Greg Ganske: “Well, Teddy Roosevelt was known as the trust buster, and what we were dealing with at that time was the big oil and the…”

“Well, Teddy Roosevelt was known as the trust buster, and what we were dealing with at that time was the big oil and the railroads. Probably one of the great books in American literature on capitalism is a book by the name of the ``Octopus,'' and I would encourage all our colleagues to read that book because that book dealt with the iron grip that the railroads had over our agricultural communities at that time. The average farmer there was the victim of a monopoly most of the time in those areas. Take it or leave it; this is our freight rate, and they had no choice. It required the hand of government to come in and act as an equalizing force so that, in effect, competition could flourish and that we could see some justice in the economic markets. I am afraid that we are heading, with the continued concentration in the food industry, and particularly the meat packing industry, in that same direction.”