The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-02-20
Senate Will Not Pass Food Bill
 This Session
SECRE IARY WILSON TALKS
Says Legislation is Needed and Hopes 1t VIII Be Enacted By Fifty ninth congress-Shippers
 are Uneasy.
BY PATTERSON sTEALEY.

Washington, February 19.-tSpecial.)- All expectation that the Senate will pass the pure food Dill at this session mas been substantially abandoned. In a hnal effort to secure action a delegation call ed on President Roosevelt last week and suggested that he send a special mes sage to Congress on this subject The President is reported to have assured the members of the delegation that he sympathized with the movement to se- cure pure food legislation, but there the matter ended. From information se- cured in administration circles it does not appear probable that any effort will be made by the administration toward securing this legislation at this time.
 Ut Is my opinion" said Secretary of Agriculture Wilson. in discussing this matter, that there will be no legisla- ton on the subject of pure food by the present Congress. There is no time now to take up this important matter. But very few days remain before the expira- tion of this Congress and the majority of the appropriation bills are yet to be acted upon. Some of these will be debat- l ed at considerable length and the Senate l has also the Impeachment proceedings against Judge swayne, so that under the most favorable circumstances I can see no opportunity for it to devote the time to a discussion of pure food legislation That there Is need of pure food legis- lation," he continued mo one conver- sant with the subject can deny I hope and expect to see such law enacted by the Fifty-ninth Congress-
 Robbins Very Frank.
 l George B. Robbins president of the Armour Car LInes who will appear be- fore a subcommittee of the House com mittee on interstate commerce tomorrow, stated today that should Congress enact legislation which would result in reduc- ing their refrigeration charges to any ex- tent or to an unpro1table basis. his com pany would withdraw from the business. MT. Robbins was very frank about the matter. We are in business to make a 1 fair profit" he said Tn making our charges We estimate the expense of hand ling ths business and add fair percent age for profits. Notwithstanding the enormous sums it has been alleged we have made from this business every dol
 
 l the car lines and enormous sums besides have been invested in constructing ad- 1 ditional and improved cars; In increasing | our Ice facilities by the erection of ice houses and the construction of ice mak- 1 ing plants; and, In every way. in giving | more improved service. Simultaneous ly as the business has grown, we have been reducing our charges until today we give a much better service for less money than ever before. No one will | deny that the Improvements In refriger- ator cars and the handling thereof has been almost entirely responsible for the tremendous growth of the fruit industry | of the United States In the past ten years. If Congress should so legisIate that we will be unable to earn fair re- turn on our investment We will be com i pelled to go out of business turn our attention and devote our capital to other l return to the conditions which prevailed ten years ago."
 MT. Robbins will be followed by Mir. A. R. Urion. general counsel of the Ar mour Car Line company who will dis cuss the many new questions of interest as to the regulation or abolshng of prl- vate car lines. It Is contended by all the private car lines that they are not common carriers. but merely rent their cars to railroad companies
 Prospects Not Pleasing.
 The prospect that the refrigerator car companies will be driven out of business should the legislation urged by E.. M. l Ferguson, a Duluth commission mer- chant, be enacted. is not at all pleasing to the growers of fruit More than two hundred thousand cars of oranges, peaches. strawberries and other fruits of highly perishable character were transported last year in refrigerator cars. Georgia shipped five thousand cars of peaches to seventy-seven markets in the United States and Canada. which could not be reached without refrigerator cars. | North Carolina has just gone into the strawberry business. and last year shipped nearly three thousand cars cantaloupes are sold in New York and Boston though raised in Florida, North Carolina, Geor- gia and Colorado. The success of irriga- tion in the west depends on the marketing | of the fruits In the north and east glance shows that the situation Is most | interesting as there are nearly i've hun dred private car lines owning from half | dozen to as many as sixteen thousand cars engaged in the transportation of fruits, vegetables. live stock, dressed meats. beer, furniture and other commo- dities. All these lines and interests will be affected by the proposed legislation and their representatives will later ap- pear before the Senate and House commit tees in opposition thereto.