Robber Baron or Captain of Industry

While the issue of either I am to be labeled a robber baron or captain of industry is the
chief topic that is to be addressed, I want to emphasize that there are far more grave problems
affecting the economics of the United States. And such as these problems have faced us, ladies
and gentlemen, so will these problems ends us, however the efforts that I have put into to make a
make a name for myself will not be forgotten for all these issues my company has addressed and
so they will in future generations. The blight that fortune has given this country can only be
paralleled by what I, Michael Cudahy and my family have escaped from in Ireland. My family
have suffered the consequences of mismanagement facilitated by institutions whether it be the
government or a corporation, and I as a captain of the meat packing industry, my company The
Cudahy Packing Company will not let the public down in this hostile jungle of dirty business
practices.
To prove the integrity of my character, I must first tell you the history of my work ethic
and the experience I have garnered across the years in me being involved in the meatpacking
industry. When I was fourteen and my family at that time, living in Milwaukee was very poor, to
support them I left school and worked at an area meat packing factory, Layton and Plankinton.
Over the years of my service there I eventually climbed the ranks up to the position of a private
meat inspector. In that position I learned and evaluated the safety precautions dealt when
handling meats and also the criteria in which meat becomes safe to eat. The Cudahy Packing
company is proud to uphold the levels of inspection that make sure that the meat that is packaged
is safe for human consumption.
The fruits of my beginnings began to blossom when I attracted the attention of a Philip D.
Armour and after making his acquaintance became a partner at his firm, Armour and Co. I gained
quite a bit of experience while working there and in 1890, me and my two brothers, John and
Patrick Cudahy managed to open the Cudahy Packing Company. This institution became
detrimental in this newly developed industry as we began to expand and operate in numerous
cities throughout the West and the North. We started modestly but with our wise intuitions we
remodeled old factories and reorganized distribution for maximum efficiency resulting in the
company doubling in size after a few years.
During my tenure working for the Cudahy Packing Company, I developed interests in
other areas of business that helped to improve facilities in my present company. In recent years I
became one of the chief organizers and President of the North American Transportation and
Trading Company. I was not shy in implicating innovative techniques to the meat packing
industry go so far as to be the first meat packing company to use refrigerated train cars for
expedient shipping to farther areas. Such practices not only helped the industry itself but helped
people who would otherwise go without meat, to have them delivered to their hometown.