198 ESSENTIALS OF VETERINARY LAW 



provide for systematic supervision of the meat 

 production by the Department of Agriculture; 

 provides for post mortem examination by inspect- 

 ors of the Department, and the exclusion from in- 

 terstate or foreign commerce of such meats or 

 meat products as show evidences of disease, pre- 

 servatives, coloring matter or disease producing 

 substances. 



The Act of October 3, 1913,37 provides for the 

 importation of certain articles free of duty, but 

 subjects imported meats to examination. 



The Food and Drugs Act of June 30, 1906,^8 

 provides for the exclusion of articles from inter- 

 state or foreign commerce on account of mislabel- 

 ing, or for adulteration. The administration of 

 this act is in charge of the Bureau of Chemistry 

 of the Department of Agriculture. 



153. Intrastate Meat Industries. Only a little 

 over one half of the animals slaughtered in the 

 United States are slaughtered under federal super- 

 vision. In 1907 it was estimated that approxi- 

 mately 5,000,000 cattle, 8,000,000 sheep, and over 

 10,000,000 hogs and 3,000,000 calves were slaugh- 

 tered by butchers in this country without federal 

 supervision, and most of them without any efficient 

 supervision at all. Added to these should be 

 1,500,000 cattle, 1,000,000 sheep, and 16,500,000 

 hogs slaughtered by farmers. Approximately two 

 per cent of carcasses examined by federal officers 

 are condemned, and it may easily be seen that the 

 percentage of animals slaughtered for intrastate 

 consumption which should be condemned w^ould 

 be much greater. The federal government is with- 



37 38 Stat. 114, 152, 159. 38 34 Stat. 768. 



