Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1922-01-16
BUTCHERS ONLY
AFTER PEDDLERS
SAYS MATHEWS
No Intention To Cut Out Cured
Meat SaIes-Point Out
Objections

/ butchers OF the city against meat
| peddlers was never meant to include
/ cured meats, and that the butchers
have no objection, in fact want no
restriction, against the farmer sell
ing cured meats, was the statement
today of R. T. Mathews, local mar
n ket man, in discussing the contro-
II versy that has arisen over the altera-
ton of the special license ordinance
recently by the city council. At
the same time Mr.. Mathews stat
ed that some of the utterances of
persons representing themselves as
!speaking for the farmers at the coun-
ell meeting last Friday were unfair
and incorrect.
"In the first place." he said, "It
was never the intention of the deal
ers to include cured meats. We fa-
!vor allowing the farmers to sell their
cured hams, shoulders, side meat and
cured sausage as much as they. care
to, and make no complaint whatever.
What we do object to, and all we OBJ
jeot to, is the professional meat ped
dler and the man who peddles meat
without sanitary restrictions, while
we are obliged to observe sanitary
rules. There are number of farm
ers who have been making business
of buying up hogs and peddling the
meat around town. We submit that
this is not right or fair to the dealer
in town who pays his license. And
| they do not have to observe any sani-
tary restrictions. The butcher can
not even hang a quarter of meat out
in front of his place of business as
an advertisement; he must keep it in
side away from the dust and properly
Iscreened.
No Meat Protection.
The peddler, however, comes into
town with his meat and goes up and
down the streets, with all kinds of
persons handling it, possibly many of
them diseased, and with dust from
the street flying, fully as much dust
as would come in contact with a
piece of meat hanging out at the mar
ket.
Some have suggested that the city
compel the farmers to have their
meats passed by sanitary inspector
Ibefore going out to sell it, and fore
ling them to obtain permit, making
affidavit that their meat was produc-
ed on their own farms. Such restric-
! tion would be a harder blow to the
J farmers that what we have been ask
ing.
81 cite an example of how the ped
dlers work. A certain man has been
Ipeddling meat around town all sea-
son. We went to the city marshal
and he said he couldn't touch this
man, as he had asserted the meat
was raised on his own place. We in
vestigated and found from his neigh
bors where he had been buy
| ing his meat. He had been simply
| lying about raising it, and had been
coming in here making business of
selling meat, without sanitary restric-
tion and without paying a license. 1t
| isn't right and it isn't fair.
81 have been farmer most of my
life, and / know both sides of this
question. One of the men who stood
Up before the council the other day
md said there was no money in SELL
ng meat wholesale has been buying
rom farmers and selling the meat to
7 he butchers at profit during the
warm months. His howl comes in
| he winter when he doesn't need ice
md he thinks he has a chance to pick
lp extra money peddling the meat
| Something of Prices.
Farmers ask the market man Is
| cents for livers and peddle them for
10 cents apiece; l offered a man Is
ents the other day for chitterlings
md he peddled them out at IL 1-2
ents. have the proof of these
statements. And there are plenty of
,ther examples of the kind.
GAS for the consumer in the city,
re doesn't have to pay big price
the market man, and he
| ilways knows what he is get
ing, in the way of good meat and
anitary conditions. A man will let
lis wife go to the millinery store and
| Jay $50 for hat, in which the profit
| S SO to rs per cent and think little
| # it; the transaction requires one
| 9erson and a paper bag to wrap up
| he package. 1t requires market
I whole day to sell $50 worth of
Imeat, gross, with several meat cut
ers at work and several boys on BIZ
/ cycles to deliver it. So you see
Ivhere the profits are in this business.
"Tte fact is, we are making moth
| ng just now in these reconstruction
ines But we do not believe we
should be put out of business to save
The farmer any more than we believe
lthe farmer should be put out of busi-
mess to save us. What we want is
to do the right thing and have the
fright thing done by US. We want to
Iput q stop to the peddler who makes
lit d business--and that is all we want
land ask.