The times., 1899-03-08
WEDNESDAY. MARCH s, 1899.
The Testimony Is Sufficient

The people are now free to pay particu-
lar attention to the proceedings before the
Military Court of Enquiry which is inves-
tigatiGg the Alger- -Eagan beef business
There is no question that they will i'm
prove the opportunity Every community
in the land has an interest in the quality
cf the food which is to be furnished to our
soldiers, and what has been done once
with impunity is likely to be done again.
II dishonest contractors find that the in
difference Of the people permits them to
steal Uncle Sans money in time of wdr,
they may naturally conclude that like pee
ulations Will be permitted Indefinitely.
There has already been enough testimo
ny 10 the effect that Ayers beef was not
fit for human beings to eat. It was even
declared that flies would not touch it, and
The army cats are said to have died of it.
When Z man is arrested on the charge OF
poisoning family. and twenty-six wit
ness-s swear that there was poison in the
food which he served out, il does not mat
ter If a thousand other people say that
they detected nothing of the kind. The
twenty-six witnesses are strong enough to
convict him. When surgeon of the army
states that beef was unfit Tor hu-
man consumption, and chemist
analyzes it and finds noxious elements in
il, and twenty-five officers and men of the
army 10 which it was fed state that it was
unwholesome. what more do the people
want? Is it to be supposed that We must
wait till every officer and enlisted man has
testified that the beef was bad or till the
Commissary Department officials them
selves admit it? Seven out of the sixteen
witnesses who have thus far failed to give
positive testimony against that beef were
connected with the department which
served it out.
The men who ate the beef have describ-
ed its appearance in no uncertain terms.
They have used language which sigh Iy
resembles that of the vigorous Eagan, a.
though it could hardly be said that even
the whiskered beef lied in every hair of
its makeup. There was nothing particu-
larly deceptive in its appearance. 1t
neither looked, smelt, nor tasted good.
and those who disregarded the ominous
unwholesOmeness of its aspect found IN
ooursesof time that they were ns wise.
In addition to the testimony which is
given on the witness stand informal tes-
limuny is coming in from every part Of
the country. 4 man who was a foreman
in the Chicago stock yards for years re
Gently told an uncanny tale Of the methods
used in canning that beef. Cns OF the
boys in the volunteer regiments happened
10 scrape the red paint off a meat can
one day. and discovered a little paper
label which signifed that the contents
were put up in 1856. That would make
the meat just twelve years cd and "a
though meat put up in cans is, of course
supposed to keep for a considerable length
OF time, the chances of canned meat
twelve years old. subjected to the blazing
r. heat OF a Cuban summer, proving whole
some are very, very small.
In short, from all appearances it would
seem that the beef contractors gathered
together a motley collection Of goods
which had been in stock for years, and
added to it cans full of scraps and refuse
OF meat hastily collected after the first
class beef extracts and timed beef hal
been put up for the market This stuii
they paimed of on the Government for the
soldiers use in Cuba. 1t was cheap !or
them, but is that the sort of transaction
we are TO permit under the name of legi-
innate business? Let the people consider
this matter as they would consider any
other criminal transaction which involved
the life and health OF their sons ard
brothers. Are We to allow army contracts
in future to be filled in the way that best
suits Iapacious contractors. or are We TO
insist on honesty in this and every other
department of the army?