Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1906-06-08

Meaie0 deflksrd so4sI U aAx UsAss
that a great aasi a tks tslx ahsas
sha nnele.M mstAAsas ~ tAs p&ekinx
hossssv a sEaaa manE ~ ths Stale
meats In shs tansss aad In TIE NELL
fks,molas asEssxa, wsEe all poppycoek
~NfaAvsi aa~ksInn.s SID The ksnsiss
man. n stla IN wise and helpful 70
I'm upaa a methods u lns2~ctinx
thst will Inspect Il may be. ana
probably h, that, ~ times the fore"
nsn and soEkmsa in the packing
hoasss are MOI IL careful seaut their
sort a. they should - and that thss
do not kssp themselves In Immaculate
yaglor condition Ill the time.
"Bat. he this - IL may. tho charge
that the wealthy men. the Sstfts. the
MoFrises. the Armoufs ana the cada'
hays. Who ar. ~ the bead 0f these
pacing rosc~rns. are deliberately
elaaghtsFlng diseased cattle. csnniag
Fosten meats. rendering human bodies
into lard and making esaussss &C dis"
severed human fingssrs Il the most
absolute rut.
"Most certainly n fnn should In
yassigaae the work ~ the hundFeds III
thousands WIN IN In the employ NJ
the packers aI the United STATES you
will find some Instances ~ had WORK
and had methods. You will find some
formmen wha aTe careless and some
woFkmen Who are mt clean. hut 10
use al elegant expression. these men
soon get fired And these am care
less. dirty individuals are the very
ones xho stand ready to nh the ears
n eager authors u Jungle books and
NeiIlHeynnids reparts sIGh false Eso,
rles nj the conditions.
There can b. no doubt that so
ont Of every 1000 cases u meat that
20 frum IN. packing houses would
pass the most rigid scientific test.
and tests Ut cleanliness and purity.
Certainly We want the other ten cases
pure. 10 do the packers, They know
that II In only by sending out good
products thar they can hold their
trade. but u Ii ridiculous. this news
paper condemnation u all the pack.
ers and NIL the products, because of
the unsupported tales Of the makers
of the NeillReynoids report They
got their Information from meu and
women who had left or were about
To leave the companies. They saw
little u the plants themselves and nn.
derstood little of what they did see.
Now. I know what | am talking
about. and not one In q thousand who
writes or talks about the packers
does. 1. like all other men engaged
In handling the packers products,
have been required 10 40 through ey.
cry department Of the great factories
represented. observe NIL the work and
all the methods. Such statements,
for Instance. a. that the meats lie ON
the floor and the workmen expector'
ate freely upon them are false.
know, and everyone familiar with the
packing Industry knows. that ut nc
stage Of preparation does Il lie on the
floor. II goes from table to table aud
from receptacle TO RECEPTACLE. bu,
never touches the floor
THE rules about cleanliness arr
strict and violations mean discharge,
but they are, undoubtedly, frequently
violated. These packing houses ars
open TO the public. Anyone can go
In and observe their methods. Thous
ands have done 30. What abuses
have sprung up have been In spite oil
the operators. not with their conniv,
ance. All this fnrore has made mo
difference with our trade. but /,
makes me tired, All the packers aud
all their representatives want the
stFictest Inspection possible and wan,
TO satisfy the people Of the purity oi
the goods handled. The meats OF ous
house have stood the most rigid cham,
icai and all other tests and [ have no
doubt those Of other houses have done
so as we'll"
The gentleman quoted above argues
we'll. Naturally he leans strongly to
his own side. but there Is very likely
not q little truth In what he says,
During the Lawson craze. during the
insurance Investigation. the fight AZ
ainst the railroads. In the heydey Of
Tarbeli and Hapgood, Baker aud Stef
fens and their associate muck rakers,
We have had occasion TO point out
that American people are growing
hysterical. This Is because In our
rapid life we are developing a bad
case Of nerves. After the yellow
journals have started the new craze,
the magazines fadded Il, the more
conservative papers boosted It gently,
the Mysteries reached their climax,
Naw We all begin TO suspect TINT every
thing hasn't been Va radically wrong
rs we imagined. We discover q little
later that the good Of the menace 80
vigorously attacked. vastly outweigh
ed the evil. that the wrong was indi
vidaal and Incidental Then we Sc,
ourselves 10 riehting the things that
we're wrong and In spite OF the ex.
cited half honr We spent, convinced
that we we're the victims OF mereiIess
and corrupt tyrants. We 80 on our
way happily untii the next lion ap
pears In the way.