MEAT INSPECTION. 
487 
Civilization, with its centralization or power, and breaking 1 
up of small tribes or clans and the organization in their stead 
of vast kingdoms, empires and republics with the great com¬ 
mercial changes, has rendered the ancient Jewish laws in 
some of its phases inapplicable to our present needs. In our 
country, with our meat producing animals reared at one point, 
killed at a distant slaughtering center, and then distributed to 
every part of the union, the nation becomes the consumer of 
meat, and so national meat inspection becomes a necessit}^. 
The people of the United States cannot consume the entire 
neat product of the nation, but have a vast surplus which it 
s desirable should be sold into foreign countries where, from 
;he density of population or other unfavorable environments, 
;here cannot be sufficient meat produced to supply the neces¬ 
sities of its people. In such event, if we would conform to 
he proposition that meat inspection should be primarily in 
he interests of the consumer, it is evident that, if we are to 
mjoy a large meat export trade, that the inspection of such 
ood products must be so conducted as to properly guard the 
lealth and lives of those by whom the meat is to be used. 
To this end opportunity must be given to the importing 
countries to know that the inspection is skillfully and con- 
cientiously performed. 
It is possible that other than sanitary reasons may lead a 
itate or nation to exclude from its markets the food products 
>f another. We recently witnessed the ineffectual attempts 
<f certain States to exclude dressed meats imported from 
•thers by laws apparently inspired by the desire of the affected 
itates to protect their cattle-raisers, and the assertion of Bol- 
mger that to his mind more persons die from the want of a 
ue amount of meat than from the eating of diseased meat 
/ould indicate that some of the great meat importing countries 
f Europe base their exclusion of foreign meats upon political 
ather than sanitary causes. 
Your committee, appointed largely for the purpose of con- 
nuing the study and discussion of Dr. Schwartzkopff’s paper 
n “ National and International Meat Inspection,” read before 
lis Association at its last meeting, find it impracticable to 
