West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1906-06-14
Beef Trust Getting In Their Work ION
COn6reSS-CleaninS Up Their
Houses and Adopting SAM
tary Measures.
PUBLICITY DID GREAT DEAL GOOD
The Cattle Will Likely be Slaughtered
Where They Are Raised In the
Future
from Our Regular Correspondent.

specuon provision OF the Agricult
ural bill as embodied in the Beve.
ridge amendment. And the chances
are that they will win the day
finally as great business interests
usually do when they undertake to
BRING influence to bear on Congress.
Chairman Wadsworth and his as
sociates on the Agricultural Com
mit,ee gave a hearing this week to
Mr.. Thos. K. Wilson, one of the re-
personalities of the packers. There
were presen at the hearing Secretary
Wilson, DIR. Melvin of the Bureau
OF Animal Industry, Mr.. Neill,
Commissioner of Labor and the
JOINT author of the now famous
Neill-Reynolds report. All of the
big Chicago packers constituting the
Trust had with their usual thrift as
signed Mr.. Wilson to speak for
them, and he played the dew-excuse
me packers advocate to the best of
his ability. The session was warm
at times. He fatty contradicted
the report of Messrs. Ne:ll and
Reynolds as to the foul conditions
under which meats were prepared
and retorted holly when Mr.. Neill
replied to him. In reply to ques-
lions he admitted that dyes were
used in some cases and preservatives
in others-after first denying that any
such things were ever resorted to.
But he insisted that the houses we're
clean and sanitary. Though he did
not say they had always been so.
He wound up by inviting the com
mittee to visit the plants and see for
themselves. 1t is quite possible
that part of the committee at least
will have nice iunket. And accord.
ing to all reports from Chicago, it
viii be quite safe for the packers to
have them do so. Dispatches indi
cate that since the exposures com
menced and especially since the
President made public the Neil
Reynolds report, the packers have
been working wiki feverish energy
cleaning up their plants. All that
scrubbing and painting can do with
the foul, blood and grease soaked
buildings. they have done and they
have also installed thousands of
dollars worth of sanitary plumbing
where there was no plumbing to
speak of before. They have warned
their employees through the foreman
to keep clean on pain of instant dis
missal, and in fact are rapidly put
ting their plants into about as pre-.
sentable shape as can be done short
of tearing down the old wooden
buildings and replacing them with
sanitary modern structures. That
much the Presidents efforts backed
by publicity have already accomp-
lished. But the packers do not
want the drastic inspection law
proposed by the Beverage bill, and
they are going to fight it off lift can
be done.
There will be an earnest effort
made TO push through the Beveridge
amendment, but ifit fails, there is
another remedy that may be tried
and there is already talk of its TAX
ing shape, not at this session bit at
the next. II is nothing less than
breaking up the immense central
killing plants and having the cattle
slaughtered III the region where they
are raised. This would save the
long haul TO market during which
the poor beats are numerically tor
tured and where for a day and a
half at stretch they are rairoaded
through without food or water and
frequently arrive manned and DYING
and unfit for use. Human societies
all over the country have protested
for years against this practice. and
in the end the decentralization OF
the killing plants would be a beneh,
both TO the packer and the stock
raiser. 1t would allow the inspec
ton and the killing 10 be done in
the less thickly populated regions,
would save the transportation
charges on all cattle condemned and
on those that now die in transit.
The actual transportation Of dressed
beef, even with moderately high
icing charges, is less expensive than
the transportation Of live cattle.
Of course such an arrangement
would throw the COS, Of transporta.
ton on the packer but the packer
is thrifty person and would easily
find means 60 take the cost out OF
the producer and the consumer.
No one would be any worse of than
they are nov and the cattle would
be vastly better of.
For the session At least the Senate
hae kiIIed he rrnr..i,t.-. -.