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Show PACKERS DENY I TMTyFJPEIT I General Denial Made as to Con- jjj ditions Reported by Com- fi . , mission, yr- 1 IRREPARABLE INJURY j . TO GREAT INDUSTRY jj Want Inspection, Made by Mec of Broad Business . jffi Experience. - m WASHINGTON, June 6, Tho House ffl Commltteo on Agriculturo today decided jlfi to comply with the request of the Chi- jlfi cago packers to bo heard on tho Nolll- (i Reynolds report regarding conditions in 'jm 'tho Chicago packing-houses. Tho re- quest was made by Thomas Wilson, who jfjg said he was an employee of the Nelson Ijffi Morris company, but in this Instance was jttl authorized to speak for all the Chicago jjf! packers. Before hearing Mr. Wilson, th2 committee notified the Department of jM Agriculture and Mr. NcIH, Secretary Wll- son, Dr. A. D Mclvin of the depart- Igffl Pient, and Mr. Nelll at once came to the 'ftS capital and the hearing began shortly jjlii before noon. .A Makes General Denial. mI Mr. Wilson mado a general donlal of fjgj the existence of conditions In the pack- EK ing-houso as set forth In tho Nelll-Roy- 'K nolds report. He begnn by Inviting the jr8jfl commltteo to como to Chicago and spend tlj R week in personal investigation of con- lH ditions. That, he Bald, would bo tho only ! way for members to gain a proper Idea of lljj what the conditions really wsre. Somo tt suggestions made in the report, he said, ki had already been complied with bv the f packers, cuch as additional sanitary fa- U i cKltles, , ill No "Freshening Up." iJ , Ab to tho charge that canned meats !jf were bulled In water to "freshen then. fi up," Mr. Wilson said there was abso- i lutely nothing In this. Canned meat. h; N said, was as good five years after it had Ft been put up as it was five minutes after- fx wards, providing no air had got to It. fa ' If air had reached tho meat It would be 'I spoiled beyond being freshening up. What m tho cans wcrf. put ft, hot watrr lor was to soak oft the old label, which, he said. 'fli was an injury to the uppenrancc ot the itl goods on sale. t Made. Into Swap. i Ho denied absolutely v that there wor 2 I nny diseased cattlo or hogs butchered for In focd. For In every carload of cattle or m 1 hogs, ho said, some were llkoly to be j(J j dead and some diseased. The dead or Im diseased hogs and cattle were sent to the M Standard Rendering company, which was lllj a very different institution from the jf9H Standard Slaughtering companv, al- ijljjjj though tho two were likely to be con- ' fused In tho mind. Tho rendering com- Wt pany turned the dead and diseased meat - into grease, which was a co-product In 'til HI the manufacture ot soup. 'iwffl No Rope or Scraps. j jfljff Mr. Wilson described In detail the opor- j Wflj atlon of preparing canned meats, and. . mm when askod by Representative Scott or Wflj Kansas, a member of tho committee, ' QjH "How about tho ropo and other foreign H I matter found with tho scrapa on the I j fl floor?" Mr. Wilson explained fiiat what ;1 J was probably seen In this Inavanco was !j m tho string on tho knuckle end of what 8 j had been dried beef. This string was ! f used with which to hang the beef in (he 1 smoko house, and, when the beef was j j sliced ofT, thin knuckle end was left , 1 ! There was a bono In it, and he said it 'jij was Impossible to uso It. Tho bone would 'n I smash the machine if tin attempt was !t mado to use It fft "I do not believe Mr. Nelll got anj il statement from anyone that they were i m going to chop these pieces up. If he did, !;H it was from somcono who did not know JE or ho did not get tho whole statement." ' 8 As Clean as Possible. ! JE Representative Hasklns asked about the i 4K dry floors. jr "These floors," replied Mr. Wilson, "are i : scrubbed every night as clean as wood ; , can be scrubbed. They aro as clean as i any kitchen." j H Taking up tho recommendations of , ; H Messrs. Nelll and Reynolds, looking to , 13 m the Improvement of conditions, Mr. Wll- 'J in son said tho packers did not object to n M Goernmcnt regulation of sanitary condl- jj ffl tions, but they did objrel to the Secre- U fa tary of Agriculture being made the judge jjjj H of what Is sanitary- i No Objection to Experts. ;' I "Why, he might call In outside talent -i B which was Inexperienced as to packing- 9 houses, and tho business of slauKhterlng. ! j B Just as h is been done recently," eontlri- E i I ued .Mr. Wilson. "(Jet talnly, we should J object to that. There are experts on the iS; fl question of sanitation, and we have no (fl, fl objection to the closest scrutiny from fl these." li i II Want Good Inspection. )', H Supervision of every branch of the j w packing business was not objected to by :Ci flj tho packers, said Mr. Wilson. The Gov- t 'flj ernmont may put on as many inspectors iS 9 as It desires, so long an tho packers do P, flj not havj to pay for them, lie said the H tM packing business would be benefited by t,1 B9 the inspection of tho different branches ''Ru from "tho hoof to tho can." Good in-' fi spectlon Is what tho packers want, he E m declared. ! H In addition to the question of who ili nj shall bo the Judge of sanitation. Mr. Wll- ., H Bon said thnt the only other suggestion F. NJ made by the NelU-Rcynolds report to ,tl B v-hlch tno packers would have any ob- Is! H jcctlon Is tho requirement that tho date 71 m of canning be placed on all canned art,l- (! 