Beef Trust Cases

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BEEF TRUST CASES

BEEF TRUST CASES. In 1902 three large meat packers—Swift, Armour, and Morris—formed the National Packing Company, securing control of packing houses in three cities and prompting a federal antitrust indictment. In 1905 the Supreme Court in Swift and Companyv. United States (196 U.S. 375) upheld the government charges for the most part, but failed to order dissolution of the National Packing Company. Government efforts to break the monopoly did not succeed until 1920, when the packers agreed to dispose of their stockyard interests, their retail meat markets, and the wholesaling of lines not directly related to meat packing.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Himmelberg, Robert F. The Monopoly Issue and Antitrust, 1900–1917. New York: Garland, 1994.

McCraw, Thomas K., ed. Regulation in Perspective. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1982.

R. E.Westmeyer/a. r.

See alsoAntitrust Laws ; Interests ; Meatpacking ; Packers' Agreement ; Sherman Antitrust Act ; Trust-Busting ; Trusts .