The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, July 22, 1918, Page 10

- A A R C SR SR e r&-@ Nonpartisan Leader REPORT of the Federal Trade commission, just made public, verifies even the most extreme statements that have been made concerning big business pirates who are using the war as an excuse to bleed the American people. The commis- sion’s report, which is made to the United States senate, exposes officially the wide- spread war profiteering which has been running rampant in the big industries. While the price of farm products has been lim- ited by the government so that the farmers’ margin of profits, considering the high cost of the things that go into the making of the crop, has been low, profiteering has been running wild in the steel, packing, flour milling, coal, oil and other lines of big business, in many instances in cases where the government has attempted to regulate trade prac- tices and prevent excess profits. Even a glance through the report of the Fed- eral Trade commission shows how inadequate the present excess war profits tax is, and how little of their phenomenal war earnings this tax makes the great industries contribute toward the cost of the war. The report dem- onstrates the necessity of congress taking two important steps at once. First, the excess war profits tax must be-deubled or trebled, raising billions more dollars to help pay the cost of the war; and second, congress must extend and make more strict.-the government regulation of big business, and must pass laws-that will effectively stop further bilking of the American people, during the war, by unscrupulous cap- tains of industry and cold-blooded menopolists. JUST AS THE LEADER HAS ALWAYS SAID Much of the mass of facts produced by the Fed- eral Trade commission to prove its statements con- cerning profiteering, is already famil- iar to the readers of the Leader, which from time to time has pub- lished THE SAME FIGURES THAT THIS OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT REPORT NOW RELIES UPON TO PROVE THE EXISTENCE OF WIDESPREAD AND UNPRINCI- PLED PROFITS WRUNG OUT OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. For in- stance, the Federal Trade commission reports the earnings of the steel trust both before and after the war, and shows the pre-war and present profits of the big packers. THESE FIG- URES HAVE ALL HERETOFORE BEEN PUBLISHED IN THE NON- PARTISAN LEADER. But they are now in-an official report to congress by a government commission. The trade commission’s report cov- ers 21 pages of closely written matter and is signed by the following com- missioners: William B. Colver, chair- man; John Franklin Fort, vice chair- man, and Victor Murdock. While a large--part of the report deals with facts and figures that have already been published through maga- zines like the Leader, despite the ef- forts of the big press to suppress them, much of:the report brings out new evidence of the methods of the industrial .pirates and the results of - their effortito:wring toll out of the _ present world war and sacrifice of the American people, One of the methods by which com- panies under government regulations pad their expense accounts, and thus attempt to conceal their heavy profits, is to pay fabulous salaries, bonuses and commissions to the officers of the company. In this connection, the Fed- eral Trade commission says: “Payment of extraordinary sal- aries and in some instances bo- R A R TS0 SR SRS L S i s oSy You’ve heard about the medical operation call times a person wastes away from lack of blood or anemia. Then the physicians get some full-blooded person to volunteer to give some of his surplus blood to the patient. President Wilson is determined to improve the health of Our War Expense. While Mr. X. S. Profits hasn’t exactly volunteered, he is going to give up some of his red corpuscles to the patient. The operation is called tax- ation of war profits. It is designed to give plenty of. funds for carrying on the war, and to relieve the people from the burden of high prices. T'ear the Mask Off Profiteers Federal Trade Commission Names Conscienceless Corporations Who Are Bleeding the People— The Astounding Figures Revealed to Congress nuses to executives of corporations have been found by the commission during its investiga- tions. An illuminating example of high re- muneration, charged to the expense account, is that given by the American Metal company, " Limited, of New York, the chief dealings of which are in zinc. Appended are the salaries and tantieme (French—an interest, commis- sion or proportional amount) of some of the chief officials: “B. Hochschild, chairman of board of directors .......ce00000...$179,663.36 “C. M. Loeb, president ......... 364,326.73 “Otto Sussman, vice president .. 221,596.04 “J. Loeb, vice president ......... 