such times and places, and in such manner as he may deem proper, to ascertain whether such cattle, sheep, swine, and goats are free from disease. And for this purpose he may appoint inspectors who shall be authorized to give an official certificate clearly stating the condition in which such cattle, sheep, swine, and goats are found. And no clearance shall be given to any vessel having on board cattle, sheep, swine, or goats for export to a foreign country until the owner or shipper of such cattle, sheep, swine, or goats has a certificate from the inspector herein authorized to be appointed, stating that the said cattle, sheep, swine, or goats are sound and healthy, or unless the Secretary of Agriculture shall have waived the requirement of such certificate for export to the particular country to which such cattle, sheep, swine, or goats are to be exported. That the Secretary of Agriculture shall also cause to be made a careful inspection of the carcasses and parts thereof of all cattle, sheep, swine, and goats, the meat of which, fresh, salted, canned, corned, packed, cured, or otherwise prepared, is intended and offered for export to any foreign country, at such times and places and in such manner as he may deem proper. And for this purpose he may appoint inspectors, who shall be authorized to give an official certificate stating the condition in which said cattle, sheep, swine, or goats, and the meat thereof, are found. And no clearance shall be given to any vessel having on board any fresh, salted, canned, corned, or packed beef, mutton, pork, or goat meat, being the meat of animals killed after the passage of this act, or except as hereinbefore provided for export to and sale in a foreign country from any port in the United States, until the owner or shipper thereof shall obtain from an inspector appointed under the provisions of this act a certificate that the said cattle, sheep, swine, and goats were sound and healthy at the time of inspection, and that their meat is sound and wholesome, unless the Secretary of Agriculture shall have waived the requirements of such certificate for the country to which said cattle, sheep, swine, and goats or meats are to be exported. That the inspectors provided for herein shall be authorized to give official certificates of the sound and wholesome condition of the cattle, sheep, swine, and goats, their carcasses and products as herein described, and one copy of every certificate granted under the provisions of this act shall be filed in the Department of Agriculture, another copy shall be delivered to the owner or shipper, and when the cattle, sheep, swine, and goats, or their carcasses and products, are sent abroad, a third copy shall be delivered to the chief officer of the vessel on which the shipment shall be made. That no person, firm, or corporation engaged in the interstate commerce of meat or meat food products shall transport or offer for transportation, sell or offer to sell, any such meat or meat food products in any State or Territory or in the District of Columbia, or any place under the jurisdiction of the United States, other than in the State or Territory or in the District of Columbia, or any place under the jurisdiction of the United States, in which the slaughtering, packing, canning, rendering, or other similar establishment owned, leased, operated by said firm, person, or corporation is located unless and until said person, firm, or corporation shall have complied with all of the provisions of this act. That any person, firm, or corporation, or any officer or agent of any such person, firm, or corporation, who shall violate any of the provisions of this act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punished on conviction thereof by a fine of not exceeding $10,000, or imprisonment for a period not more than two years, or by both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court. That the Secretary of Agriculture shall appoint from time to time inspectors to make examinations and inspections of all cattle, sheep, swine, and goats, the inspection of which is hereby provided for, and of all carcasses and parts thereof, and of all meats and meat food products thereof, and of the sanitary conditions of all establishments in which such meat and meat food products hereinbefore described are prepared; and said inspectors shall refuse to stamp, mark, tag, or label any carcass or any part thereof, or meat food product therefrom, prepared in any establishment herein before mentioned, until the same shall have actually been inspected and found to be sound, healthful, whole some, and fit for human food, and to contain no dyes, chemicals, preservatives, or ingredients which render such meat food product unsound, unhealthful, unwholesome, or unfit for human food, and to have been prepared under proper sanitary conditions, herein before provided for; and shall perform such other duties as are provided by this act and by the rules and regulations to be prescribed by said Secretary of Agriculture; and said Secretary of Agriculture shall, from time to time, make such rules and regulations as are necessary for the efficient execution of the provisions of this act, and all inspections and examinations made under this act shall be such and made in such manner as described in the rules and regulations prescribed by said Secretary of Agriculture not inconsistent with the provisions of this act. That any person, firm, or corporation, or any agent or employee of any person, firm, or corporation who shall give, pay, or offer, directly or indirectly, to any inspector, deputy inspector, chief inspector, or any other officer or employee of the United States authorized