Jasper Weekly Courier, Volume 47, Number 29, Jasper, Dubois County, 31 March 1905 — Page 3

THE OPERATIONS OF THE PACKING COMBINE CONDITIONS THAT HAVE MADE ITS REMARKABLE GROWTH POSSIBLE.

PART OF THE REFRIGERATOR CAR LINES.

H vimblc This

Beginnings of the Men the Largest of American tries- Their Interesting Personalities.

Who Bvjilt Indus-

o.'n

June 24 IMS. th re b--n .. i

pn ap . 1 1 1 u " . in id but 10 11 vi t tit-1 an lift- of a Tanner Mich as his Tal and hi father father had been grubbed amongs be stumps ami

BY CAMERON LANDON.

-- is T-'ge from the Aral i.i t, tab s, with Aladdin uutdune, the ,i I in i is- of the Armours, tbe

and the Cudahys -the Armours Ii. farm barn yanl mar BtOOk N Y . the Swifts front the killing f a butcher shop in Harnstablc. the Cudahys f nun t h- -ai Im.uan in c.ninty Kilkenny, in Ireto the height of an ability to ort an industrial combine wnh.ap itiun f f 800,000 1 - than half a century lias sen the native poverty af tin- bod trust atei transformed to an opulence id the tin am of king or GOwJtJef of hi y ago. Um packing industry in Chica- ! ib h the giant intellects Ol GusF Swift, now dead, of l'hilip 1 ir no dead ami of Mi bael Cudiave developed to the industrial u-.th of the present, had it- small i.ing in the slaughter of IIS head A Billion-Dollar Busir.es-. 1 . 4 th-product of the beef trust nted to over a billion dollars. In I .. .umbination slaughn r-.i f ad of cattle. well laid were the plan- of the i of this monopoly that it baa d a momentum beyond the power hi ads to control, the ever growing n of us immense profits pour- la th" Im f ttust from soun i win. h r. siMless that the downfall of lard oil awfawasac) among trusta - i . rtain. Founders of the Staat. - a tribute well earned by Gustavus rift and Philip I Armour to say a. re the founders Of the present mihine ; that Michael Cudahy was rful aide-de-campand that Nelson - i.eorge H Mammon! and others t'udahy brothers hal been able

'v. c ' v' cutTW& Sum

no roher He the

tones and fought with natur' for a meag-r e rop until he wa ars old. Then lie moved to Marnsteble full of .nfbb nce that the ablllt he bal shown in buyibg and selling cattle, ami swapping horses would yield him a better living than be could cxpeel from farming in New Knglaud lb- bought cattle a'. It itii-'ai!e. LiaduaHy hram hing out io Brtghtoai anl Watertown. and later to Albany In 1 s.'. In- dis. overed t hr wa.more money in western cattle, then he move ! tn Hrightoii. thence to Clinton, in Massachusetts. His dealings bad lata small, and his fb Id had been limitel when he moved to Chicago in 1875 Neither ha MM anyone else gu-ssel his latent genial for large affairs, for organizing and "instructing, w hich in a very few year in Chi ago had become conspicuous by grow th of business until his reputation was national. Philip 1 Armour w ho started life as a bin be and barefooted country boy in N-w fork state. went to Milwaukee w hen lie took Horace Greelev s advice to

111 matters for proof Even J. Orden I clung with the tenacity of an lnvntor ' fruit and vejretabl.s for the tab tee rinoiir declared he did not know bow and upon which he staked hi all. t he A merit at. p .pic up 1 " to Zo per ce

still

nun Ii they were, and hia stui- nu nt is not uue.-t;oned. Present Leaders of the Beef Trust. Whatever may be said in denunciation of tb s -ten, of the be f trust, no charges are male of la k of integrity, or t rut hf illness, or of immorality against I Ogdeu Aimoiir. Tl. "j,. rations of taa tnis have impoverished farmers and stockmen, have broken banks, have precipitated strikes, ami have caused suiids, have ruined town- and in - but the personality of J Ogd n Armour is (hat of an interesting, manly and fine type of American manhood. At his suggest ion railroads may dismiss the general manager and commission merchants may Le blacklisted and ruined, for the beef trust is insat iable and remorseless, but J. Ogden Armour is respected an! cordially liked by the employ who know him. and although he is hated in Wall street among his friend and business associations, and fellow members of his clubs, he is popular and a companion eagerly sought for. Le ss is known of th- head of the Swift & Co corporation than of the Armours. b au.-e Liui- y Sw.f s home ha.- al-

