Are
PACKERS
the
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 state­
ment 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'.
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additional profit makes only a fair return on this, and as
has been stated, the larger portion of the profits earned
has been used to finance huge stocks of goods and to
provide additions and improvements made necessary by
the enormous demands of our Army and Navy and the
Allies.
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If you are a business man you will appreciate the signifi­
cance of these facts. If you are unacquainted with
business, talk this matter over with some business
acquaintance—with your banker, say—and ask him to
compare profits of the packing industry with those of
any other large industry at the present time.
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The meat business is one of the largest American indus­
tries 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.
No evidence is offered by the Federal Trade Commission
in support of the statement that the large packers have a
monopoly. The Commission’s own report shows the
large number and importance of other packers.
The packers mentioned in the statement stand ready to
prove to any fair-minded person that they are in keen
competition with each other, and that they have no power
to manipulate prices.
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.
If this were not true they would not dare to make this
positive statement.
This compares a three-year profit with a one-year profit
—a manifestly unfair method of comparison. It is not
only misleading, but tbe Federal Trade Commission
apparently has made a mistake in the figures themselves.
Furthermore, Government figures show that the five
large packers mentioned in the report account for only
about one-third of the meat business of thé country.
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.
They wish it were possible to interest you in the details
of their business. Of how, for instance, they can sell
dressed beef for less than the cost of the live animal,
owing to utilization of by-products, and of the wonderful
story ot the methods of distribution throughout this
broad land, as well as in other countries.
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.
The five packers mentioned feel justfied in co-operating
with each other to the extent of together presenting this
public statement.
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Furthermore—and this is very important—only a small
jortion of this profit has been paid in dividends. The
lalance has been put back into the businesses. It had to
w, 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 of live stock, nas required the use of two or three
times the ordinary amount of working capital. The
They have been able to do a big job for your Government
in its time of need; they have met all war time demands
promptly and completely and they are willing to trust
their case to the fair-mindedness of the American people
with the facts before them.
Armour and Company
Cudahy Packing Co.
Morris & Company
Swift & Company
Wilson & Company