to perform any of the duties prescribed by this act or by the rules and regulations of the Secretary of Agriculture any money or other thing of value, with intent to influence said inspector, deputy inspector, chief inspector, or other officer or employee of the United States in the discharge of any duty herein provided for, shall be deemed guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not less than $5,000 nor more than $10,000 and by imprisonment not less than one year nor more than three years; and any inspector, deputy inspector, chief inspector, or other officer or employee of the United States authorized to perform any of the duties prescribed by this act who shall accept any money, gift, or other thing of value from any person, firm, or corporation, or officers, agents, or employees thereof, given with intent to influence his official action, or who shall receive or accept from any person, firm, or corporation engaged in interstate or foreign commerce any gift, money, or other thing of value given with any purpose or intent whatsoever, shall be deemed guilty of a felony and shall, upon conviction thereof, be summarily discharged from office and shall be punished by a fine not less than $1,000 nor more than $10,000 and by imprisonment not less than one year nor more than three years. That the provisions of this act requiring inspection to be made by the Secretary of Agriculture shall not apply to animals slaughtered by any farmer on the farm and sold and transported as interstate or foreign commerce, nor to retail butchers and retail dealers in meat and meat food products, supplying their customers: Provided, That if any person shall sell or offer for sale or transportation for interstate or foreign commerce any meat or meat food products which are diseased, unsound, unhealthful, unwholesome, or otherwise unfit for human food, knowing that such meat food products are intended for human consumption, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $1,000 or by imprisonment for a period of not exceeding one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment: Provided also, That the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to maintain the inspection in this act provided for at any slaughtering, meat canning, salting, packing, rendering, or similar establishment notwithstanding this exception, and that the persons operating the same may be retail butchers and retail dealers or farmers; and where the Secretary of Agriculture shall establish such inspection then the provisions of this act shall apply notwithstanding this exception. That there is permanently appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of $3,000,000, for the expenses of the inspection of cattle, sheep, swine, and goats and the meat and meat food products thereof which enter into interstate or foreign commerce and for all expenses necessary to carry into effect the provisions of this act relating to meat inspection, including rent and the employment of labor in Washington and elsewhere, for each year. And the Secretary of Agriculture shall, in his annual estimates made to Congress, submit a statement in detail showing the number of persons employed in such inspections and the salary or per diem paid to each, together with the contingent expenses of such inspectors and where they have been and are employed. CHANGE IN LAW REGARDING TRANSPORTATION OF LIVE STOCK. The statute commonly known as the "twenty-eight-hour law" was changed by act of Congress approved June 29, 1906. The old law, passed in 1873, prohibited the confinement in cars, boats, or other vessels for a longer period than twenty-eight consecutive hours of cattle, sheep, swine, or other animals in transit from one State to another without unloading the same for rest, water, and feeding for at least five hours, unless the animals were carried in cars, boats, or vessels in which they could and did have proper feed, water, space, and opportunity to rest. For some years there had been many violations of this law by railroads, despite the Department's efforts to enforce it. While the object of the law was good, in many cases it was a greater hardship to the animals and to the shippers to have the law complied with than to carry the animals on to their destination without unloading. At length the dissatisfaction on the part of the shippers led to the enactment of the new law, which permits an extension of the time to thirty-six hours on the written request of the owner or person in custody of the shipment. This request must be separate and apart from any printed bill of lading or other railroad form. Sheep, on account of their well-known objection to moving at night, are not required to be unloaded at night, but the time of their confinement may not be extended beyond thirty-six hours. In most respects the new law is similar to the old, though occasion was taken to correct some defects of the old law. The penalty for each violation is from $100 to $500. The new law is as follows: AN ACT To prevent cruelty to animals while in transit by railroad or other means of transportation from one State or Territory or the District of Columbia into or through another State or Territory or the District of Columbia, and repealing sections forty-three hundred and eighty-six, forty-three hundred and eighty-seven, forty-three hundred and eighty-eight, forty-three hundred and eighty-nine, and forty-three hundred and ninety of the United States Revised Statutes.-34 Stat. L., chap. 3594, p. 607. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That no railroad, express company, car company, common carrier other than by water, or the receiver, trustee, or lessee of any of them, whose road forms any part of a line of road over which cattle, sheep, swine, or other animals shall be conveyed from one State or Territory or the District of Columbia into or through another State or Territory or the District of Columbia, or the owners or masters of steam, sailing, or other vessels carrying or transporting cattle, sheep, swine, or other animals from one State or Territory or the District of Columbia into or through another State or Territory or the District of Columbia, shall confine the same in cars, boats, or vessels of any description for a period longer than twenty-eight consecutive hours without unloading the same in a humane manner, into properly equipped pens for rest, water, and feeding for a period of at least five consecutive hours, unless prevented by storm or by other accidental or unavoidable causes which can not be anticipated or avoided by the exercise of due diligence and foresight: Provided, That upon the written request of the owner or person in custody of that particular shipment, which written request shall be separate and apart from any printed bill of lading, or other railroad form, the time of confinement may be extended to thirty-six hours. In estimating such confinement, the time consumed in loading and unloading shall not be considered, but the time during which the animals have been confined without such rest or food or water on connecting roads shall be included, it being the intent of this act to prohibit their continuous confinement beyond the period of twenty-eight hours, except upon the contingencies herein before stated: Provided, That it shall not be required that sheep be unloaded in the nighttime, but where the time expires in the nighttime in case of sheep the same may continue in transit to a suitable place for unloading, subject to the afore said limitation of thirty-six hours. SEC. 2. That animals so unloaded shall be properly fed and watered during such rest either by the owner or person having the custody thereof, or in case of his default in so doing, then by the railroad, express company, car company, common carrier other than by water, or the receiver, trustee, or lessee of any of them, or by the owners or masters of boats or vessels transporting the same, at the reasonable expense of the owner or person in custody thereof, and such railroad, express company, car company, common carrier other than by water, receiver, trustee, or lessee of any of them, owners or masters, shall in such case have a lien upon such animals for food, care, and custody furnished, collectible at their destination in the same manner as the transportation charges are collected, and shall not be liable for any detention of such animals, when such detention is of reasonable duration, to enable compliance with section one of this act; but nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the owner or shipper of animals from furnishing food therefor, if he so desires. SEC. 3. That any railroad, express company, car company, common carrier other than by water, or the receiver, trustee, or lessee of any of them, or the master or owner of any steam, sailing, or other vessel who knowingly and willfully fails to comply with the provisions of the two preceding sections shall for every such failure be liable for and forfeit and pay a penalty of not less than one hundred nor more than five hundred dollars Provided, That when animals are carried in cars, boats, or other vessels in which they can and do have proper food, water, space, and opportunity to rest the provisions in regard to their being unloaded shall not apply. SEC. 4. That the penalty created by the preceding section shall be recovered by civil action in the name of the United States in the circuit or district court holden within the district where the violation may have been committed or the person or corporation resides or carries on business; and it shall be the duty of United States attorneys to prosecute all violations of this act reported by the Secretary of Agriculture, or which come to their notice or knowledge by other means. SEC. 5. That sections forty-three hundred and eighty-six, forty-three hundred and eighty-seven, forty-three hundred and eighty-eight, forty-three hundred and eighty-nine, and forty-three hundred and ninety of the Revised Statutes of the United States be, and the same are hereby, repealed. INDEX. Aberdeen-Angus- cattle for import, tuberculin test in Great Britain, fiscal year 1905–6_ Actinomycosis, condemnations at slaughter, fiscal year 1905-6---- details of work for eradication of cattle tick, 1906. Alfalfa, production value in animal nutrition ____ Anemia, etc., condemnations at slaughter fiscal year 1905–6-- Animal- Page. 23 324 16 32 16 105 53 285 16 breeding and disease, article by A. D. Melvin and E. C. Schroeder 213–222 nutrition experiments. (See Respiration calorimeter.) nutrition investigations, article by Henry Prentiss Armsby. Animals- American, for export, number inspected, fiscal year 1905–6.. 51 263-285 309 19 217 19 393-402 992 327-334 farm, estimated number slaughtered for food, 1900– number found dead or killed in stock yards, fiscal year 1905–6- 16 21 20 17 20 15 number rejected at ante-mortem inspection, fiscal year 1905-6- wild, from National Zoological Park, autopsies, fiscal year 1905-6_. Argentina, number of animals inspected and shipped to, fiscal year 1905-6 19 24 Arkansas- and Missouri, details of work for eradication of cattle tick, 1906____ 105 344 Armsby, Henry Prentiss, article on "Investigations in animal nutrition”- 263–285 list of certified studbooks, January 1, 1907. 261 number of American and foreign books of record certified 48 359 9043-07-30 463 |