We have said that ;tsiavus Swift left the cattle ajrtal business in iiiigbton and ot Ii i Ma - -ai huset 's towns wh n he iis over d how supe rior western attle w re over those of the east , and boar mu h more money th re was for h'u in lealing in westerns. Although he later gave evidence of the innate genius for organization and money making, he had not up to his removal to Chicago been successful except In a very small way I t most frugality and Incessant attention to business had given him a slenler bank account The First Refrigerator Cara. Nelson Morris, who was rated as one of the ' cattle kings'' in the C hicago van! even then, hail been experimenting with the shipment of meats in box c ars packed with ice These experiments hfl! Ik en vrv crml. urnl not ntlrelv

satisfa Urn to Morris, but Sw ift had : W(""'1 ,H a Krt'aI biK lntome wn ,he

Of

cnt.

in cost Railroads Held Up. It i Um Of MIlBlp nl he meat business of the country which enables the I t trust the favoretl few lo dictate te I aa railroads and make them pay for the use of the t ars ami act u.- agenu for the car line owners in hoMini; up the shippan of freight for the mileage of threequarters of a cent a mile east of Chicago. ex ept in Canada w In re it is one cent, and one nt a mile west of Chicago. The railroads dare not protest, for when th. d. t he I f trust says in a menacing voite that ii will give the protesting railroad no more of its freight. The tonnage shipped by the beef trust is enoromus and no railroad dares contemplate getting jiit of the good graces of such a shipper One can easily aee that with ,"4 ,000 cars traveling the Iron highways of the country daily the mile-

for the fruits of California because the beef tru.-t own- t,- refrigerator cars necessary t move that fruit It names the price for the jttin growe r of the south at which he may sell his product because the cotton grower la depeaJent on Ike beef trust for fertilizer for his plantation or his ten acre field. The fruit powers of New York state and of T ..i of Colorado ami of Cuba look to Chi. ago for the figures by whbhtodeterastee tax ir prices, ami by the re frigerator car rates hundreds Of producers have been uia!' am! hundreds have been ruined. Public at Its Mercy. The most serious hlow to the industries of the Amen an people Lies in the ability of ÜM beef trust to fix th- prioef of the produc t- of the ranchman ami t h" farni'T tbrottglMKII every state and territory of the Uulted States, the price of hots cattle and sheep, ami consequently the pric e of wheat i urn and oats. This blw is aimed at every hoaM anl every men hant of UM hamb t- towns aad cities fm the.. id tejraof eoaapatl tion ha..- been ralaffatai to th- iast by the big packing interests. The e?mpfre of iae gr. at Chicago combine .!- taa tili law aad has ttte public at its mercy At v.ry turn of Ike wheel it ltovvs stronger and greater, more insidlowa and gsore far-reachlaK. The beef trust owns steam and electric railroads, it owns Caeteoriee, stskards. mills, warehouses, elevators and the strtemer.t waa tweefltty made that it also owned !iticiaus. legislators and cougr ssmen Colossal Achievements. Swift Hros V C established its main slaughter house in Chi ago. and e stablished branch houses in New York. Pennsylvania. ODsMMCtlcal N w Hamp--hir. Tl. annua! btisir. s.- of Swift & ('. when th.e combine is said to have

PhLP D AiVMOt?

