The herald., 1898-12-26
EXCLUSION OF MEATS
DRIVES UNCLE SAMUEL TO
RETALIATE
GOODS COMING FROM GERMANY
Offer Ample Ground for Rejection as
Adulterated or as Being Injurious
to the General Health

Special Correspondence to The Herald.
| WASHINGTON, Dec. 2l-At last the
| United States is to take action in retalia-
tion for the exclusion of its meats and agrl-
cultural products, which has now become
almost the rule in European countries. un-
Gle Sam has been long-sutfering and has ac-
cepted the objections made to his products
as being in good faith and has tried by rigid
inspection to do away with even the slight
est ground for complaint But Germany es-
pecially, and other countries, have increased
their restrictions as we yielded, making
their requirements stricter every year, until
at last it has become certain that it is not
from desire to save their people, but from
desire to unfairly discriminate against
American products that the system has been
adopted.
But it is to end now, or retaliation will
be practised, if the house committee on ag-
ricuture is to have its way in the matter.
The agricultural appropriation bill prepared
by that committee and yesterday reported
by the appropriations committee, contains
the following clause: 1.-The secretary OF ag-
riculture, when he has cause to believe that
articles are being imported from foreign
countries which are dangerous to the health
of the people of the United States, shall
make a request upon the secretary of the
treasury for samples from original packages
of such article for inspection and analysis,
and the secretary of the treasury is hereby
authorized to open such original packages
and deliver specimens to the secretary of
agriculture for the purpose mentioned. The
secretary of the treasury shall refuse deliv-
cry of any goods which the secretary of ag-
riculture reports to have been inspected
and analyzed and found to be adu1tcrated
or otherwise injurious to health"
1t is a curious fact that the countries that
are most rigid in their demands that Amer
lean products shall be absolutely pure are
very careless in their own products. An in
vestigation of German sausages, wines and
sugar has shown the frequent presence OF
deleterious substances German sausages
are especially adulterated, and are often pos
itively unfit for food. German hams are
admitted to be cured with Il preparation
containing 80 per cent boracic acid, most
of which inheres in the finished product.
Yet Germany denounces as poisonous and
excludes American hams that are merely
painted on the outside with the same drug.
Two years ago our experts found that
the German wines so largely imported into
this country were adulterated almost be-
yond belief, and the state department called
Germanys attention to this fact. Since
then only very brief and altogether unsat-
isfactory answer has been received, and
Germany has taken no steps to remedy the
faults reported, while she nevertheless as
sumes to exclude large quantities of Amerl-
can fruits on the ground that they have
zine in them.
1t is a fact, also, that not single in
stance of trichinosis, of which Germany pre-
tends to be so afraid in American meats, has
never been traced to American pork, despite
the efforts of the German government to
find case to justify their assertions, while
within the last few years no ess than nine
teen such cases, most of them fatal, have
been clearly and definitely traced to German
pork. Ps' ~
Recently the agricultural department
went through a series of exhaustive expert
ments to prove beyond the possibility OF
doubt that San Jose scale could not survive
the drying processes applied to whole fruits
in the skin. Experts from Germany and
other European countries were present and
admitted that the question had been set
tied for all time Yet the prohibition of
such fruits has not been suspevled by Ger
many, and will not be as long as the Agra
rian party holds the balance of power there.
In view of all these facts and of many
others, the agricultural and state depart
ments have united in the belief that some
thing ought to be done to- bring Germany
and other countries to their senses and show
that the United States cannot longer be
imposed on with mpunity. Hence the gen
era item in the appropriation bill
1t is learned that there is no commercial
treaty with Germany and that she is not
entitled to claim privileges under the GA
vored nation" clause of such treaties. We
had such a treaty with Prussia, adopted in
1923, but none with the German empire.
In any event, however, matter of police
regulation such as this will strictly be, and
a protection for the health of our people,
is not subject to such clauses. We merely
say in effect to Germany and to all the
world, ''If you exclude our pure foods on
pretense that they are unwholesome, we
shall henceforth exclude your impure foods
because they are actually So"
CRITTEN DEN MARRIOTT.