The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-06-05
DEFENSE OF
 THE PACKERS Reply to the Nein-
 Reynolds Report.
SAY PLANTS ARE KEPT CLEAN
Methods of Manufacture Declared
 to Be Sanitary.
stand Ready, However, to Adopt Any Suggestion which VIII Lead to Practical Betterment of the
 Meat Industry.

= packing establishments In Chicago is- sued a joint statement tonight reply ing to the charges made in the Neill- Reynolds report of their investigation of the packing plants and Presioent Roosevelt's message to Congress. Tn this statement the psckers declare that their plants are kept clean; their meth ods of manufacture are sanitary; their products wholesome and that for years doctors. chemists, sanitarfans, and onl- cial investigators from practically every civilized nation on earth who have made examinations of the manner in which the meat packing plants are conducted, have been entirely satisfied in every instance with the conditions existing in this industry.
 Despite this fact the packers assert that they stand ready to adopt any practical suggestion in the line of inn movement The packing companies who affixed their signatures to the statement are Armour & CO, Swift & Co. Nelson, Morris & Co, G. H. Ham mond Company, Omaha Packing Com pany, The American Provision Com pany, Libby, McNeii Libby and Schwarschild, Sulzbacher & co.
 The statement which bears the offi- ciai signature of each of these corpor- ations follows:
 .sThe question raised as to whethor diseased meats are sold by our pack Ing houses is question cn which the whole world waits the facts and the truth must be told. Is the entire meat and live stock industry square dealT This vital side of the whole question, however, is absolutely ignored In Pres ident Rooseveit's message and all but omitted frorl notice in the Neill-Rey- holds report.
 Every Animal Inspected.
 Every pound of meat in our packing houses comes from animals which are inspected and passed by trained vet erinarians of the department of agri- culture This Is the absolute fact. We are not interested in animals con- uenaned before slaughter. We do not buy them. Every aninai bought by us fs Inspected both before and after slaughter in accordance with the strict est inspection regulation ever devised in any country, not even excepting. Ger many. Every animal or carcass that does not pass this rigid inspection is condemned and disposed of under the personal supervision of the agent of the United States Department of Agri- culture.
 "The administration always knows these facts. The writers of the Neill- Reynolds report know them. That these are the facts is reluctantly ad- mitted in their report, but even this slight reinsurance to the public Is al- most buried in the tail end of what they have written.
 we have been believers in rigid animal and meat inspection since the inspection was first inaugurated. We have shown our belief In it by shoul- dering for the benefit of the industry an annual loss of approximately $l,- GOO, ,000-our loss on animals which are bought as healthy and condemned on inspection after slaughter And now In spite of persistent misrepresentation we are heartily in favor of making this inspection more efficient. if that can be done, and of extending opera tion of the law to cover the sanitary conditions of packing houses.
 Tt is to be regretted that Messrs. Neill and Reynolds did not get prac- tical light on their subject before writ ing A report in which 1t is apparent lv assumed that blood, grease and the every day incidents of animal sIaugh- terinr are dirt. In contrast with their view We call the attention to report on packing house conditions by Prof. T. J. Burrill. Ph. D, Vice-Presi- dent and Professor of Bacteriology of the University of Illinois, and Profess sor H. s. Grindley. Professor of Chem> istry at the same institution" BurriIl nnd Grindley. This report of Professors Burrill and Grindley. which recites the result of an investigation made within ten days is offered by the packers as their com mentarv on the detailed allegations of | Messrs. Neill and Reynolds After go- | ine into details on their investigation and asserting that the general com | ditions in connection with the meat hackers industry are as good as could | ba expected under the circumstances, thair report says:
 "Our observations make 1t impossi- | hla for us to believe the horrible sto- ries recently appearing in print or that | anything approaching the described conditions in this industry really ex- | ists. l of the government inspectors was done | in strict accordance with the regula- tions issued by the bureau of animal | industry. The condemned carcasses or nsrts of carcasses are followed by these officials, notwithstanding the state nents to the contrary. to the rendering tanks and these tanks are sealed and unsealed In their presence and only in tbetr presence. If these men are com ne+ent for their work and they appear ed to us to be performing their duty. if Is impossible for the packers, If they so desired. to use unlawfully, condemn cd animals or carcasses'
 We paid particular attention to the charges that employees spit on places which come in contact iwth the pro- ducts. We saw only one man expec- torate during our entire investigation and he was a Government official. The hacking houses is for butchers and any one having connection with the actual work has no use for dress suits or kid gloves as 1t Is not milliners' or jewell CTS work. We did not find anything seriously repugnant to cleanliness or wbo1esoroeness in the opera ions or nrocedures but we did And a desire on inc mart of all employees We came in contact with to avoid unclean prac- tices
 Hiding Behind the Farmer. Continuing in their statement, the packers say:
 In the light of what we are doing, we have a right. we believe, to pro- test against nasty and empirical judg- ments that serve 10 put weapons into the hands of foreign competitors of the American live stock and meat pro- ducing industries. This phase of the ouestion can not be evaded. At the