Itaata The great advantage of the combine over the independent packers like that of the Stamlaril Oil om puny rd.ate from railroads which gave thni immense profits when others were I lag bwataeua at a loss. The grip of th U-ef trust is uMn so many more pet)le an, I .Hani. !, ihrw tnoala Iter tlav

.f n .., .u c.n.iar.i i,i. c until 1"" h men had seen

Oil moire I. likelv to be outdone unless ' suit- of their achievements in tnammotr.

organized, was KM0, , am. the value of its capital st k was acMfKad at IT.".1 ,000 H has b an h ill ll I w. h. .11 ..ver the cast and wMJt. anl in

H"i.-" It has na kit u dou-es la

p'.i.i! K.i. a- V S' -b-eph S

and other eitlen. The leath of C.uslavus 1 swift and Phitta D. Arniotir did not take

tne re-

wat h-l them with keen interest. He se emed to have a prophetic vision of th present lay. He could see that if meats ccjuld be shipped east dressed there would be a great savingover the method Of the day. shipping live c attle, " beef on the hoof.' 'He realized ihat the beef business would surely grow and that the ' aooaoasf at the new me thod would mean a great deal of money. He formed a determination whi h later discouragements showed nothing could break to: slice d in shipping dr'ssi d beef About that time an inventor by the name of Tiffany bad invented and patented a re frigerator c ar w hic h promised to be successful. He tried to get backing, and Morris refused it. Gustav us Swift, practically unknown, asked the iailroals to furnish some of those cars and he would furnish the dressed beef flortkeeaat The railroads refused. To build and own such cars would take several thousand dollars, and Swift could not well spare it from his business, which was growing so fast that It kept him cramped for capital His associates in the packing business told him he would "go broke-' if he put any money Into the Tiffany cars, but he risked failure and onsecjiie nt ruin, and plunged in. having three cars built. The railroads were to haul these cars, and Swift had no thought of asking pay for the mileage traveled by his c ars. He was satisfied to have the advantage over competitors of owning and shipping in refrigerated cars Growth of Private Car Line Evil When the trial of the cars had become more than an experiment Swift realized

It was a success an! as fast as be could he had more of them built. Morris, too. and others at the Chicago yards had refrigerator cars construe tel for them Dressed beef could be shipped to eastern points at such a great saving over shipping live cattle that there was a saving to consumers, which stimulated the demand for dressed beef, and a big profit for the packers. The refrigerator cars had come to stay, and Gustavus Swift manage! to maintain the lead ht had se-

investment The ac tual figures, as show n

by interstate commerce retorts. are that these cars earn at least 20 per cent. The Fruit Trust. It is the ownership of t h se refrigerator t ars whtct has given the beef trust right to claim the title of fruit trust also; the fruit business is wholly at its mercy When the fruit shipper of California or Tennessee has a carload of oranges or strawbe rries to ship, he calls for a car, ami by the. terms of the beef tru.-t the railroad cannot do else than semi for a trust car v. Inch rolls dow n from Chicago, earning mileage at every cli- k of the wheels, ami into this car the fruit is loaded. At the destination .he onsignee pays the freight and also the bill of the bet f trust for the mileage, and also another bill for ' ic ing-' the car. When the refrigerator c ars were first used there was no "i ing ' charge made; for Instance for the Mi higan peaches sent to Boston. When the Idea was originated of charging for icing t he charge was fixed at 2o for the trip. Later It was advanced to fJO, and now the icing of a car costs J4Ö. about the same as the freight. There are instances where the charge for icing and for mileage it griatT than the tariff freight. But the railroads are bound to collect the trust's harges. fight to get them, go into courts at the railroads' expense to get them, If need be. The railroals are absolutely mastered by the beef trust, partly for the reason that there are large railroad

interests in the hamis or tne met trust; macnates and they make the other stockholders of the railroads suffer that they may get the rake off. At the Throats of the Railroads. The packT3 have betn at the throats of the railroads since the early eighties, when the Chicago Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad built to Kansas City and Omaha, ami to secure the meat business offered to pay a mileage charge for the use of the packers' refrigerator cars. This was an offer which the other Missouri river railroads had soon to follow, and thus was the mileage "graft ' saddled upon the railroads of the country.

