The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1906-06-05
THE NEAT WE EAT.

dealt with the meat packing question
is one which deserves especial atten-
ton because it comes into the home of
practically every family in the coun-
try. 1t has been known for months
that the conditions which surrounded
the killing of animals for food were
not such as would give special slim
illus to the appetite even when hunger
was most pronounced
The killing of meat for the con-
sumption of the entire country by a
few packers is one Of the great in
dustrial developments of the last de-
cade. Before they came into import
ance the butchers in the cities and
towns were likewise the slaughterers
OF the meat they offered for sale. They
might have been unsanitary and I'M
scientific in their methods but they
endeavored to be clean, and the fact
that they did not attempt to keep the
killing houses always occupied gave
refuse time to be purified by the at
mosphere.
Then the parts of the animal which
was crudely converted into what are
now the by-products were as carefully
selected as were the parts intended
for consumption as meat. But with the
packing houses change came. AMI
mails were killed in unventilated and
unsanitary rooms which could never
be purified because of the constant
use. Instead of the animals being in
spected as they We're when the butch
ers did their own killing, when each
acted as his own inspector and care
fully examined every animal put into
the slaughter yard, the stock has been
taken in bulk and killed regardless of
| disease.
But the principal trouble with the
| present system is the methods by
which the meat is handled after it is
killed. 1t is slaughtered in rooms
which are reeking with filth and the
meat comes in contact with this filth
and is contaminated by it before it
leaves the killing rooms.
The president urges vigorous gov
eminent inspection of all meats sold
in interstate commerce and in the
foreign markets. and a government
stamp placed upon all meat packages
which will guarantee the purity of the
contents. This will go far towards
abating the abominble nuisance which
is inflicted upon the public through
the medium of canned meats.
But even this alone will not accom-
plish the results desired. What will
have more effect on the packers than
all the laws. stringent as they may be
and vigorously as they may be en-
forced. is the refusal of the public
to buy their products when it is not
assured in terms which cannot be
questioned that the product is just
what it is represented and, that it was
prepared in a way which leaves no
doubt Of the absolute cleanliness of
the same.
The packers may be powerful COM
bination, but they cannot stand up
against the demands of the great con-
Stunning market. If the people under
stood the quantities of filth which they
consume in the canned meats and
other by-products of the packing
houses it would be an insult to their
intelligence to say that they would 20
on buying and consuming as before.
If the housewives would refuse to
purchase from the grocer the goods
which are known to be prepared in the
manner described in the presidents
message and the reports accompany
ing it, the grocer would of necessity
be compelled to quit purchasing it
from the wholesaler and so on until
the stuff would decompose on the
shelves of the packers.
They would be compelled to furnish
product that would satisfy the de.
mands of the trade or go out of bust.
ness. They would be the ones who
would want their products inspected
in order to get the public to purchase
them. and they would then be COM
PEELED as matter of self preservation
to change the entire system Of killing,
handling and preparing meats and the
| by-products of the same to something
near that which prevails in Germany
and probably other European coun-
tries.
So far as conditions which have per-
mitted these things are concerned,
they are simply one of the many in
stances where the commercial de-
velopment of the country has outrun
the development Of laws to meet the
new conditions. Had there never been
any common carriers except the old
stage coaches there would have been
little If any need of laws regulating
rebates and the thousand and one
other things which have come with