91 cloo. He said that would servo no pur- flj pose, except to Injure the canned moat fl flj business. iflflU "Naturally, a buyer will cliooso tho 'Ufl9 flrtlelo with the freshest appearing la- isHfll bel," said Mr. Wilson, "whon, as a "mat- jljfal ter of fact, the canned meat docs not !n8 deteriorate with age." irMn Would Not Eat "Swcllers." In speaking of the return of goods, ho ijll H said that consignments aro sometimes JR sent back to the shippers because a na KH m had been driven through a can in fasten- j J ing up a box. This, ho said, would causa U 1 that can to spoil and the consignees M j would Imagine that the whole shipment ! HJ I had spoiled. Then, It Is passible, in rars ' jSE Instances, for air to have gotten Into the j flflj can and caused It to swell. Ho described ; SnflJ such cans as "swcllers," . but said thero (0391 is no danger of these ever being eaten, fffl ond added, with a laugh, "not the slight- I Hjfl cct." No ono asked him why ! flfl Bad Meat Never Used. j em "Would It bo possible to put in cans IU meat which hns begun to putrlfy?" aked J luflj Chairman NVadsworth. ; Sim "Not tin loans tho moat wore accompH- j nil j nlcd by chemicals such ns It would be ftSM 3 tclcltle to eat," replied Mr, Wilson. Ho llU j declared that tho use of bad meat has i'rTl never bon attempted by r.oputablo pack- H' j ers and that It would bo sulcldo to their i OUSlnCSS. ' At this point a recess wns taken fori i luncheon, ' j Mr Wilson read a prepared statement to tho committee, In which ho said: j Irreparable Injury. I "That the livestock and packing lndus-( lndus-( tries have suffered an Irroparable Injury by tho unjust and unwarranted criticisms ! of the past week. I am sure It Is unnecessary unneces-sary for mo to loll you gentlemen, who -re In such close touch with tb "ST lulturnl Interests of the country. Had the original motlvo been slrnply tho obtaining, obtain-ing, of legislation to Improve tho Inspection Inspec-tion and sanitary conditions, then, I say. the criticisms ha?o been doubly unjust r.rU unfair, for In tho very Inception of lha lnvcatlpatlon the commission and their superiors were given the assurance if the packers' co-operation and then 1 personal guarantee was given that any , practical recommendations would bo welcomed wel-comed and adopted. Favor Best Conditions. , "We Are now and have always been In I favor of tho extension of inspection; also of the adoption of sanitary regulations that will Insure the very best possible I conditions, and In this connection J mo?t respectfully call your attention to the recommendation's of Messrs, Nelll and Remolds, paragraph 7 of their repot t, nj uoldp. paragraph 7 of tholr report, all of which, except In somo mlror details, hss the hearts' approval and Hupport of i the packers. "What wo are opposed to I dria: what wo appeal to you gentlemen ! tot1 protection against Is a bill that will put our business In the hands of theorists, ihemlfits. sociologists, etc., and tho nmn-i nmn-i Hremcnt and control taken !vay from ihe men who havo dovoted th?lr 1 Ives to I the upbuilding and perfecting of this 1 great American Industry, i "My denials of Messrs. IseJIl Arid Roj-i Roj-i Qldss report In detail would, of course, simply be my opinion against theirs, not-i not-i withstanding ' my twenty years' experience experi-ence In tho business. Fine Sensibilities "Thero Is no question but that tho i monv necessary operations, attending tne slaughtering of animals, the sight or I blood and other offal resulting would I havo a very shocking effect on tho nerves Mid senses of two men with the nccessarj Sine Feasibilities that such men as Messrs. .N'elll and Reynolds must have, who dc-vdled dc-vdled their lives to one line of scientific i or sociological work, but men such as this committee Is composed, with broaii and more general experiences, will im-i im-i m.edfalelv appreciate how tho conditions reported" have been exoggorutpd and that the gr-atcst effort Is made at all times to handle tho product In a clean and sanitary manner. We appreciate that Messrs. Nelll and Roynolds's cxperlcnco especially eqilp them to recommend Improvement Im-provement In social conditions and many of the suggestions made by them were found to 1x5 practical apd have already been adopted, hut we also feel that their ivo and one-hnlf weeks' experience In tho packing-houses does not equip thorn bm-flclentlv bm-flclentlv to Justify yotir honorable body In tndcrtaklng to Intelligently legislate on their observations alono." Por this reason he wanted the committee commit-tee to make a personal Inspection. |