LEGAL AND ECONOMIC QUESTIONS 377 



to send out full loads under ice to distant markets. They own 

 'jheir own branch houses which sell direct to retail stores. Market 

 gluts can thus be avoided by shipping promptly to points of great- 

 est scarcity. Car routes reach towns which are not handled from 

 branch houses. 



(4) Inspection and Grading. The large packing houses make 

 government inspection feasible (Figs. 78 and 79). The govern- 

 ment stamp on meat has come to be looked upon' as a guarantee of 

 the health of the animal. The large-scale business also permits 



FIG. 78. Private chemical laboratory of a big packing house. 



the packer to furnish any consuming market the quality as well as 

 the quantity of meat desired, and at any time desired. 



(5) Side Lines. The facilities for conducting the meat pack- 

 ing business and for distributing it by fast refrigerator car service, 

 through branch houses in all population centers, also enable the 

 packers to handle many side lines with economy of time and money, 

 with mimimum of overhead expense. 



Legal and Economic Questions. The forefathers who drew 

 up the Maryland Constitution of 1776 inserted these words: 



"That monopolies are odious, contrary to the spirit of a free government, 

 and the principles of commerce, and ought not to be suffered." 



