Whereas the enforcement of said law as it now stands is an unwarranted hardship and unnecessary punishment to live stock, works a serious loss to the shipper, and is an unnecessary expense to the transportation company handling same; and Whereas this amendment in no wise lessens the liability of railroad companies under the law in the performance of an efficient service with due diligence and dispatch, and which requires them to respond to the shipper in damages upon failure to do so; nor does it enable them to consume any longer time than now required over the same distance; and Whereas from actual experience and observation in the transportation of live stock over the various lines of railroad, we know and assert it to be a fact that the frequent and unnecessary unloading and reloading of live stock, made necessary by the present twenty-eight-hour law, is positively inhuman; in fact, such unloading and reloading must of necessity be done by force, which is attended always by unavoidable punishment. To which facts we urge careful consideration by all persons interested: Therefore, be it Resolved by the American National Live Stock Association, That Congress be, and it is hereby, urgently requested to give said bill favorable consideration, thus affording shippers of live stock the relief asked for, to the end that the unnecessary punishment of live stock may be lessened. Attest: T. W. TOMLINSON, Secretary. At the annual meeting of American National Live Stock Association the following report of a conference committee was adopted and recommendations concurred in: Report of conference committee on twenty-eight-hour law to Murdo Mackenzie, chairman, and the executive committee of the American National Live Stock Association.. Your committee, appointed to confer with a similar committee appointed by the National Wool Growers' Association with respect to the matter of preparing a proper bill for the amendment of the twenty-eight-hour law, beg to report as follows: After a conference with the said committee we unanimously agreed with them as to the following amendment to section 4386 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, in the form of a proviso, which is as follows: "Provided, That upon the written request of the owner, shipper, or the agent of either, made to the initial carrier or any carrier transporting such animals, the time in which they may be permitted to remain upon the cars, boats, or vessels without being unloaded for rest, food, or water may be extended to thirtysix hours, exclusive of the time for loading or unloading: Provided, That in the case of sheep the same shall not be required to be unloaded in the nighttime, but may be carried on to a suitable place for unloading." And we recommend that the following resolution be adopted, and we request of the National Wool Growers' Association a concurrent adoption of said resolution, namely: Whereas the conference committees of the American National Live Stock Association and the National Wool Growers' Association have agreed upon the foregoing amendment to the present twenty-eight-hour law: Be it therefore Resolved, That the American National Live Stock Association in convention assembled at Denver, Colo., February 1, 1906, recommend that Congress amend said section of the Revised Statutes of the United States by adding the aforesaid proviso thereto. A correct copy. H. A. JASTRO. T. W. TOMLINSON, Secretary. The CHAIRMAN. I have a couple of letters here, one from Swift & Co. and one from Nelson Morris & Co., packers, which I wish to have put in the record. Also, a letter from Mr. Shortall, president of the Illinois, which I want to go into the record. Humane Society of (The letters referred to are as follows:) SWIFT & Co., UNION STOCK YARDS, The Hon. JAMES R. MANN, 66 House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. SIR: The question of the extension of the so-called twenty-eight-hour law," governing the shipment of live stock interstate, is a matter of great concern to the live stock industry. The law was designed to secure for live stock protection against neglect in transit, and however it may have met conditions at the time it was framed, it is certainly now wholly inadequate to secure proper treatment of live stock on the way to market. Breeders and shippers of live stock are humane men immediately interested in seeing that their shipments arrive at the market in the best possible condition, and in their efforts to secure the comfort of their stock they are by this law often compelled to unload against their best judgment and to the damage of the stock, whereas the extension of the limit but a few hours will enable them to reach either a suitable unloading point or a market without hardship or damage. There is always danger that the live stock will be bruised and injured by loading and unloading, and there is far greater danger of damage in this way than in the continuation of a shipment after the live stock is once well loaded and settled. The matter has been thoroughly discussed by all parties in interest, and it is the consensus of opinion among live stock men, commission merchants, and packers that losses can be minimized without any danger of hardship to live stock by the extension of the time limit from twenty-eight hours to thirty-six Bruises materially depreciate the selling value of live stock. The marketing of bruised animals has become a serious question, and we sincerely hope that some rule fair to all will be adopted whereby losses from this source can be minimized. We believe that the opinions of shippers should be given great weight in the settlement of this question. Yours, respectfully, L. F. SWIFT. NELSON MORRIS & Co., BEEF AND PORK PACKERS, LARD AND OIL REFINERS, Hon. JAMES R. MANN, As a matter of fact, the injury cattle receive in transportation is due more to jostling and bruising at terminal points, in switch yards, and in the loading and unloading of the cattle than to any inconvenience they suffer when on a straight run. The loss in weight of cattle is a very certain index of the effect of transportation, and we think it is safe to say it is the observation of all connected with the transportation of cattle that cattle shrink more in traveling a certain distance if they are switched and unloaded at frequent intervals than they do when they are continued on the rail for a reasonable time. From our experience we are of the opinion that a law providing for the unloading of cattle every forty hours instead of every twenty-four hours would be not only a great saving in value to the shipper, but necessarily