Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-06-15
The Wadsworth Amendment Riddled

The serene confidence of the friends or
the meat packers that the President would
accept the Wadsworth substitute Tor the
Beyeridge amendment was rudeiy dispell-
ed when Mr. Roosevelt addressed the chair
man of the House committee on agriculture
a letter in which the inadequacies OIL that
substitute were ruthlessly exposed The
President could have been logically ex-
pected to do no less than to take issue
with the Wadsworth inspection provisions.
They were obviously drawn to suit the de-
mands of the packers. and as obviously
designed to prevent satisfactory inspec-
ton safeguarding the consumer from the
evil effects of profit-sQueezing methods In
Packingtown. No man Of ordinary intelli-
gonce could be expected to accept them
The Presidents detailed objections to the
Wadsworth amendment are explicit He
frds the court review obnoxious menacing
the effectiveness of the entire inspection
system. He regards that provision as Tore
ing the Secretary of Agriculture into a
subordinate position, subject to the rulings
of courts and hampered at every turn by
the objections of the packers. He points
out that the Wadsworth amendment adroit-
ly leaves a loop-hole for the improper label
Ing of cans by emitting the words under
the supervision of an inspector" so that
the packer may have the labels pasted
upon the containers without inspection and
the law will provide no adequate means of
checking a gross fraud upon the public
Furthermore. the word "unclean" Is omitted
from a paragraph in such a connection that
the Secretary of Agriculture. under the
Wadsworth bill, would have to prove posi-
lively In court the unsoundness Of meat
products against which the chief objection
might be that they were prepared In the
most unsanitary conditions. without oppor-
tunity to prove the existence OF those
conditions. Again. the President notes that
by the omission of other words the right to
inspect all parts of the packing houses is
not extended to the government representa-
tives. the packers being vested with the
privilege OF debating the portions open to
them In addition, 1t is discovered upon
scrutiny that the bill, which permits pack
ers to ship their old stocks of goods on
hand at the time of enactment gives the
packers an opportunity to include in these
stocks indefinite additions the government
being compelled. If suspicious are aroused,
to go into court and prove affirmatively
that old goods being shipped without
inspection Finally. in the opinion of the
President the appropriation language it.
self is defective. that there is reason
to fear that the Treasury officials, upon
the first examination of the statute might
declare that not a penny is available for
the service
These objections are not mere technicali-
ties. They are based upon practical, tangi-
bic facts. The Wadsworth amendment was
on its face a concession to the packers. 1t
WIS hailed by them as victory If rushed
through the House and forced through con-
ference it would stand before the people
as the answer of Congress to the public
demand for reform. in terms savorng of
contempt for the popular wish for effective
guarantees. II in the light of the itemized
bill of complaints against the Wadsworth
amendment 1t is still urged upon the
House, those In charge of the legislative
program will be deliberately taking chances
with the lightning of national condemna-
ton