Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 152, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 July 1918 — Page 4 Advertisements Column 1 [ADVERTISEMENT]

Are the Packers Profiteers? ■ ■ -- . - - - - - -- ; ■- ■ ' Plain Facts About the Meat Business

The Federal Trade Commission in its recent report on war profits, stated that the five large meat packers have been profiteering and that they have a monopoly of the market. These conclusions, if fair and just, are matters of serious concern not only to those engaged in ; the meat packing business but to every other citizen of our country. The figures given on profits are misleading and the statement that the packers have a monopoly is unsupported by the facts. The packers mentioned in the report stand ready to prove their profits reasonable and necessary. * * * * The meat business is one of the largest American industries. Any citizen who would familiarize himself with its details must be prepared for large totals. The report states that the aggregate profits of four large packers were $ 140,000,000 for the three war years. This sum is compared with $19,000,000 as the average annual profit for the three years before the war, making it appear that the war profit was $121,000,000 greater than the pre-war profit. This compares a three-year profit with a one-year profit-a manifestly unfair method of comparison. It is not only misleading, but the Federal Trade Commission apparently has made a mistake in the figures themselves. * * * * The aggregate three-year profit of $140,000,000 was earned on sales of over four and a half billion dollars. It means about three cents on each dollar of sales-or a mere fraction of a cent per pound of product. Packers’ profits are a negligible factor in prices of live stock and meats. No other large business is conducted upon such small margins of profit. * * * * Furthermore-and this is very important-only a small portion of this profit has been paid in dividends. The balance has been put back into the business. It had to be, as you realize when you consider the problems the packers have had to solve-and solve quickly-during these war years. To conduct this business in war times, with higher costs and the necessity of paying two or three times the former prices for live stock, has required the use of two or three times the ordinary amount of working capital. The additional profit