The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1906-05-28
Bis STICK GIVES
PACKERS FRIGHT.
Sensational Movement Made BY
President Causes Panic Among
Big Dealers.
WHAT THE REPORT CONTAINS
Startling Revelations OF Condi-
tions iii Great Meat Houses
Of West.
fspccial to The Times-Dlspatch.)

WASHINGTON, May 27.--Thcre has
btcn 81 good deal OF talk lately about the
defeats the President was met with in his
attempts to direct lcgisati ton. TO balance
4 tile account OF the President has ever had
such complete and astounding success in
trying to put legislation through as the
President won Friday in the adoption
us n rider to the agriculture appropria-
ton BILL
1t bids fair to DO nine ds
4 In Washngto ION. The bill did not exist I'M
II; this week. 1t Is only a few days old.
Il has never been considered. Yet u
went through the Senate with rush.
and the man who did 1t was Tllheouore
Roosevelt.
lie did 1t by taking the packers by the
throat They We're held up and told
ssither this thing becomes law Or
either TINS thing becomes law or :
Will publish the. report OF NELL and Key
nolds and expose the conditions under
which you do business.
Report Not in Written Form.
The Reynolds report does not exist
In written form 1t was n verbal report
made 10 the President. but Nell and 1iey-
nolds stand ready at any time to write
1T down, and II they do 1t VIII be lot
more revolving than was Upton Sinclair's
novel.
II may appear strange that such re-
& port should not have been written, but
II Is to be remembered that Nell and
Reynolds did not Investigate In any OIL
}cial capacity. The President, Mortified
at what he had been told concerning
the meat business. asked his two friends
to look into 1t and let him know II the
& stories told him were true. They did look
into It, and told him that everything he.
had learned was correct. Immediately
upon this. filled with Indignation, the
q President had Senator Bcverdge5 intro
duce the meat inspection bill, and then
served notice that unless It was passed
in zig time the Nei report would be
mace public. Nobody Concerned asked 10
see the report Nobody asked whether
1t was written or printed. They simply
fell over themselves to Withdraw all op.s
position and to beg the President not
to make 1t public.
"A hard-and- fast bargain was made be-
tween the President and the packers.
What he wanted was TO put an end 70
the fr:ghtful condition of affairs re-
veared to him, and 40 II right away. He
did not intend to have any shlly-shaly-
Ing as there was about the rate LII
He had the cards and was ready and
lnxious - play them.
Packers Were Perturbed.
The packers heard about their position
early and have been dancing around in
frantic condition for two days. Their
one desire was to keep the report out II
The hands Of the public.
w. E. Skinner. manager OF the Live
Stock Exchange in Chicago, found OF.
yesterday on what terms the President
would withhold the report. He would
withhold 1t on condition that the Bev
cridge bill be passed that day. When
y Skinner found that there was simply
nothing else to be dono. and that the
2 time was so short. he hurriedly consulted
the other agents OF the packers. and the
agreement was made with the President
4 that the packers would unit e with him In
pushing the bill through, on condition,
that the report WAS suppressed.
BY this time the packers had learned
that the report had not been written, but
that Seill had received orders to get 1t
4 into documentary form at once, and have
It ready in the shortest posIlble space OF
time. The packers consulted their con-
.gressional friends, and one congressman
went to see the President. He came back
and reported that II the pa kers were to
save themselves the agreement with the
President must be carried out within q
few hours.
Eager to Have Bill Passed
Senator Carter of Montana. is the
especial champion OF the live stock inter-
ests In the Senate. The packers hunted
him up and told him that as their cham
pion he must hustle the bill through in.
some form. 1t did not matter what.
Carter hustled around and got hold Of
Z Bevcrdge, and the two arranged that it
should be tackled on 10 the agricultural
appropriation bill. which had the right OF
way in the Senate that day. 1t was done.
y There was no attcmpt at debate. the sit.
uation was too serious. Everybody.
friends and enemies of the packers alike.
Joined forces and damned it through.