St

.'.otlis

Ikl preeeal federal inquiry and the re- " ' r ' Ision of the I'nlted States supreme court sustaining Judge Grosseup s injunction aaainst trust BMthoai rUBWtta In the enforcement of the laws "f 'he land. wlmI he standard oil company deals In oil and Its products, and its profits are a sjswaaaa to the imlepemlence of the Amerlcan people The trn( goes jifo far more homes and names the ,,', e. not only for the fresh meat, thesalt iieat and the smoked meat for the lar.l ,he glue, the hides the fertilisers, all the p7duct8 of the beef and hog but Uw aiueal,' hut it also fixes the pricee

packing Armour.

plants and ledger ngu-!' m The control of the business Is now In the han.ls of .1 Ojwei who began work for lib faiher

at fl" a wee k as clerk ami w no now is the dominant fa. tor In me eta, grains fruits and dairy products In the tinted States A Chapter of Beginnings. Only Anierb s can furnish examples of suc h pers.nal achievements as th life storbs of Swift. Armour and the Cttda v... i.r.ah. is .lisclosed Sandwich. Mavs

i a small town, and

. .r..i ml home in ar

UM i ncrotitable farm When

Gustav u

there was

Swift s a stony he was

rouas men to go west. A brother. Herman Armour had a grain commission bail nan there, and to this in lMJSthc Industry of hog packing was added. Josph K Armour, the youngc r brother of I'hiiip. was in charge, and it was owing to his failing health that Philip U. moved to Chicago in 1 7". He- had beome familiar with every detail of pork packin, and had himself done all phases of it Ho k in the fifties i hen-was a potter at Cailan. Irelaml by name Patrick Cmla hy. who-" four boys ran barefoot most th" time, and who begg'e for fresh it as a luxury This family of I'atrlel Cud.'hy came to America in the ateerag. vi-h their carpet bags and slepcler pweea la lttf,aas1 settled at Milwaukee Mi.hael Cudahy was old enough lO k chores arouml theslaugh- ., i houw - where his father found rmpiovflteet, and by attending schcxil in apail i . - he acquired a simple education which he always improved upn gier wh. n he had opportunity. When he was If he went to work in a packing house, and at 25 he went into business for himself as a retail butcher Mm Plarkinuton k Armour öftere! him , barge of the ir pa. king plant, which was worth perhaps jr. considerable in those days, a mere bagatelle in thaaa 'lays Of big trusts His success as manager brought out an offer trom I D. Armour in 17:: for Cudahy to become a partner in Armour k Co. He did so an! for 20 years had the practical niftasaacu1 of the stn kyar!s cud of

th-business He was rich, both in mon-

and in g 1 will ol Mr aiiiioui. mm In reputation, when he established the Cudahv Packing company, which was taken inn. the merger at a valuation ot I IT, lUHl.lMN. Ttust Mapnat Live Simple Life. All through their lives both Gusatava- swift and P. I) Armour retained the simple habits of their vouth.of earlyrising and of going to bed early With all their wealth th.-y cared little for sol i. tf and were rarely seen Moth men. t ut particularly Armour, were very ap gehabte by any .f their men. ready In sympathy and prompt to assist in times Of trouble. The business of the Swifts descennPd to Kdward C Swift and L F Swift, but J Ogden Armour, theonly surviving MP of I' 1 Armour. Is the nominal and practical head of the packing Interests, i fjlts Ins father, he is simple In his taste rvn.l without aristocracy or snobbisnaaaa. as genial ami unaffecte.l with an underling as with a head of a depart- i i ment Wha' the profits of the beef trust are cannot be estimated, although OMgJphV M. . I. r of Commerce Gsrfb hl In his report to congress, after investigation or the beef trust, gave them at :'.( rents a heal for every creature killed This did :,,,! take Into consideration the rebates j paid to the railroad, hlch rebates are

