The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1869-07-29
The Chicago Fish SWindle.

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the following: -
The exposure of the rascalities practic-
ed in the Chicago fish market was not
made an hour too soon. if we may judge
from the following extract from the Ra-
cine 1dC0cate:: d. s.
DoN'T Buy FISH THAT Is PUT UP IN
CHICAGO. I'VE would suggest to our
dealers, and also to housekeerers, that it
is not safe to buy fish in bulk that is put
up and inspected in Chicago. We have
been informed by dealer in this city
that he weighed kit that was warranted
to him to contain % pounds, and 1t con
tanned only l3 pounds, which, we think,
is rather to much of shave on SO small
lot If dealers III fish are given to that
kind of-swindiing, it may not be confined
to that trade alone, and those doing bust
ness III Chicago should see that they get
jist what hey contract for, or else go
elsewhere to buy their goods, so that
they may get what they pay for.
Such dishonesty as exists IN the tsh
market, defrauding Customers out 0ffr0m
lie to 40 per cent. Of the weights they
should receive, and imposing No. , fish
upon them as No. ! cannot fail to exer-
else a most damaging influence upon the
general trade Of the city, and any city
which will tolerate such swindling leserv
es 10 suffer n lis trade. Some Of the fish
Gen claim that they put up these short
weight and wrong nun! bercd packages on
orders received from grocery merchants,
and that they sell them at 50 much per
pound, and consequently they are not TO
blame. As we stated In 4 previous article,
these orders for short weight packages
Have sometimes beer made, but we hap
pen to know that all the short weight
packages put up by the fish men were
not packed on orders, and were not all
sold at so much per pound en- true
WEIGHTS, or disposed of only to persons
who knew ard understood their true
character a quartcr-barrel Of white
FISH is commercial expression which
has no indefinite meaning, and no one, IN
Purchasing, will ask how many pounds it
contains. for the law expressly states that
a quarter barrel shall contain 80 pounds.
It has been the general custom Of these
fish men to repack the fish into quarter
barrels containing only about 40 pounds,
and these short weight packages have
been sold by them indiscriminately, to
grocers and private individuals, without
anything being said about Their being de-
fcient in weight They are not sold by
/ the pound, but by the package. But sup
posing it was true, as some of the fish
men claim, that they have only put up
short weights as some grocer has given an
order to that effect, we do not see how
t it would justify or excuse the fish deal
T ers. They, according to this showing,
have aided the grocers in giving such Or
ders to detraud their customers, and
their dishonesty is equal. Any fish deal
or who would execute such an order de-
serves to be sent to the nenctentiary, to-
eether with the grocer who sent it and
we. should not be at all surprised if the
grand jury which assemblies were to in
diet number of them for the swinding
practices OF which they have been guilty.
The fish Inspector who knew or must
have known, of these frauds, and who sold
| the use of his brand to the fish dealers,
to enable them to successfully swindlc
the public, should be dismissed from. of
fee at once, and held to the most strict
legal responsibility, whatever it may be.
for his gross malfeasance Something
should be done to show that the mer-
chants OF Chicago Go not coultcnance
this swindting, ana robbery, and nothing
but vigorous prosecution Of all who
have been engaged in it will suffice to
stamp this infamy as it deserves to be
stamped. The reputation of the city Is,
in a measure, at stake, and the conse-
quences OF this dishonesty attaches to
every person engaged in trade here, and
the most rigorous measures should be at
once Instituted, to show that the current
of commerce will be kept pure, and
those who are guilty Of fraud and dccep-
ton punished. The plainest provisions
ofthe law have been violated, and 1t
would seem asif eherc was some other
penalty for the confidence men than a
Aealy-nouthed expression OF their dis
honest trickerv. in which no names be
ing nlentianad, the innocent are confound-
ell with the guilty. Wisconsin,.