as well a more humane treatment of the stock, and we hope you will do what you conveniently can to promote the passage of the proposed amendment. Thanking you in advance, we are, very truly, yours, NELSON MORRIS & Co. By M. W. BORDERS. Hon. JAMES R. MANN, THE ILLINOIS HUMANE SOCIETY, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. DEAR SIR: We beg to acknowledge the receipt of your esteemed favor of the 8th instant, and to thank you for the information it contained regarding the hearing in the matter of the extension of the twenty-eight-hour law before the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, to be held February 20, etc. Yours, very respectfully, JOHN G. SHORTALL, President. Per A. H. S. The CHAIRMAN. I wish to ask if there is anyone else here who desires to be heard in behalf of any of the humane societies? I wish to state that I notified Doctor Stillman, the president of the American Humane Association, not only of the meeting to-day, but of the former meeting which was held on the 23d and the other one which was held on the 30th of January, so that there will be no question about his being closed out. Is there anyone else who wishes to be heard upon this matter now? Mr. RYAN. On either side. The CHAIRMAN. If there is no one else that desires to be heard, there is nothing further before the committee and the committee will adjourn. I wish to express, on behalf of the committee, their thanks, both to the stockmen and to the members of the humane society, for the information which they have afforded the committee upon this very interesting subject. (Thereupon, at 5.45 o'clock p. m., the committee adjourned.) A protest to the honorable members of the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States, by the American Humane Association, against the proposed extension of the statutory limit of twenty-eight hours, during which live stock in transit may be confined in cars without food, water, or rest. * * * * * " GENTLEMEN: On the 3d day of March, 1873, Congress passed sections Nos. 4386, 4387, 4388, and 4389, of the Revised Statutes, in which it is provided: "SEC. 4386. No railroad company within the United States whose road forms any part of a line of road over which cattle, sheep, swine, or other animals are conveyed from one State to another, shall confine the same in cars, boats, or vessels of any description for a longer period than twenty-eight consecutive hours, without unloading the same for rest, water, and feeding, for a period of at least five consecutive hours, unless prevented from so unloading by storm or other accidental causes. SEC. 4388. "But where 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.” 1. At the time the law was passed, it is believed no cattle, sheep, or hogs intended for market had ever been transported in cars furnishing the accommodations and facilities called for in the last paragraph. All had been, and for several years after the enactment of said sections, were driven on foot or transported to market in common, old-fashioned box cars. * ** * 2. At the time of the passage of this act, cattle intended for market were divided into two classes: First, domesticated cattle, or those reared upon cultivated lands; and second, range or wild cattle. The former were docile and in transportation comparatively easily handled. The latter, forming the great bulk of cattle raised west of the Mississippi, were wild and hard to handle. Since that time great changes have taken place in range cattle, brought about by continued crossbreeding with domesticated strains, association with and frequent handling by men, and by the reduction of the cattle ranges. Through these influences the old, long-horned breeds have almost wholly disappeared, and the range cattle now seen in our stock yards and on our railways can hardly be distinguished, by appearance or action, from domesticated cattle reared upon our cultivated lands. At the time of the passage of these laws, as cars furnishing water, food, and rest while in transit were unknown, transportation companies were compelled by this act to establish cattle yards with facilities for feeding, watering, resting, loading, and unloading, and to see that all live stock in transit was unloaded, fed, watered, and rested at intervals of twenty-eight hours. Many of these transportation companies, having established such yards at great expense, took advantage of their statutory duty to see that the stock was fed, watered, and rested by charging most exorbitant fees for so doing, and as the law gave them a lien on the stock for their fees, the shippers suffered what they claimed was extortion. Five years after the enactment of these transportation laws this association was organized largely for the purpose of preventing the suffering of live stock while in transit, and thereby not only ameliorating such suffering, but also procuring the delivery to our markets of animal food free from disease certain to be caused by long delays, privations, and suffering while in transit. Among the first things done by this association was the offering of a prize of $5,000 to the inventor of the best car for the transportation of live stock, which, in its equipment, would, while in transit, without unloading, furnish the water, food, and rest provided for in the law. The result of offering this prize was that a great many models were furnished, out of which has grown the thousands of large, comfortable railway stock cars, providing for watering, resting, and feeding stock, now found on various railroads. Of the general use and efficiency of these stock cars, the National Live Stock Association, composed of producers and shippers of live stock in the United States, and the petitioners for the extension of the time of the confinement of stock while in transit, believed to be the largest institution of its kind, considered financially or numerically, in the world, in a communication addressed to his honor, James Wilson, Secretary United States Department of Agriculture, on the 16th day of January, 1898, in reference to the above transportation statutes, made use of the following language, viz: "The law was enacted to meet conditions prevalent when common stock cars were in use, which precluded the feeding of cattle in cars while in transit; whereas, since the introduction and general use of palace stock cars, the cattle are fed in the cars from racks provided for that purpose, with equal, if not better results than if fed in pens provided by the transportation companies. These palace stock cars are provided with water troughs to water cattle