The National tribune., 1906-06-14
.r,dse bill II W. can have 1t at once.'

-
last week and Commanded good audi
ences. not the least of which were th'
newspaper men. Not less than 20 Sa
in the room each day.
i The room of the Committee on Agri
| culture is one of the rooms of the olde
part of the Capitol and got some of thu
| exquisite paintings with which the Capi
tol was decorated at first. The ceiling
has allegorical Agricultural paintings o
men and women, naked babies. flowers
fruits and grains all in rich colors soft
ened by the hand of time. Four large
| photographs of blooded cattle adorn tho
walls a picture of a jockey on fin'
running horse stands on bookcase. anC
| down the center of the room stands the
rosewood table around which the Com
mittee gathers.
The first witness heard in the pack
| ing-house case was Mr.. Thomas e. Will
son. the Manager of the Nelson Morri:
| & Co. packing-houses. He stated tha
| before the Committee, however. he wa.
representing the Chicago Packers" Mr.
The Packers Representative.
Wilson is personable man, with good
| head, strong features, an inSistent chin
nose that means business, Gibson
mans mouth and shoulders, and he talks
with a slight lisp. But that lisp is moi
Willie-boy put on. No-sir-ee. He i'm
presses you as knowing exactly what he
wants to say. and when he has finished
you feel quite sure he has said exactly
what he intended to. and you under
stand him. He declared that he is not
an attorney. Then he said:
Monday, when the report of Messrs
Neill and Reynolds was published, we
were, for the first time since this agita-
ton commenced. put in position where
we could defend ourselves. owe
means all the time in Mr.. Wilson'S tes-
timony the Chicago packers.) Much
comment had been made previous tC
the report. and, as you can readily see
now by comparison, these comments
were terribly exaggerated. Knowing
this, we refrained from answering until
we could learn what the report contain
ed and would have something definite
to reply to. That the live stock and
packing industries have suffered an ir-
reparable injury by the unjust and un-
warranted criticisms of the past few
weeks 1 am sure it is unnecessary for
me to repeat to you gentlemen, who are
in such close touch with the agricul-
tural interest of the country. Had the
original motive been simply the obtain
ing of legislation to improve the inspec-
ton and sanitary conditions, then / say
the criticisms have been doubly unjust
and unfair, for in the very inception of
the investigation the Commission and
of the packers cooperation, and their
personal guaranty was given that any
practical recommendations would be
welcomed and adopted.
I'VE are now and have always been
in favor of the extension of the inspec-
ton, also to the adoption of sanitary
regulations that will insure the very
best possible conditions and in this con-
nection 1 most respectfully call your at
tention to the recommendations of
Messrs. Neill and Reynolds. Paragraph
VII of their report, all of which, except
in some minor details, has the hearty
approval and support of the packers.
What we are opposed to, and what We
appeal to you gentlemen for protection
against, is a bill that will put our bust
ness in the hands of theorists, chemists
sociologists, etc, and the management
and control taken away from the men
who have devoted their lives TO the up
building and perfecting of this great
American industry; that they have ac-
comp!ished wonders in the development
of the business and improvements, both
sanitary and otherwise. surrounding all
methods of handling meat-food prod
ucts is an undisputed fact, the proofs OF
which the packing plants) are to-day,
and have been for the past Is years,
wide open to the public.
My denials of Messrs. Neill and Rey-
u,
simply be my opinions against theirs,
Notwithstanding my 20 years expert
ence in the business, and on this account
and in justice TO the great livestock,
agricultural and packing interests of
this country, /, in behalf of the packers
earnestly beg that you give one week of
the time of your entire Committee to
make personal inspection of Chicago
and possibly other Western packing
houses. This time spent in this manner
will give you better understanding of
the conditions and requirements than
can possibly he gained in weeks spent
in any other manner, and I feel conf
dent that we can demonstrate to your
perfect satisfaction that, contrary to the
report of Messrs. Neill and Reynolds,
the business and houses of these large
packers are conducted in an extremely
sanitary, healthful and cleanly manner,
and that the present inspection system
conducted by the Department of Agri-I
culture absolutely prohibits the possi-I
bility of any condemned meats entering
either domestic or foreign trade, not
the fact that the report
practically ignores this feature" Then
Mr.. Wilson grew sarcastic.
Unpleasant Features Unavoidable.
There is no question" he declared,
that the many necessary operations at
tending the slaughtering of animals, the
sight of blood and other offals, result
ing, would have very shocking effect
on the nerves ana senses of two men
with the necessary fine sensibilities that
such men as Messrs. Neill and Reynolds
must have who have devoted their lives
to one line of scientific or sociological
work, but men such as this Committee
Is made up of, with broad and more
general experiences, will Immediately
appreciate how the conditions reported
have been exaggerated, and that the
greatest effort IS made at all times to
handle the product in a clean and sani-
tary manner. We appreciate that
Messrs. Neill and Reynolds's expert
ences especially equip them to recon-
mend improvements in social conditions,
and many of the suggestions made by
them were found to be practical and
have already been adopted, but we also
feel that their two and one-half weeks
experience in the packing-houses docs
not equip them sufficiently to JUSTIFY
your honorable body in undertaking toI
legislate on their observa-l
tion alone"
Then Mr.. Wilson went after that spe-
cial report of Messrs. Neill and Rey-
nolds and fayed II alive. He declared |
that Government inspection was rigid |
and instructions obeyed-and in deny
ing specifically the various portions of
the special report he specified how the
might be obtained from Off |
cial sources. He denied that diseased !
animals were ever used in any of the |
Chicago packing g-houses. The Govern |
ment inspection precluded any such an
offense against humanity as that ALL
cattle had an ante-mortem and |
a post-mortem examination. Sometimes