Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-06-06

It will be noted that the report of Messrs.
Neill and Reynolds, after disclosing the in
adequacy of the government inspection both
In the stock yards and in the packing houses
touches upon only one of the accusations
which have been brought against the meat
industries, that of the lack of sanitary
precautions to insure the production of
wholesome goods. 1t does not bear upon
the question of the use OF preservatives or
other means of Transforming the waste into
marketable commodities. But so much Is
shown, to prove that the packers are utter
ly Indifferent to the laws OF health, that
the public will be prone to believe in the
truth OF the charge that diseased and
spoiled meats are put through processes to
render them specifically palatable. Indeed.
in the light of the satisfactory demon
stration that the Packingtown methods are
unclean. the burden of proof is laid square
ly upon the packers to clear themselves
of the Indictment that they are using chemi-
Gals and other means for marketing the
materials which should be destroyed
1t Is virtually unnecessary now for the
administration to investigate further to ex-
pose the shameless, criminal devices of the
packers. Men who would treat their en-
ployes as the Neill-Reynolds report proves
the workers to be treated. and who per-
NIT and doubtless encourage the slovenly.
disease-spreading methods of meat hand
ling which have been disclosed will not
hesitate to ignore all requirements of the
public health and use preservatives and
coloring matters and employ improper
modes of treatment in order to obtain a
price for materials which otherwise must
go into the furnace All the protesting In
the world, all the certificauons signed by
eminent chemists" and physicians engaged
by the packers will not establish the quail
ity of these goods now. The acquittal of the
charge of Indifference to the laws of health
must come from authorities whose names
will guarantee their independence of the cor
poration influences
There is no injustice in the assumption
| that the packers would soon abandon any
standard of wholesomeness and purity es-
tablished for them by the government IL
they were not rigidly held up to II by the
menace of severe punishment. 1t matters
not today what the methods of the past
have been. save as they serve as guides to
what must be avoided In the future. What
is needed is not so much clearance of the
record by an exposure of the facts relating
to goods already marketed and consumed
as a reliable system of inspection which
will hereafter prevent the crimes which
are known or confidently believed to have
been committed.
II the packers aver that their methods are
correct and their products are clean and
wholesome they cannot object to the impo-
sition of strict scrutiny which will serve
as guarantee to the public that this is
the case. The moment they attempt to
argue that certain processes. to which the
consumer strenuously objects are in truth
harmless and productive of foods that are
above reproach, that moment they accuse
themselves of criminal rapacity. The con-
sumner has his own standards. and he knows
that chemicals pumped into hams and dyes
into which meats are dipped and other
processes to check decay are dangerous to
health. In any case. the consumer de-
mands that every meat product placed upon
the market shall be SO labeled as to show
precisely what 1t is and how 1t has been
treated. He insists that II he buys potted
floor scraps he shall be so informed and not
deluded into the belief that he Is getting a
pot of clean meats of first grade.
In short. the consumer today demands
that the meat products be put upon the
market for what they are and sold for what
they are worth.