in the cars, and while we recognize it to be a fact that the use of these troughs for watering cattle in the cars is the exception and not the rule, they are nevertheless ample for the purpose designed, and are not used to a greater extent because humanity does not require or demand it; were it otherwise, self-interest upon the part of the owners of the cattle would assert itself and insist that the cattle be watered at more frequent intervals." Notwithstanding the supply and efficiency of these stock cars, and their extensive use, they have never been universally accepted, and especially is this true in the far West where the distance to market is great. The reason assigned for not using them, given by the said National Live Stock Association in its communication to Secretary Wilson, above quoted, is as follows: "The general use of palace cars, with improved transportation facilities, has been so universally recognized to have removed any conditions heretofore existing, which might have justified a literal observation or enforcement of section 4386, that for some years past the law has been allowed to become practically obsolete from its own incumbrance; but for some unknown reason, and just when range cattle were arriving at market destination in better condition than ever before, and bringing correspondingly better prices than for years past, the presumed inhumanity attached to the methods of transportation have been attacked, with new and more rigorous vigor than ever, in consequence of which the range-cattle interest of Texas is suffering very material injury." In the twenty-eight years of its existence, during which it has almost annually made its protest against enlarging the hours of confinement of stock in cars without food, water, and rest, this association has never known of a time when live stock could be transported in the old-fashioned freight cars, without The regard to the provisions of the statute for their unloading, feeding, watering, and resting, without the greatest cruelty and injury, and the claim in the above quotation that the law has not been enforced or has become obsolete, because there was no cruelty or inhumanity in such transportation, is not true. reason the law has become substantially a dead letter and remained so west of the Mississippi until the last two years, during which the Agricultural Department of the Government, in the interest of humanity and good health, has commenced more than 1,200 cases for its violation, and a large number of the violators have pleaded guilty and paid the penalty assessed against them, is believed by this association to be because of exorbitant charges made by transportation companies for unloading, feeding, watering, etc., at their cattle yards, and like exorbitant charges for handling improved stock cars by companies owning them, which by many shippers has been deemed prohibitive of their use. The last petition of the National Live Stock Association to Congress, asking the extension of time of confinement in transit, was presented to the House and the amendment passed by that honorable body within a few days of its organization. It is printed in full on pages 44 and 45 of the records of the National Live Stock Association for the year 1902, and can be found in the Congressional Library. The amendment reached the Senate committee.. It met the fate of all past attempts to extend the time for the confinement of live stock without food, water, or rest. The reasons assigned in that petition for the extension of the statutory time, briefly stated, are as follows: First. The great majority of stock moving to market is within thirty-six hours' ride of the market; hence the handling of this large majority is not affected by the proposed amendment. Second. The only live stock to be affected by the proposed amendment will be that on the ranges of Texas, the West, and Northwest. Third. The stock requiring more than twenty-eight hours for transportation is undomesticated. Fourth. It is wild, and, while more or less accustomed to man, resents his control. Its loading and unloading is accompanied with much rough handling, which in many cases is inhuman. Fifth. It ranges far from water and rarely drinks more than once a day, and frequently is away from water two or three days. Sixth. It is no hardship for it to do without water for a much longer period than twenty-eight hours. Seventh. The pens for resting along transportation routes are not inviting, and their condition often such that to place them therein would be inhumanity personified. The pens are new to them, and they wear and tire themselves out far more than if allowed to remain in the cars. Eighth. Cattle accustom themselves to rest while standing, so that to retain them in cars occasionally for from forty to forty-eight hours would not be inhuman. Under an uncomfortable condition of yards, and loading and unloading, it is better to permit them to remain in the cars a few additional hours. Ninth. The transportation companies are not now prepared to feed, water, and rest cattle at stated intervals, consequently they are often unloaded at shorter intervals than the law provides, when it would be better and more merciful to carry them to their destination, even if it required a few hours more. Tenth. The prevalent theory that owners permit stock to suffer for water for the purpose of a stuffing process by way of a fill at market destination is contrary to good judgment and common sense. It is contrary to the owners' interests. Eleventh. We realize there is a limit at which endurance may be overtaxed, and suffering and inhumanity results, but it is not inside of forty-eight hours. Now, it will be noticed that in the foregoing petition no complaint is made against the efficiency or supply of the modern transportation cars, nor is any reason given why such cars should not be used in transporting range cattle from points in southern Texas, and the north and northwest, more than twentyeight hours from market. If it is brutal and cruel to unload them for food, water, and rest, and reload them again at railway stock yards, why not ship them in cars already provided with food, water, and means of rest? The law provides that if so shipped they need not be so unloaded. By their own confession we know such cars are abundant and their efficiency complete. If so, there is no necessity for unloading them in strange, filthy, and uncomfortable pens, or of subjecting them to cruelty in such loading and unloading. They can be shipped through to their destination without brutality, worry, or suffering. CATTLE-06 м-13 |