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Show - . . . . , . I r i WASHINGTON. June 7. Thomas Wilson Wil-son of the Nelson Morris company, in h's denial of the Nelll-Reynolds report on packing-houses before the House . Committee Com-mittee on Agriculture yesterday,- de- scribed -' in detail the operation of preparing - canned meats, and, whea asked by Representative Boott of Kansas, a member of the committee, "How about the rope and other foreign matter found with the scraps on the floor V Mr Wilson explained that what was probably seen In this Instance was the string on the knuckle end of what had been dried beef. This string was used with which to hang the beef In the , smoke house, and. when the beef was sliced off, this knuckle end was left. There was a bone In It, and he said It was Impossible to use it. The bone would smash i he $ machine If an attempt was made to use it. "I do not believe Mr. Nelll got any statement from anyone that they were going to chop these pieces up. If he did, it was from someone who did. not know or he did not get the whole statement." Taking' up the recommendations of Mtssrs. Nelll uid Reynolds,-locklna to the improvement of conditions, Mr WilJ e.n said the- pa'ckeia did 'not object to Goernment regulation of sanitary conditions, condi-tions, but they did object to the Secretary Secre-tary of Agriculture being made the Judge of what is sanitary-. "Why, he might call In ouUtde talent which was inexperienced as to packinghouses, packing-houses, and the business of slaughtering. Just as hss.been done recently," -or.tln-u-d Mr. Wilson. "Certainly, we should object to that. There are experts on the question of sanitation, and we have no objection to the closest scrutiny . from these." . . Supervision of every branch of the packing business was not objected to by the packers, said Mr. Wilson. The Government Gov-ernment may put on ss many inspectors as it desires, so long ss the packers da not have to pay for them. He said the pecking business would be benefited by the Inspection of the different branch? from "the hoof to the can." Good inspection in-spection Is what the packers want, he declared. - In addition to the Question of who shall be the judge of sanitation, Mr. Wilson Wil-son said thnt the only- other suggestion, made by the Neill-Reynolds report to htch the packers would have nny objection ob-jection is the requirement that the date of canning be placed on all canned articles. arti-cles. He said that would seive no purpose, pur-pose, except to injure the canned meat business. "Naturally, a buyer will choose the srtlole with the freshest appearing label," la-bel," said Mr. Wilson, "when, as a matter mat-ter of fact, the canned meat does not deteriorate with age." In speaking of the return of goods, he said that consignments are sometimes sent back to the shippers because a nail had been driven through a can in fastening fasten-ing up a box. This, he said, would cause that can to spoil and the consignees would imagine that the whole shipment had spoiled. Then, It is possible. In rare Instances, for air to have gotten Into the can and caused it to swelL He described such cans as "swellers," but said then is no danger of these ever being eaten,' and added, with a laugh, "not the slightest." slight-est." No one asked him why "Would it be possible to put In cans meat which has begun to putrify?" asked Chairman Wadsworth. "Not unlesss the meat were accompanied accompa-nied by chemicals such as it would be svicide to eat," 'replied Mr. Wnson. He declared that the use of bad meat has rever been attempted by reputable packers pack-ers and that it would be suicide to their business. At this point a recess was taken for luncheon. Mr. Wilson read a prepared statement to the committee, in which he said: "That the livestock and packing Industries Indus-tries have suffered an Irreparable Injury by the unjust and unwarranted criticisms of the past week, I am sure it is unnecessary unneces-sary for. me to tell you gentlemen, who are In such close touch with the ngrl-cultural ngrl-cultural Interests of the country. Had the original motive been simply tne obtaining obtain-ing of legislation to Improve the Inspection Inspec-tion and sanitary conditions, then. I say, the criticisms hae been doUDly unjust and unfair, for in the very Inception 'of the Investigation the commission and their superiors were given the assurance of the packers' co-operation and their personal guarantee was given that any practical recommendations would be welcomed wel-comed and adopted. "We are now and have always been in favor of the extension of Inspection; also of the adoption of sanitary regulations that will Insure the vary best posslblo conditions, and In this connection I most respectfully call your attention to the recommendations of Messrs. Nelll .and Reynolds, paragraph 7 of their report, all nolds, paragraph 7 of their report, all of which, except In some mlror details, has the hearty approval and support of the packers. What we are opposed to snd what we appeal to yon gentlemen for protection against is a bill that will put our busfness In the bands of theorists, chemists, sociologists, etc, and the man- rement and control taken away from the men who have devoted their lives to the upbuilding and perfecting of this great American Industry. "My denials of Messrs. Nelll and Reynolds's Rey-nolds's report In detail would, of course, simply be my opinion against theirs, notwithstanding not-withstanding my twenty years' experience experi-ence In. the business. "There is no question but that the many necessary operations attending the slaughtering of animals, the sight of blood and other offal resulting would have a very shocking effect on the nerves and senses of two men with the necessary i fine sensibilities that such men as Messrs. Nelll and Reynolds must have, who devoted de-voted their lives to one line of scientific or sociological work, but. men such ss this committee is composed, with broad and more general experiences, will immediately im-mediately appreciate how the conditions reported have been exaggerated and. that the greatest effort Is made at all times to handle the product in a clean and sanitary manner. We appreciate that Messrs. Nelll and Reynolds's experience especially equip them to recommend improvement im-provement in social conditions and many of the suggestions made by them were found to be practical and have already been adopted, but we also feel that their two and one-half weeks' experience In the packing-houses does not equip them sufficiently suf-ficiently to Justify your honorable body In undertaking to intelligently legislate on their observations alone." For this reason he wanted the committee commit-tee to make a personal inspection. |