THffLDEPStfifr

AS A LWrU VEALf?M 7HAST

w ays been in Boston. He is more reticent and exclusive than J. Ogden Armour Living within a few miles of the birthplace of Gustavus F. Swift, he lives in a mansion which costs a fortune, w hile the farmhouse in which his father was born, which still stands, is small and devoid of all modern comforts. He rides in automobile: his father, as a boy. drove a but her wagon His income and r.sourc?s are like those of an emperor of the east; his father grubbed a meager living from his farm J Ogden Armour has a home on Michigan avenue which cost $12.V'!"H Hi- wife is a beautiful woman, and a society leader, who lakea nni h int rest In outdoor sports and driving, who in an unassuming anl miedest way is liberal in h-r charities. At Oeonomowo Wis . they have a summer home which is said to le one of the most complete in the country in equippage ami comfort Value of the Plants in Combine. Th- following are the figures at which the various packing plants were valued in the consolidation which is called the beef trust: SWT FT ft CO. Capital $ Annual business 2un.noo.tHi Stock value In merger 7". ARMOUR ft CO.

Capital I 2 Annual business 2'0.000,000 Stock value In BBc rger fioopu.itiH' Nff&JKMN MOERII ft CO. Capital $ IjNOJM Annual business 2...HH).0OO BUM k value In merger lli.OOO.UOO CUDAHY c 00 Capiial I MM, Annual business IhJWjWl Stx k value In merger 1. . N 1 ft St.M ks and sec urities repre sent Ing purchase from Hammond ft Co and Omaha Packing company by Armour ft Co T.t.nn m. Value in merger HJH$M Stocks and securities representing purchase from Fowler ft Son Pa -king Co.. the Anglo-Amerban Pro vision company, by Swift A Co s.oooono Value In merger l.",.oe Total capitalization or af trust 2ul.ooo.no Remarkable Display of Oenius.

The story of how the present gigantic power of the beef trust was born and nurture! has its beginning in thechara ter and M r.-iial n hievements of Gus taviis Swift. However much P. I). Armour contributed of sagacity and energetic constructiveness. the present condition of supremacy of the beef trust and of subservience of the railroads, the fruit growers, the farmers and the stock raisers of the Cnlted States would never have come about but for the rawboned. money-loving Yankee Swift the elder. An idea that was his and to which he

T HAS BEEN

cured by his nerve and faith in the experiment The various packers during the seventies found that success Or failure depende.l on whether they had refrigerator cars. They were content to keep within the legitimate advantages and profits of the meat tra!e. but the smaller packers were soon put to death by the big ones who had the refrigerator lines to club them with The fact that the refrigerator cars were first used by the Chicago packing houses Is one of the great r-asons for the great growth of the Chicago livestock ami pa;klng business which centralizes the beef rust of the present at Chic ago This explains the growth of the refrigerator lines until there are in operation 54.000 cars for which every railroad pays mileage, and which the Armours-Swlfts-Cudahys own or control, from which they derive an enormt is n Jal n v.-nue. It is the ownership of theee refrigerator cars which has put the price 0f

Th re was a time when the California Fruit Transportation company was supreme in the California fruit trad" Hut the Armour Interest got a contract with one of the two great fruit shipping houses by promising that house $iu a car rebate on every car of fruit; then the Swifts leought the rival con.-ern. which by reason of the decline of Its business as result of the Armour inroad had gone to smash, and then by a quiet mutual agreement the Sw irts ami Armours had things their own way. The contracts with the railroads require of the roads that they use no other refrigerator cars than those of the beef trust, called by 20 diff-retit names, they require that the cars shall be returned as speedily as possible, and In fact the railroads give the preferenc e to the beef trust cars over their own few refrigerator cars. The minimum loading weight " Is as low as possible, so that the ship- ' ments shall require as many re fi igerator cats aa possible, with consequent la , creaa iu the mileage.