147,930.69 “Sol Roos, manager St. Louis office 148,530.69 “M. Schott, manager Denver office 136,553.12” In other words, this company paid salaries and commissions to its officers as high as $364,000 a" year, in order to permit the company to add to the “cost” of their products and not to show too great a profit during the war. o Facts and figures concerning profiteering in the oil business have not been given such great circu- lation as in other lines of industries, but under the heading “Petroleum and Its Products,” the Federal Trade commission gives to congress some very -valuable and significant information. In this respect the report says: WHY GASOLINE IS HIGH “The data secured by the Federal Trade ¢ommission for 106 refining companies for the ~first ‘quarter of 1918, supplemented in certain cases by returns for the second six months of 1917, indicate that the average profit in the oil industry is about 21 per cent on the invest- ment. This is a considerable increase over the rate of profits indicated for pre-war years, as the commission’s gasoline report indicates an average profit for the years 1913, 1914 and 1915 of 15 per cent on the investment. In 1917 over 50 per cent of the estimated produc- ' PAGE TEN ed transfusion of blpod. Some- Il o * ) ) tion was produced by companies having a profit of over 20 per cent on the investment. - Rates of profit ranged from losses up to 122 per cent.” In regard to the individual oil companies, the Federal Trade commission gives the following fig- ures: Standard Oil company of Indiana, profit 1914, 14% per cent; profit 1915, 36 per cent; esti- mated profit 1918, 43 per cent. Standard Oil com- pany of Kansas, profit 1914, 1 per cent; profit 1915, 18 per cent; estimated profit 1918, 51 per cent. Standard Oil company of California, profit 1914, 12% per cent; profit 1915, 10% per cent; estimated profit 1918, 26 per cent. Empire Oil Works, loss 1914, 3 per cent; profit 1915, 512 per cent; estimated profit 1918, 70 per cent. Penn-American Refining com- rany, profit 1914, 13 per cent; profit 1915, 12 per cent; estimated profit 1918, 63 per cent. Standard Oil company of Ohio, profit 1914, 14 per cent; profit 1915, 24 per cent; estimated profit 1918, 29 per cent. The Texas Oil company, profit 1914, 13 per cent; profit 1915, 122 per cent; estimated profit 1918, 27 per cent. 4 Profits of other oil companies for 1918 will be as follows, according to the Federal Trade commis- sion: Atlantic Refining company, 30 per cent; Standard Oil company of New Jersey, 18 per cent; Standard Oil company of New York, 13 per cent; Magnolia Petroleum company, 17 per cent; Cosden & Co., 23% per cent; Muskogee Refining company, 26 per cent. In this connection, the Federal Trade commission says: “A survey of the petroleum field shows that the market, when under the control of dominat- ing factors, such as Standard Oil, can be one of huge profits without the device of the high fixed pricec No price for the public has been fixed upon petroleum and its products by the government. Unlike the situation in steel, flour - and coal, there has been as yet no government interference with the law of supply and de- mand, except in the instances of government purchases. Under that law large profits may eventuate through the bidding up of prices by anxious buyers. And, moreover, even in the absence of this ele- ment, prices may be forced up by spreading false and misleading information concerning the condi- tion of supply and demand. Re- ports, for instance, have been circulated that the supply of gas- oline was endangered for the purpose of maintaining the high price of that product and the heavy profits from it. At differ- ent stages of the oil industry dif- ferent products of petroleum have yielded the heavy profits. Kero- sene was once the chief profit producer. Gasoline followed and superceded it as the chief pro- ducer of profits. Enormous -profits - are now being ‘made -in fuel oil, with the advantage to the refiner that the high price of that product meets no popular chal- lenge.. Gasoline is maintained at - its present high price and pro- duces heavy profits for the low- cost refiners.” - THIS IS WHY SHOES COST SO MUCH Much light is thrown on the pack-. ing trust’s methods and profits. The' figures showing the huge profits .of the packers since the war as stated are familiar to every reader of the Leader, as the Leader has been one of the few publications to print them. The way the packers manipu- late, also, the leather market and make huge dividends from that busi- iness is not so familiar. However, the Federal Trade commission exposes the facts. The following is from the official report: “As an indication of earnings - of the big packers in the selling branch of their leather husiness the following is quoted from a let- -