Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1906-06-09
the MESSAGE

III ~ iHlififtihii u
To the Senate and House of Repre-.
sentatlvesI submit herewith the re;
port Of James Bonson Reynoidsf and
Commissioner Charles P.tPNeilfN the
special committee whonfFI appointed
to investigate into the conditions in
the stock yards of Chicago and report
thereon to me. This report is of
preliminary nature. l submit it to you
now because it shows the urgent need
of immediate action by, the. congress
in the direction OF providihg a drastic
and thorough-going inspection by the
federal government of all stock yards
and packing houses and of their prod
ucts, so far rs the latter enter into
Interstate or foreign commerce. The
conditions shown by even this short
inspection to exist in the Chicago
stock yards are revolving. HI ist i'm
peratively necessary in the interest OF
health and deceny that they should be
radically changed.
Before had received the report OF
Messrs. Reynolds and Neilb / had dt
rected that labels placed upon any
package Of food products should state
only that the carcass of the animal
from which the meat was taken. had
been inspected at the time. of slaugh
ter. If inspection of meat-food prod
ucts at all stages of preparation is not
secured by the passage OF the Iegisla'
tion recommended, / shall feel com
PEELED to order that inspection labels
and certificates on canned products
shall not be used hereafter.
Under existing law the national gov
ernment has no power to enforce in
spection Of the many forms of pre-
pared meat-food products that are
daily going from the packing houses
into interstate commerce, and, owing
to an inadequate appropriation, the
department of agriculture is not even
able to place inspectors Ia all estab-
. llshments desiring them. The present
law prohibits the 1hjpment of unin.
spected meat toI3 Sn countries. but
uithesas ne a1a |pA foib ldding the =
bhiprents of luninspe pec0ed flisss VI Afssikh'
terstate commerce, and thus the ave.
nues of interstate commerce are left
open to traffic in diseased or spoiled
meats. II, as been alleged on seem
ingly good authority, further evils eX-
ist such as the improper use of chem
icals and dyes, the government, lacks
power to remedy them. A law is need
ed which will enable the inspectors OF
the general government to inspect and
supervise from the hoof to thee can
the preparation of the hmeat-fOod
product. The evil seems to be much
less In the sale of dressed carcasses
than in the sale Of canned and pre-
pared products. .,,f .,..i fn....t,.,i.
In my judgment the expense of in.
spection should be paid by fee levied
on each animal slaughtered. If this
is not done the whole purpose OF the
law can at any time be defeated
through an insufficient appropriation
and whenever there was no particular
public interest in the subject itfWoald
be not only easy, but natural, thus
to make the appropriation insufficient
II 1t were not for this consideration
I should favor the government paying
for 1t. -V'' '' 90"
The alarm expressed in certain quar-
ters concerning this feature should be
allayed by a realization of the fact that
in no case, under such law, would
the cast of inspection exceed eight
cents per head. | call special atten
tion to the fact that this report Is
preliminary aud that the investigation
ia still unfinished. 1t is not yet pos
eible to report on the alleged abuses
in the use Of deleterious chemical
compounds in connection with canning
and preserving meat products, nor on
the alleged doctoring In this fashion
OF tainted meats and Of products re
turned to the packers as having grown
unstable from age or from other rea
sons. Grave allegations are made In
reference to abuses of this nature
Let me repeat that under the pres
ent law there is practically no method
OF stopping these abuses II they should
be discovered to exist. Legislation IL
needed in order to. prevent the posi-
bility of all abuses in the future. II
no legislation Is passed, then the ex
cellent results accomplished by the
work of this special committee will en-
dure only so long as the memory OF
the committees work is fresh, and Q
recurrence Of the abuse is absolutely
certain.
urge the immediate enaction into
law Of provisions which Will enable
the department Of agriculture to In
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