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in the method of slaughtering animals has made dressed meats an article of interstate 

 commerce, and as such it has been withdrawn to a great extent from local regula- 

 tions and should receive the supervision of the national authorities. 



The third great reason for a national inspection of slaughtering establishments is 

 that of outbreaks of communicable diseases among live stock, which are dangerous 

 to the property or health of our people should be promptly discovered and controlled. 

 The most available and certain method by which this can be accomplished is the in- 

 spection of all animals sent to the great slaughtering establishments of the country. 

 Congress has already made large appropriations for the eradication of the contagious 

 lung plague of cattle, and the known infected districts are under strict quarantine. 

 But if the contagion in some way escapes the vigilance of the officers and the disease 

 in spite of all provision for its discovery and suppression appears elsewhere in the 

 country, the owner of affected animals may conceal his losses and ship his herd for 

 slaughter. The animals are purchased by a large packing establishment; they are 

 seen only by their irresponsible employe's, and no matter what lesions they show 

 the Government is none the wiser. In this way consumers may be supplied with dis- 

 eased meats, and the presence of a contagious disease may be successfully concealed. 

 A thorough system of inspection would not only protect the consumer, but would re- 

 veal the existence of a new center of contagion at the earliest moment and enable 

 the Government to economically and effectually guard the food supply of. the nation 

 and its interstate and foreign commerce from the destructive influence of animal 

 plagues. 



To protect the health and lives of its citizens is, or ought to be, oue of the first ob- 

 jects of any government, and there is no way in which more can be done in this direc- 

 tion by our National Government than in protecting the food supply of the country. 

 Heretofore this has been left to State and municipal regulations, and the power of the 

 Federal Government has been felt in forcing articles into the several States, because 

 such articles were the subjects of interstate commerce, rather than in supplementing 

 the local authority for the protection of the consumer. And while it is right that 

 interstate commerce should be protected, it is proper that it should be regulated for 

 the benefit of the great mass of the people the consumers as well as to maintain 

 the business of the smaller number the shippers. 



The great importance of an inspection of animals slaughtered for food is apparent 

 to the most superficial investigator. In many cities it is a well-known fact that ani- 

 mals in a most disgusting and dangerous condition of disease may be and are regu- 

 larly slaughtered for human food, and their carcasses go into consumption without 

 let or hindrance. In a country where refinement and civilization have reached the 

 development which we find in the United States the common instincts of humanity 

 require that the consumers of meat should be protected from food of this character. 



It is well known that many of the internal parasites of man can only be obtained 

 from the animal food of which he partakes. This applies particularly to tape worms 

 and trichinae, which pass one period of their lives in the flesh of cattle and hogs. 

 It is not so generally understood that many sudden and dangerous illnesses result 

 from eating animal food which has been poisoned by the products of disease existing 

 in the animal before its slaughter. Most common of these are the septic disorders so 

 common in nearly all species of domesticated animals. 



The most dangerous disease in its effects upou human health, however, is tuber- 

 culosis, which is known to be very prevalent among cattle, and for which it is seldom 

 that a carcass is condemned. The vital statistics of the country show that 150,000 

 deaths are caused every year in the United States by this disease, and almost the 

 only available means of prevention suggested by the medical commissions which 

 have investigated the subject, is the protection of the consumer from food derived 

 from tuberculous animals. 



In the preparation of this article details have been purposely omitted and the aim 

 has been to present in a succinct form the great reasons for a national inspection law 

 that will guaranty the character of tUe animal food sold in this country, as well as. 



