Los Angeles herald., 1910-01-23

of scandals have come to light 1nVolV-
ing filthy conditions and alleged whole
sale violations of the pure food laws,
the beef trust is believed to be without
a legal leg to stand on.
Reports from Washington today in
dicate that the voice of the American
people, who, in the last weight
hours, have arisen en- masse to pro-
test against the eXorbitant get rich
quick" prices of meat and edibles, has
in this one instance at least penetrated
to the furthermost resources of the
government, and that the no o-uncertain
significance of it's echo has brought
trepidation to the hearts or those fed
eral allies of the trusts who, so long
have winked at the robbery of con-
sumers and the arrogance of the great
interests" which corner and control the
necessities of life.
Traced to Tariff Laws
Prominent men in Chicago say that
while the government is compelled by
public protest to investigate the beef
trust, the trouble has come at the
worst possible time, for there are thou
sands who will trace the high price Of
living to no other cause than the new
Aldrich Taft Cannon tariff law, and
inasmuch as this tariff law, outrageous
as it is declared by party leaders TO
he has caused an ominous breach in
the Republican party and alienated 1t
from some of its best leaders, many
predict 1t will lead to the quick un-
doing of the Aldrich combine and their
trust-fostering legislation
AT any rate, the recent actions of the
beef and other trusts show Roosevelt s
warnings to have been correct, ana
proye that if such combinations are
allowed to reign unbridled the masses
of the}American people will indeed soon
be s'stripped, spanked and spat upon
without recourse to law. And any
confirmation of Roosevelts principles
is a slap at the present Republican
administration, which so far has gone
directly contrary to the policies lalu
down by Taft's predecessor, sanctioned
by tie people.
In the memory of Chicagoans there
has in the past been but one notable
effort directed by the government
against the beef trust, when, last year,
United States District Attorney SIMS
conducted an investigation into
charges of rebating made against Nor
ris e Company. At that time officials
of the Northern Pacific company were
interrogated, but nothing Was ever
done and the public by this time has
almost forgotten the incident.
Today, however, as a result ol puplic
clamor, Mr. Sims deemed 1T necessary
to "get pusy' anu aiii,o ~ ....oso,,t +be
amaking preparations to present tne
results of his investigation made last
IF If was also. admitted by federal Of
fcers here today that the investiga-
tion of a year ago revealed condltlons
fo. an independent investigation which
NOW is about to be made.
sims to Investigate
Besides making known for the frst
time 1.-The results OF me lnVestlsalloil '..1,l
last vear" Mr.. Sims said today he was
manning an investigs tion of the lead
ing meat packers, to begin next week,
when a new federal grand jury VIII
convene"
All of this indicates that the nation
wide protest has had a decided and
sudden effect, and that the beef trust
is facing a predicament Retail meat
men in Chicago, however, have little
confidence in the federal investigation,