Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1906-06-21
ALLFOR7HE WORSE
President Roosevelt Explains Hia
objection to the Proposed Meat
Inspection Bill.
SAYS IT IS VERY, VERY Bad 40
III they Hsd Deliberately Designed
60 Prevent ReInedying Evils
Complained Of They Could
Not Have Done Worse"

washington, June 16.-Chairman
Wadsworth, Of the house committed
on agriculture, Friday night made pub
lie the correspondence between Presl'
dent Roosevelt and himself regarding
the meat inspection bill prepared Dy
the committee.
The president in his letter says tna'
almost every change in the house
amendment was for the worse, and In
his Judgment 80 framed as to mini
mize the chance of roofing out the
,vils in the packing business" In his
reply Mr. Wadsworth declares the
president is Every, very wrong" In MS
estimate Of the committees bill, and
concludes with an expression OF re-
greet that the president should feel JUS,
flied in impugning the competency o.
committee of the house of represent
atiyes. you have no warrant FOR IT,
said Mr.. Wadsworth, in closing,
The presidents letter follows:
"My dear Mr.. Wadsworth:-- | have
gone over your bill very carefully and
not only obtained report from Mr..
McCabe, as l told you | would. but
also obtained a report from Mr.. Rey-
nolds on 1t. am sorry to say the
more closely l investigate your pro-
posed substitute, the worse ! md IT,
Almost every change is one for the
worse; so that 1t hardly seems neces-
sary for me to enumerate them, Per-
hans the amendment as You have now
drafted 1t is not quite as bad as II
was when you submitted 1t to me In
the first instance; but 1t Is very, very
bad. There seems to be one point IN
which It is possible that the amend
ment Is even worse that the original
amendment, II, as seems likely, there
is no provision for making plants &C.
cessible at all hours to the inspectors
IN any event, am sorry to have 70
cav that this strikes as an amendment
which no matter how unintentionally
il framed so as to minimize the chance
of roofing out the evil in the packing
business. Doubtless 1t suits the pack
e,.s who object to a thoroughgoing In
spectiou much better than the senate
amendment, and have no doubt tna'
not only the packers. but their ailies
in business and those stock growers
WIN are Influenced by them would pre-
fer f. But am convinced ft WOULD u
the long run, be a heavy blow to TN
honest stock raiser and the homes
hacker to adopt these provisions FaTnel
than the far better ones contained
in the senate amendment; for. as com
pared with the senate amendment thi'
proposed amendment which you tel
me is that Of the majority Of the h0us'
committee, would hamper in the mos
grossly improper fashion the secre
tary Of agriculture, In doing the wori
which you have appointed him to 40
and will prevent even SO much OF thiI
work as can be done at all from be
ing well and thoroughly done. Il TN
biz should 60 through in the form tina
the majority Of your committee pro
poses Il might be that should sig
Il as working a certain slight improve
ment over the present law, but, II Sc
I should accompany II by a memoran
dunn explicitly stating how grave tn
defects were, and can not even prom
Use to sign 1t, because the provision
(about the courts, as well as abou
other matters,) are so bad that, \
my opinion, II they had been delibel
ately designed to prevent the remedy
ing Of the evils complained Of the
could not have been worse.
at seems to me that the surest we
to keep our foreign trade from u
and indeed, our interstate trade like
wise, in thoroughly unsatlsfactor
condition, and to prevent its resumin
the position which it formerly had,
to enact the law in the shape propose
In the amendments submitted to n
by you.
Sincerely yours,
THEODORE ROOSEVELT"
''Hon. James W. Wadsworth, chat
man committee on agriculture, houl
I