The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-06-07
rHr aoop Ann nAp or rr.

ing house Investigations. and the charges and reports connected with the packing business, is likely to have both a bad and a good effect The bad effect win be that 1t may cause some- thing of q feeling of distrust among the people of the country with regard to all canned meats. Our civilization and habits have reached stage where this may almost be called The Age | of Cans" Tn war and In peace, In the city or on the farm, at home or abroad. some brand of canned food Is always l in evidence. but if the impression should become general that all canned meats are at least suspicious 1t will be the cause of much real inconven- fence. The good as well as the bad will be banned.
 But that much good will result from impartial Investigation and exposure Is not to be doubted. It Is not neces- sary to believe all the statements made by Upton Sinclair and other sensation al writers to form an opinion. Enough has been brought out by official exam iners to remove all doubts on the subject. The reports submitted to Congress and printed in Tuesdays Ad- vertiser furnish an indictment that cannot be ignored by Congress nor can the facts be set aside or brushed away by interested parties. in or out of Congress. The statements are spe- cific as to time and place and details. and we are bound to believe them. They show conditions so revolting, so foul and so dangerous that the knowl- edge must come as surprise and shock to the people of the whole country.
 We repeat that it is not necessary to put implicit faith in all that certain sensational writers have put before the public. Some of these charges may have been made entirely for effect. Some may have been the work of weil-meaning writers who depended on others for their facts, and may have been guilty of unintentional exagger- ation Leaving all that out of the argument, there is ample proof to show
  a remedy must be applied. Whether other packing establishments are equally guilty with those investiga- ted we do not know. Further probing may find other rotten spots but be that as 1t may. the government has uncovered enough to show that some thing must be done to protect the people. It Is not merely that those who buy canned foods may be swim died by paying for substitutes and in- itations, though that Is bad enough, but it is not the worst. Putting the most charitable and conservative esti- mate possible on the revelations made by the government examiners we can not get around the knowledge that | some at least of these prepared meats are unwholesome and dangerous to | consumers That is enough to call | loudly for a remedy.
 What is the remedy? Can Congress enact and enforce a law. or laws. that will be effective in suppressing the revolting conditions known to exist? Perhaps most people may be prepared to reply in the affirmative, but would they be Justified? One of the most con servative newspapers in New England The New Haven Register. has this to say:
 Of the necessity that exists for the more rigid inspection of all food prod | ucts there can be no argument. The | same necessity exists there which ex- ists In the supervision of public ser vice corporations; but this admission fession that the Federal government | has the power to do the work re- quired. or that if 1t has that power. pose. Even the admirers of the Presi- dent, who are legion, must admit that he Is not to be In charge of things forever, and that his successor may | be jusy the man to turn these doubt | fully acquired powers to a fearful po- iitical use. It has been the experience of. this country. and of all other coun. removed from. the. control of their own affairs, the less productive the results in the form of either good or natural, for the reason that the effec- tive power of popular supervision, the most effective Of all forms or over sight, Is practically lost thereby.
 This brings up the old question of States Rights, which will never down. l Already, as we are informed, MT. Crumpacker has offered a substitute for the Beveridge measure, and the substitute Is so worded as to limit the authority of the Secretary of Agricul- ture to interfere with the police pow CTS of the State. That Is, as we un- derstand 1t, the Federal government cannot investigate or punish the pack CTS, however guilty they may be. We have so little faith in Crumpacker that we can easily believe that his substitute was introduced in the in forests of the packers. if not on their demands. That Is the kind of states man we size him to be.
 Aside from Crumpacker. however. the question of the right of the gov ernment to interfere with State indus tries is sure to come up just as 1t did in discussing the quarantine measure. That is a matter to be settled by the statesmen but surely some means can be found to put a stop to such condi- tions as are shown to exist in Chicago. | nANAI. SUPPI,IES