MISCELLANEOUS PROBLEMS 387 



destroy the power of the strong leader, but it does satisfy that 

 inexorable and eternal demand for a responsible government. 

 The cherished belief in the " consent of the governed" must 

 be honored. 



A " solution" of the packing house problem that would substi- 

 tute a bureaucratic government ownership for the initiative and 

 enterprise of private ownership would be too costly a remedy to 

 deserve serious consideration. It would inevitably result in poorer 

 service at greater cost. The solution proposed above, however, 

 would go far towards preserving all the good in the present system 

 and eliminating its evils. Government control by licensing, by 

 commissions or other administrative bodies would likely prove in 

 the future, as it has in the past, wherever tried, too narrowly 

 bureaucratic or too political. Such a " remedy" would be worse 

 than the disease. 



" Dissolution " of the Big Five Packers. Under pressure of 

 public opinion, the large packers began negotiations with the 

 Federal Department of Justice, which led, in December, 1919, to a 

 compromise solution, for the time, of the major points in dispute. 

 A voluntary agreement was reached, the same to be made the 

 subject of a " consent decree," which had for its main purpose 

 the divorce of the packers from many side lines and subsidiary 

 businesses. Under this agreement the packers were allowed two 

 years to sell their stockyard holdings, their market newspaper 

 interests, their cold-storage warehouses not used in the meat busi- 

 ness, to quit the retail meat business, to drop various side lines, 

 including groceries, fish, vegetables, fruits, molasses, honey, jams, 

 jellies, preserves, ices, sauces, relishes, coffee, tea, chocolate, cocoa, 

 milk, flour, sugar, rice, bread, crackers, biscuits, spaghetti, vermi- 

 celli, macaroni, cigars, china, furniture, .etc." They were allowed 

 two years to dispose of all branch houses, route cars, and automo- 

 bile trucks not used in their own meat and dairy products business. 

 Eggs, butter, poultry and cheese remain as side lines. The Attor- 

 ney General of the United States announced this voluntary agree- 

 ment to be a " victory" for the government, since, under it, "the 

 price of meat is within the control of the people themselves." The 

 public has already seen more than one "trust "dissolved by the 

 government, and hence will wait for time to show whether this 

 "dissolution" will lower the cost or improve the quality of meat 

 on the consumer's table. 



Miscellaneous Problems. (1) Cooperative Packing Houses. 

 Cooperative meat packing houses have been tried in the Middle 



