The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1906-06-15
SENDS IN REPORT
President Roosevelt Lays Before Con-
gress Information Regarding
Packing House Conditions.
ASKS DRASTIC REGULATION
Abstract of the NeilI-ReynoidsC CONF
mission Submitted Declares Con-
ditions ut Chicago stock
Yards Are Revolving.

Roosevelt Monday transmitted to COIL
gress the report of Messrs, NELL ana
Reynolds of their investigation OF the
Chicago Stockyards and packing
houses. The report and message trans
hitting same are in part as follows.
Il transmit herewith the report OF
Mr.. James Bronson Reynolds and COM
missioner Charles P. Neill, the speciai
commission whom l appointed TO IN
vestigate into the conditions or the
stockyards of Chicago, and report
thereon to me. This report is OF
preliminary nature. | submit 1t to you
now because it shows the urgent need OF
immediate action by the congress in
the direction of providing drastic and
thoroughgoing inspection by the fed
eral government of all stocllyards ana
packing houses and of their products
so far as the latter enter into Interstate
or foreign commerce. The conditions
shown by even this short inspection 10
exist in the Chicago stockyards are
revolving. 1t is imperatively necessary
in the interest of decency that they
should be radically changed. Under
the existing law it is wholly impos-
sible to secure satisfactory results.
When my attention was first di-
rected to this matter an investigation
was made under the bureau OF animal
industry of the department of agrl-
culture. When the preliminary state
ments of this investigation were
brought to my attention they showed
such defects in the law and sucn
wholly unexpected conditions that l
deemed it best to have further i'm
mediate investigation by men not con-
nected with the bureau, and accord
ingly appointed Messrs. Reynolds and
| Neill. 1t was impossible under the
| existing law that satisfactory work
should be done by the bureau OF AMI
| NAL industry. am now, however,
examining the way in which the work
actually was done.
Before had received the report OF
Messrs, Reynolds and Neill had
directed that labels placed upon any
package of meat food products should
state only that the carcass Of the anil
NAL from which the meat was taken
had been inspected at the time o1
slaughter. If inspection of meat food
products at all stages of preparation
is not secured by the passage of legis-
lation recommended, / shall feel COM
piled to order that inspection labels
nnr nrn6IInts
shall not be used hereafter.
| The report shows that the stock
yards and packing houses are not kept
even reasonably clean and THAI the
method of handling and preparing
food products is uncleanly and dan
gerous to health. Under existing law
the national government has no pow
err to enforce inspection of the many
forms of prepared meat food products
that are daily going from the packing
houses into interstate commerce.
Owing to an inadequate appropriation
the department of agriculture is not
even able to place inspectors in all
establishments desiring them. The
present law prohibits the shipment
of uninspected meat to foreign coun-
tries, but there is no provision for
bidding the shipment of uninspected
meats in interstate commerce, and
thus the avenues of interstate COM
merce are left open to traffic in dis
eased or spoiled meats. If, as has
been alleged ON seemingly good author
ity, further evils exist, such as the
improper use of chemicals and dyes,
the government lacks power to RENE
DIV them. A law Is needed which will
enable the inspectors of the general
government to inspect and supervise
| from the hoof to the can the prepare
ton of the meat food products. The
evil seems to be much less in the sale
of dressed carcasses than in the sale
of canned and other prepared pre-
ducts.
"In my Judgment the expenses CT
the inspection should be paid by a
fee levied on each animal slaughtered.
If this is not done, the whole pur-
pose of the law can at any time
be defeated through an insufficient APP
preparation; and whenever there was
no particular public interest in the
subject it would be not only easy but
natural thus to make the approprla-
ton insufficient. If 1t were not for
this consideration l should favor the
government paying for it.
The alarm expressed in certain quar-
tiers concerning this feature should be
allayed by realization of the fact
that in no case, under such law, viii
the cost of inspection exceed eight
cents rer head.
l call special attention to the fact
that this report is preliminary, and
that the investigation is stu unrE-
ished. 1t is not yet pcssin;e to re-
port on the alleged abuses in the une
Of deleterious chemical compounds Ia
connection with canning and preserv-
ing meat products, 1or on the alleged
doctoring in this fashion Of tainted
meat and of products returned TO the
packers as having grown unstable
! or unusable from age or from other
reasons. Grave allegations are made
| In references to abuses of this nature.