defendant corporations from all unrelated lines or products not containing meal. "The decree further enjoins tho Individual defendants from individually or jointly owning fifty per coat, or moro of the voting slock in any corporation oiKwed in the business of manufacturing jobbing, selling, transporting, distributing, or otherwiso dealing in any of the unrelated commodities j or from adopting any dovice or arrangement whicli; by reason'-of-■.-their relation to die corporation defendants or any of them would havo the purpose or effect of "iving to such unrelated lines an adrantife over thoir competitors similar in purpose or effect to any advantage now onjoved by any of tho corporation defendants through their distributing system " , . • ~ "Tho decree further enjoins the corporation defendants and eaoh of them, from engaging either directly-or indirectly in the United States in tho business of buying, collecting, (telling, transporting, distributing, or otherwise dealing in fresh milk and cream. "The Bill provides that immediately

upon the entry of the decree the defendants shall commence to dispose of such commodities owned or handled by them a-3 have been herein, described, and shall commence to divest themselves of all interests in firms, corporations, and associations dealing in any of the so-call-'d 'unrelated commodities,' and shall continue in good faith to dispose of said commodities and to divest themselves of

said interests as rapidly as may bo consistent with the nature of the business and the seasonal nature, of the merchan-

dise, involveil; that, in 1 fact, they shall have- completely--disposed of said commodities nnd completely divested themselves of these interests within two years from th* date of the entry of this decree. The, Attornoy-Gtncrnl may apply to .the Court at any time within said two years to compel tho defendants, 01" eny of thctin, to make report to th* Court its to tho progress being made by the defendants in. divesting themselves of said interests. A PERPETUAL INJUNCTION. "The'decree further, places all. of tho defendants under a perpetual injunction and the danger of punishment for contempt for failure to obey the same, from engaging in any illegal trade practices of any nature in relation to the conduct of any business'in whioh they or any of them may be engaged. . ■~.,. "The decree will further provide that •nothing- therein contained.shall be held to preclude the-Government from wo-1 reeding naninst any or all of tlife defen- ■ slants, either civilly.or criminally, tor •any violation of any. law m connection J with the earning on of the. business pt buying and selling poultry, .buttjr.cheese, «, and milk. It did not seem just, in view- of tho percentage of control and m view of the present freedom of ths markets, for the Government to insist that the defendants should cease dealing at the present time in eggs, butter, poultry, and cheese; but the tWninent is .eft free at any lime it. feels the conditions

warrant to take the question of these allied refrigerated foods before the is retained by the Court •for tho purpose of taking*such.other ncti n or adding at .the. foot of. the decre Buel other relief, if any, as may become necessary or nppropriat/for the carryi« U and enforcement of this decree and for the pnrpoq. of «f ?t «nj time heft-after any application which I parties may make with respect to .he decree. SUMMED UP. "In. general, this decree prevents the defendants' from exercising any further control over the marketing ot live stock. It for ever prevents them from any control ov|;r the retailing of meat products. It eliminates them from- the held of meat substitutes, with the exception ot butter, poultry, and cheese, which nip lilt for future consideration and .appropriate action; and. therefore, the price ot meat is within- thle control of the peopie themselves." It pl««« tn !r conduct of these great aggregations of capita immediar.lv under thfe eyes of a Federal Court wilti reference "to their, business practices. But, (rreater than all, it establishes the principle that no group ot men, no matter how powerful can eye. attempt to control tho food table ot the American people, or any one of the necessities or component parts of it. ino i»ipnrtment of Justice, having in mind I necessities and interims of the whole American people, in this critical recon stniction period, feels that by insist "J upon this surrender on tho part ot the nicking interests it has weompl.s i,orß for the American people .than co .Id have- been hoped for a* the result ot n long-drawn nut legal 'Uittlc.