The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-11-30

with the poisons and thereafter get
along as well as we can.
Representative Fowler makes other
charges. He adds:
A long time ago I was In the meat
business and II was my experience
that the longer meat is kept the
darker II gets, II is different now.
never knew the reason until became
acquainted with man who had been
In the meat business in Indianapolis
for several years. | asked him how
he could explain the perfect appear
nnce OF the meat which | saw hang
ing IN the windows and which i knew
could not be fresh. He said, That's
easy; they treat II with chemicals.
syringe filed with chemicals,
jabbed It through the meat to the
bone and squlrted that hellish fluid
into IT, That explains 10 me per-
fectly why in every city l see hun
dreds and hundreds OF children grow
Ing up with colorless faces and with
arms and legs as thin as straws.
1t is my opinion that all the meat
that the American people ent Is pos
oned with benzoa te OF soda or sui
phites and that the people who are
responsible for this re slowly talk
ing the lives OF millions.
IT is not clear from Mr. Fowler's re-
marks whether he is accusing the re-
tail butchers or the packers. If he is
accusing the packers, the public Will
be constrained to inquire whether the
numerous inspectors provided for by
tho federal law arc doing their duty. If
employees In the packing houses are In
jecttng poisonous preservatives into
fresh beef we should hear Of It from
the government inspectors. II the
doping" takes place after the meat
has como into the hands of brokers or
retailers, then 1t Is not surprising that
the public has been kept in ignorance
Of this vicious practice,
The accusations made by Representa-
tive Fowler will revive the famous con-
troversy that ragged around benzoate of
soda. In the last few years this con-
troversy has declined from roar to
whisper, but evidently the last word
has not been said. 1t will be recalled
that the Remsen board, which was ap-
pointed by President Roosevelt, de-
clared that benZoate Of soda was harm
less. Dr.. Wiley, however, denounced
the findings Of the Remsen board, and
while he was in the Agricultural de-
partment continued to insist that ben
zoate of soda was q poison. The easy
plea Of the packers or OF the retail
butchers will be that benzoate Of soda
is not delcterious, but we may expect
lively fight on this issue.
To what Mr.. Fowler refers when he
mentions sulphites as preservatives is
not made clear in the dispatches. The
principal chemical preservatives used
in the curing Of meats are bora1, boric
acid and sulphite OF soda. DR.. Wiley in
his book entitled, Goods and Their
declares that "there are
many other chemical preservatives
which have been employed, but these
(borax, boric acid and sulphite Of
soda) are by far the most useful, the
most certain and the most widely en-
ployed.' -
An investigation of the beef trust Is
probably on the cards. For about
seven years the packers have been i'm
mune from investigation, and the pub
lie will feel better satisfied If Repro
sentative Fowler's charges are probed
without delay. Investigation, however,
should be extended TO the brokers and
retailers. It is not unlikely that the
laws which were aimed at the packers
are inadequate to prevent abuses by
those who handle the meats after they
have left the hands Of the packers
State laws are supposed to supply this
deficiency. but whether they do or not
IS a question for which the public
will demand en- answer