Show PRACTICES OF THE PACKERS Disease and Death Lurk in the Meat Product Sent Out From Chicago President Roosevelt Senda a Message to Congress Urging the Passage of the Beveridge Amendment to the Agricultural Appropriation BUI Washington President Roosevelt on Monday transmitted to congress the report of Messrs Reynolds and Nelll on existing conditions In the Chicago Chi-cago packing houses Accompanying the report was a message urging tho passage of the Beverldgo amendment to the agricultural appropriation bill making Inspection of meat products compulsory at the cost of the packers The message follows The Senate and House of Representatives Repre-sentatives I transmit herewith the report of Mr James Bronson Reynolds Rey-nolds and Commissioner Qharles P Neill the special committee whom I appointed to Investigate Into the conditions con-ditions In the stockyards of Chicago and report thereon to me This report re-port Is of a preliminary nature I submit sub-mit It to you now because It shows the urgent need of Immediate action by the congress In the direction of providing pro-viding a drastic and thoroughgoing Inspection In-spection by the federal government of nil stockyards and packing houses and of their products so far as the latter enter Into Interstate or foreign commerce The conditions shown by even this short Inspection to exist In the Chicago stockyards are revolting It Is Imperatively necessary in the interest In-terest of society and decency that they should be radically changed Under Un-der the existing law it Is wholly impossible Im-possible to secure satisfactory results re-sults When my attention was first directed direct-ed to this matter an investigation was made under the bureau of animal industry In-dustry of the department of agriculture agricul-ture When the preliminary statements state-ments of this Investigation were brought to my attention they showed such defects In the law and such wholly whol-ly unexpected conditions that I deemed It best to have a further Immediate Im-mediate Investigation by men not connected con-nected with the bureau and accordingly according-ly appointed Messrs Reynolds amiNe ami-Ne l It was impossible under the existing law that satisfactory work should be dono by the bureau of animal an-imal Industry I am now however examining the way In which the work actually was done Before I had received the report of Messrs Reynolds and Nelll I had directed that labels placed upon any package of meat food products should state only that the carcass of the animal an-imal from which tho meat was taken had been Inspected at the time of slaughter If Inspection of meat food products at all stages of preparation Is not secured by the passage of legislation legis-lation recommended I shall feel compelled com-pelled to order that Inspection labels and certificates on canned products shall not be used hereafter The report shows that tho stockyards stock-yards and packing houses are not kept even reasonably clean and that the method of handling and preparing food products Is uncleanly and dangerous dan-gerous to health Under existing law tho national government has no power to enforce Inspection of the many forms of prepared meat food products that are dally going from the packing houses Into Interstate commerce Ow ing to an Inadequate appropriation the department of agriculture Is not even able to place Inspectors In all establishments desiring that The present law prohibits the shipment ol uninspected meat to foreign coon tries but there Is no provision forbid ding the shipment of uninspected meats In Interstate commerce and thus th avenues of Intcrtttato commerce com-merce are left open to tralllc In diseased dis-eased or spoiled moats If as has been alleged on seemingly good authority au-thority further evils exist such as the Improper use of chemicals and dyes the government lacks power to remedy rem-edy them A law Is needed which will enable tho Inspectors of the general government to Inspect and supervise from the hoof to tho can the preparation prepara-tion of meat food products The evil seems to be much less In tho sale of dressed carcasses than In the sale of canned and other prepared products and very much less us regards products pro-ducts sent abroad than as regards those used at home In my judgment the expenses ot the Inspection should be paid by a fee levied on each animal slaughtered 11 this Is not done the whole purpose of the law can at any time bo defeated through an tnsufllclcnt appropriation and whenever there was no particular Interest In the subject It would not bo only easy but natural thus to make the appropriation Insufficient If It were not for this consideration I should favor the government paying for the Inspection Tho alarm expressed In certain quarters concerning this feature should be allayed by a realization of the fact that In no case under such a law will the cost of Inspection exceedS exceed-S cents per head I call special attention to tho fact that this report Is preliminary and that the Investigation Is still unfinished unfin-ished It Is not yet possible to report on the alleged abuses In the use of deleterious chemical compounds In connection with canning and preserving preserv-ing meat products nor on the alleged doctoring In this fashion of tainted meat and of products returned to tho packers as having grown unsalable or unusable from ago or from other re sons Grave allegations are made In reference to abuses of this nature Let mo repeat that under the present pres-ent law there practically Is no method of stopping these abuses If they should be discovered to exist Legislation Legisla-tion Is needed In order to prevent tho possibility of all abuses In tho future If no legislation is passed then the excellent results accomplished by tho work of this special committee will endure en-dure only so long as the memory of the committees work is fresh and recrudescence re-crudescence of the abuses is absolutely absolute-ly certain I ugro the Immediate enactment Into law of provisions which will enable en-able the department ot agriculture adequately to Inspect tho meat and meat food products entering Into Interstate In-terstate commerce and to supervise the methods of preparing the same and to prescribe tho sanitary conditions condi-tions under which the work shall bo perfornfed I therefore commend to your favorable consideration and urge the enactment of substantially tho provisions known as senate amendment amend-ment No 29 to tho act making appropriations appro-priations for the department of agriculture agri-culture for the fiscal year ending June 30 1907 as passed by the senate this enactment being commonly known as the Bevorldgo amendment THEODORE ROOSEVELT The White House June 4 190C |