650 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



pearing- to unjustly advertise these matters. However. I will 

 say that the cases in which the federal court action was involved 

 at Chicago are a matter of record and they can be secured in that 

 manner. I wouldn't like to place the department of agriculture 

 in the position of taking advantage of an opportunity like this 

 to probably, what might be considered, unnecessarily exploiting 

 licensees who are under this war-time authority. While it might 

 be all right, it is about a case of 50-50 per cent that it might 

 not be all right, and I am sure that that kind of attitude on the 

 part of the department of agriculture would at least be subject 

 to some criticism because it would at least appear that the de- 

 partment was taking an undue advantage of its position in these 

 matters. 



Voice : I would like to ask Mr. Bray if this department is the 

 only one that looks after this business of the stock yard? 



Mr. Bray : No, sir ; I believe I made that clear in my state- 

 ment. I tried to, at least. I stated that we have found, and we 

 haven't only found but it is a matter of record in the department 

 of agriculture, and has been for all time, that the live stock ex- 

 changes and other exchanges, whose membership constitute the 

 principal portion, I believe, of the commercial interests — I mean 

 the commercial men — engaged in the business at the stock yards 

 — the middlemen, in other words, are doing all that is within 

 their power to promote honesty among their members. Now, it 

 must be understood that there is a difference in the authority 

 exercised over licensees, if you want to call them such, under the 

 federal authority. There is some difference in the authority and 

 some difference in the possibilities of rendering service to the 

 live stock industry on that account. And there are factors en- 

 gaged in the business at the live stock markets not subservient 

 to the authority of these organizations which they .cannot reach 

 under any circumstances, and for that reason it becomes more 

 apparent that a federal neutral agency existing with particular 

 authority at the stock yards can work in co-operation with these 

 organizations and do much to augment the work that these fac- 

 tors have exercised. 



The Chairman : Mr. Bray, do you think it would have been 

 possible for the live stock exchanges to have discovered these 

 frauds that were being perpetrated on the shippers if the govern- 

 ment hadn't taken over the stock yards and the exchanges under 

 this war measure and put under government supervision as they 

 were? 



