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Show H THE WITCHES CALDRON AT CHICAGO. H What Mr. Henri Hochefort calls "tho H hellish cookery" at Chicago by which fl purchasers of canned meats aro un- M consciously turned into cannibals and M carrlon-cators, says tho Literary Dl- M Best, has roused intense horror In Eu- M rope. It Is, of course, understood, as H tho Hamburger Nachrichtcn avers, M that "only sound meat is shipped from H America to Europe, and tho tainted H trash Is consumed at homo in tho H United States." Germany's strict and H sclontlllc inspection of importations H lias also acted as a safcguaid, and H there Is therefore less excitement In H the German than In the English press. H Moreover, tho preserved meat used H In tho French army is, according to H tho Intranslgeant (Paris), manufac- H turcd in Prance. There is, of course, fl a largo amount of Chicago products B imported by France; and tho editor B of tho Intranslgeant, on talking to a HJ member of the American Chamber 01 HJ Commerco at Paris, reports the fol- HJ lowing observation mado by that gon- HJ tleman : "It is Impossible not to deplore tho HJ scandal. Wo wcro hoping to obtain a HJ revision of tno Franco-American treaty HJ of commerco, especially as regards J tho importation from the United HH btatcs of fresh or salt meats. I fear Hi any such attempt will now bo useless. HI This whole Incident must prove dis- astrous to American foreign trade." SB Tho British papers seem to bo es- J pecially horrified nt this cvldcnco of HJ American corruption. They mako lit- HJ tlo mention of their own meat scandals HI of the Boer war, and bring railing ac- cusation against America in evident unconsciousness of tho similar abuses uncovered in London in tho last few I days, whore It has been found that huge quantities 01 spoiled meat wcro HJ being worked over and sold as fresh. J Tho London Daily Mail, In comment- ing on tho "horrors" of tho expose, tie- HJ clarcs: HJ "It can be no cause for surprise If HI people henceforth follow tho example HI set by ano of Mr. Roosevelt's commissi commis-si sloners, who has witnessed tho hor- rors and avoid American tinned meats HJ and patted foods as something moro dangerous than tho plague. Who i.nows how many cases of diseaso and death nro to bo explained by the greed of the packers and tho utter Inefllclcn- cy of tho Inspection In the United Stntes? Even now Is there any real HI security that the Inspectors will bo at once strict and incorrputiblo? It is HI to he hoped that tho people of tho HB United States will insist upon tho of- fenders being brought to Justice and that tho exemplary punishment will ho inflicted upon them which they have HB so richly deserved." Tho London Times thinks that the meat frauds are of a picco with tho J general order of things In tho United J States. Tlio American correspondent of that paper thus expatiates in an cd-HJ cd-HJ ' ltorial tono on tho American's patience J under flnanclnl and political trickery, J but evident dlsllko of being poisoned: "Tho people of this country aro no,t particularly eager for protection I ngainst robbery, legalized or other. A HI man who 'can not protect himself HJ against thieves has never received HB much sympathy here. Nor can ono HH excito Americans by stories of official HJ corruption. When prosperity Is so HB general and tho wealth of tho country HB is so great, tho fact that some persons H acquired a little of It by illegitimate H means docs not seem of supremo im-H im-H portanco. H "But tho sickening exposure of tho H methods employed in the slaughtcr- H houses and packing establishments at H Chicago Is a different affair. To bo H robbod is ono thing; to bo poisoned H is another. Iho revelation now being H ' mado will, it is certain, result in login- H lation nnd, It Is to bo confidently hop ed, in tho punishment of tho black I guards who have been accumulating I great fortunes by selling unwholesomo tood to tho American people." In its editorial columns Tho Times says: "Horrible as aro the details from a sanitary point of vlow, tho grinding tyranny by which men, women and children aro forced step by step down to the lowest depths of degradation and depravity by tho bosses of tho Beef Trust Is perhaps moro awful still. Tho conditions of work in these establishments estab-lishments aro at best sufficiently demoralizing, de-moralizing, but they might at least bo mitigated by humano treatment. On tho contrary, thoy aro aggravated by a brutal system carried out by brutal agents, a system by which, in a land supposed to bo tree and democratic, tho plutocrat grinds tho souls of men and women as ruthlessly as Ills machines ma-chines disintegrate his tuberculous cattle, his cholera-smitten hogs, and his putrid hams. Universal suffrage, universal education, omnipresent freo liurarles, all tho panoply of modem panaceas for tho atnises supposed to bo Inseparable from olden regimes, result In a tyranny moro body- and soul-uo-stroylng than any exercised by auto crats or feudal oppressors." The anti-American Saturday Review (London) is extremely pessimistic and declares that legislation would be useless. use-less. To quote: What can a bill do where bribery and fraud aro tho atmosphere which everybody breathes? There seems moro to bo hoped from tho natural repugnance of consumers to be poisoned, pois-oned, and the consequent collapse of tho business which supplies iho poison. pois-on. No baser crime against humanity has ever been committed than that of wnicn tho American meat trusts aro being accused. As to the general conditions con-ditions of tho meat industry they are like those that exist In other departments depart-ments of American Industrial life probably tho worst in the world." Iho London bpectator expresses British Indignation in tho following cutting terms: The two worlds have been shocked and Infuriated. Tho Chicago packinghouses packing-houses appear to combine pretty well all tho characteristic evils which degrade de-grade our civilization. They are recklessly reck-lessly solllsh. They stop at no offense of-fense that promises to servo their purpose. They aro grossly oppressive to those in their employ. They aro familiar with every kind of fraudulent, method for disguising dlseas( J offal, which it pleases them to sell ns meat. They know how to square officials If thoy aro threatened by so much as tho shadow of inspection. They have not oven tried to conceal their misdeeds." While Tho Daily News (London) philosophically announces that the corruption in tho packing-house system sys-tem is a feature of "the fight between tho people and tho plutocracy," a fight which ' is nearlng its consummation," it rejoices that such prompt action has been taken In tho matter by the Pres-diont Pres-diont and tho Senate. As It says: "Mr. Roosevelt's mere threat to publish his commissioners' report has silenced tho packers and prevented them from offering any effective opposition oppo-sition to a bill which has already passed pass-ed tho American senate, and which gives practically autocratic power to meat inspectors who aro to bo appointed ap-pointed by the government. It Is clear from tho report of the President Presi-dent commission of inquiry that tho stockyards at Chicago aro wrongly built, and have become Impregnated with Ingrained refuse of a quito unspeakable un-speakable character." |
