The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, October 7, 1918, Page 9

LR ) ¢ longer unless: something can’ be TS 4 W 3 that"said Dunn County Council of Defense call, and i reby does ¢€all, -upon all local councils of the county and atllh:lem- bers of such defense councils and all other loyal citizens to discourage by all honorable means, during the existence of :enizw;;' té;: ozgat:;xfiion 'fi, ngétatioin for tthe purpose of or- X o ching e doctrines o league within 'Dunn county., ° o 3 e Be it further resolved, that a copy- of these resolutio be -mailed by the secretary to the chairman of every defenl;: council in Dunn county, accompanied by a request that the local defense council of which he is chairman ratify this resolution, and take such action toward the carrying out of its purpose as shall seem best to such local defense council. Be it further resolved, that a copy of these resolutions be sent to the clerk of every school distritt in Dunn county, accompanied by a request that all schoal officers aid in car- rying out the purpose of these resolutions, and particularly they forbid and prohibit the use of the schoolhouses under their - jurisdiction by said Nonpartisan league or-—its repre- sentatives during the existence of the war. Be it further resolved, that a copy of these resolutions . be sent by the secretary to the captain of each school district in Dunn county, accompanied by a -request that such captain and his lieutenants aid in all honorable means in carrying out the purpose of these resolutions. And, be it further resolved, that a copy of these resolutions be forwarded to every county council of defense in Wiscon- sin, with a recommendation that action similar to the above be taken by each of them, and further, that a copy of the same be. furnished for pubdlication in Forward, the organ of the state council of defense, and to all papers in Dunn county. Wherein the activities of the organized farmers are or have been interfering with the prosecution of the war, the council of defense does not state. 'Wherein the Nonpartisan league is dividing the citizens into classes in a way that will hinder the prosecution of the war, the council of defense does not staté. Wherein the teachings of the Nonpar- tisan league tend to incite class hatred and dis- trust, the council of defense does not state. However, in answer to these absurd and ridicu- . lous charges, it is only necessary to say that the Nonpartisan league, since the start of the war, has devoted its ‘entire strength of organization to help win the war. County Council of Defense is absolutely destroyed when the facts concerning North Dakota are stated. Nearly every farmer in North Dakota be- longs to the League, and farmers constitute 80 per cent of all the people. The state-is_governed by a governor and administration elected' by the League, and its laws are made by a legislature elected by the League. North Dakota is second to no state in war activities. It has doubled or trebled every Liberty loan quota. It holds some of the best records in the United States for sub- scriptions to the Red Cross. The state has pro- duced record war crops. What has the Dunn County Council of Defense to say to this? As to the charge that the Nonpartisan league will stir up class hatred and destroy the: efficiency of Dunn county in the war, no more ridiculous as- sertion could possibly have been made. Does it stir up class hatred when the farmers organize, but does not stir up class hatred when lawyers, The “argument” of the Dunn - doctors or bankers organize? Have lawyers, bank- ers or doctors abandoned organization during the war? What is the difference? The real .force that is stirring up class hatred in Dunn county, Wis., is the Dunn County Council of Defense, which seeks to prevent, contrary to the laws and consti- tuticn, the citizens of the county organizing and co-operating together politically and economically. Has labor abandoned organization during the " war? No! In fact, the United States government has announced a war labor policy encouraging -and protecting workingmen in efforts to organize dur- ing the war. When the Minnesota state govern- ment recently attempted to prevent the organi- zation of new labor unions during the war, the governor of Minnesota was promptly challenged . by the president’s war labor board, as such a pol- icy is contrary to the United States government’s policy. What have the Wisconsin patrioteers to say to that? B All efforts by misinformed, misled or intention- ally vicious councils of defense to deprive citizens of their rights is what is stirring up class hatred in America today, moreé than anything else. The farmers of Dunn county have a right to organize and they will organize, as well as farmers of other counties of Wisconsin and of other states in -America. . More Revelations of Packers’ Methods How They Control Other Lines—Joint F unds Maintained by the Big Five—Methods and Results of the Combination . BY THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION tionships among the big pack- ers are by no means confined to the purchase of livestock and the sale of meats. Here, for example, are extracts from a few letters taken from the files of the Néenah Cheese & SERT Cold Storage company, one of the subsidiaries of Armour & Co., which neglected to “comb” its files before the visit of the commis- sion’s agents, These extracts, more or less typ- ical of a ‘hundred or more letters in the commis- sion’s possession, reveal how closely the American cheese market is controlled. ; This control- of the cheese market is of par- ticular interest in view of the enormous hoarding of this food indicated by a letter, dated November 4, 1917, from C. E. Blodgett (who, with Armour, owns the C. E. Blodgett Cheese, Butter & Egg company) to-I. F. Laing of the Neenah another Armour concern: 3 You and I both know that there are enough twins (a form of American cheese) in storage in the United States, if England doesn’t come back and buy of us, to last'for the next two years to come. On June 380, 1916, J. W. Brown (raanager of the butter, egg and poultry department of Armour & Co.) wrote to 1. F. Laing: Your Mr. Nesbit at Spring Green raised the market to . 14% on cheese. Don’t you think this is very bad work? How do you expect we can influence the people at Plymouth (the principal cheese board) to hold the market at 143 cents if you raise the figures? Wish you would tell ‘this gentleman that he must not do this, because our interests elsewhere are so great\that we can not afford to raise the market: on ourselves, and Plymouth will certainly. go up if you bid over the Plymouth prices on other boards. =They all seem fo be worked up about this.~ Rélations between the ‘big packers in the cheese market are ‘well shown by the follow- ing. Tetters: . Marshfield, Wis., July 8, 1916. J. W. Brown, ¥ -xxi?Amonr & Co., Chicago, ‘Dear::Mr. Brown: Referring to ‘your wire of even date in re-. . gard to getting the market down at' Plymouth. I doubt very much if ‘this ean be done. I have had this -up with Plymouth and She- boygan -(two’ big .cheese boards) - - .~this week, and again teday. ‘Al- ~ 1 so, talked with Mr. Pauly”(Pauly & Pnul{. Swift. buys four-fifths of sales) about it, and they com- plain bitterly about what Blanke is doing down in that section; about ‘going out to the factories, and paying premiums for cheese .~ and claiming that the dealers are all sore about it, and they can’t - : them, although they- have agreed ' with me to put the mar-. ket down a quarter of a cent, if it’s ' possible, but 1. tell you one - ‘thing, Mr. Brown, I can’t handle these - people down ' there any - don¢ to’ keep Blapke from antag- onizing them the way#he is,” and ~‘you are the only man that can . ~handle this. am ~doing . the ‘very 1 can, and sending a : carioad 'of cheese down there a .. - ~week, to be distributed among the ' * - broki to: keep th arket “in ers,. ' market - of the mono company,. HE agreements and close rela- sential to prosperous American farming. lineil and it’s costing me a hundred dollars a week to do it, but I can’t do it without some help from you. Yours truly, C. E. BLODGETT CHEESE, BUTTER & EGG CO., (Signed) C. E. Blodgett. (This letter had shorthand annotations, which stenoge * rapher in office could not decipher.) p July 11, 1916. Mr. I, F. Laing, 2l Care Neenah Cheese & Cold Storage Co., 126 W. South Water St., Chicago, Il Dear Sir: Please note Mr. Blodgett's letter ‘attached. If this man Blanke is causing all this trouble I wish you would put a muzzle on him. We must keep down the markets if possible when we are accumulating these big stocks. Let me hear from you, please. ' Yours very truly, 4 z ARMOUR & COMPANY, JWB—R (Signed) J. W. Brown. It is certain that by no means all the agreements in effect between the big packers came to the. at-.: tention of the commission. - Thus, for ‘example, we have evidence of an agreement on lard com- pound, which was made at the time the commis- sion’s investigation was being vigorously pressed and came to light only by chance. ; Letter, Armour & Co. to H. G. Sharpnack (Ar- mour’s branch house superintendent at Pittsburg), dated January 24, 1918: . It’s alwhys been~our understanding that if our organi- zation ‘had‘the same price as the other fellow, that’s all they need. This is certainly a fact on Substitute since January 14th, and we will be very much surprised if your territory does not triple its business each month. We do not recall hdving such an opportunity in the history of e firm, and if this practice is maintained, it’s a pretty safe bet we will get our share, This ‘was followed on January 28, 1918, by a cir- cular from H. G. Sharpnack to all managers giv- ing the following instructions: .- < Please give this compound all attention possible. Every- body’s.price must be. the same as yours. If you find any Profitable cattle raising, as the report of the federal trade .eomn;ission pb_intd-,—nnt,, is es- g. But it is profitable only in small spots because poly domination of ‘the market. for beef egttle :qu dairy. products. PAGE NINE = deviafion 'make doubly sure that you are right by seeing the bill, noting the date of same, quantity sold and the price and let me have it. This so pleased Armour & Co: that on January - 80, 1918, L. L. Whelan of Armour’s lard depart-- ment wrote Sharpnack: 4 Very glad to note your co-operation on White éloud as per, your circular to houses dated the 28th, In this connection, however, it occurs to us that we shounld not make any noise about competitors’ prices being identical, etc. Under present conditions this is not advisable, as you are undoubtedly aware. Also you might destroy this letter on the subject. = : T Evidence of other agreements might:be quoted at length and they will appear in the report. The quotations already made: ‘would :seggjn»to answer affirmatively the president’s question:- “Are there manipulators, controls, "trusts, com- ’binations, conspiracies or restraints of “trade out "of "harmony with the law or the:public-interest?” SLUSH FUNDS ON PERCENTAGE BASIS Further evidence of the existence of a conspir- acy among the five big packers'was:found in'the vault of ‘Henry Veeder, in the form of documents relating to funds maintained by the big packers and oleomargarine manufacturers, primarily for the purpose of protecting themselves from punishment -for: the divers practices. already. described in- part. These joint funds, as will be shown in one of the sections of the report, were used: To employ lobbyists and pay their unaudited expenses; : To influence legislative bodies; : To elect candidates who would wink at viola- tions of law, and defeat those pledged to fair en- "~ forcement; 2 X . To control tax officials and thereby evade just taxation; To secure modifications of .governmental rules and regu- lations by devious and im- proper methods; To bias public opinion by through advertising, loans and subsidies, and by the publica- tion and -distribution at large ‘expense of false and mislead- ing statements. Henry Veeder, the manager of the Veeder pools of the 90s, paymaster. of these joint funds, and his: office is the clearing house through = which . the money. passes and to which . .reports -are sent. Although 000, Veeder claims that he vyshow, specifically to whom ‘a the control of editorial policy .is. the ' assessor, collector. and .single ‘assessments for these “ 2 . funds range’ as high as $60,- keeps no books showing -the -disposition:. of these large sums of money, but the many « | ‘letters mow in our possession’ | SRR e