All State and National Food Commissions Have Endorsed DR. PRICE'S PRODUCTS As above Standard and Absolutely True to Label American Meat Packers' Association the past year, nor to engage in any laudation of the industry of its officers. What has been done is well known to the members of this association, and a rehearsal here is therefore unnecessary. I may be permitted, however, to make some general observations, born of the experience I have had as president of your association during the past year. This is the third annual meeting of the association, and if there was any doubt, when the association was formed, of its value to the allied industries in which we are engaged, that doubt has been entirely dissipated. All that time it was believed that much good could be accomplished by bringing into close association and harmony the concerns engaged in the various meat industries, and our history since that time has demonstrated that this belief was well founded. No other evidence is necessary than a glance at this highly representative assemblage. ness. The past year has been a great strain upon the faith and good temper of men engaged in all kinds of busiA perfectly cloudless commercial sky was followed by a period of financial disquietude that unsettled business equilibrium and almost destroyed commercial faith. It is a matter of congratulation, which I think we may justly appropriate to ourselves. that in spite of this condition, disasters to those engaged in the meat industries have been few and the trade generally is in a staunch and sound condition. ASSOCIATION TEACHES SAFE AND SANE METHODS. The few cases of disaster that have occurred have generally been due to the abandonment of sane and conservative methods, and I question whether any other business of the same magnitude has had so few reversals. And I therefore say that there is much that we may be legitimately proud of in the record of the past year. I think this association, through the example of its members, makes for conservatism in business, and that it has a right to some credit for the safe and sane methods generally in vogue amongst us, and for the comparatively satisfactory conditions of trade. We believe here that much good may be accomplished by unity and co-operation amongst our members through the machinery furnished by this association. It must not be forgotten that unwarranted and unjust attacks upon any of the industries represented here reflect upon and injure the entire business and the individuals engaged therein. The unity that I refer to is the unity of purpose to keep the commercial standard and integrity of our business up to the very highest, and to defend as one man those in our ranks who may be the victims of such attacks. And by co-operation I do not mean the elimination of competition, if such a thing were possible, which we all know is not. Competition is as necessary to any business as is the circulation of blood to the human body. But the competition which we believe in is the competition of fair trade, and not competition of unfair trade. I believe that this association has done much, and will continue to do much, in the elimination of cutthroat methods. We will be absolutely fair and honest to the public just as long as we are fair and honest to one another. A CESSATION OF ATTACKS ON BUSINESS. Your officers have studiously watched the trend of legislation and public thought, and it is clear to me that our friends the legislators and the public are awakening to the fact that the business in which we are engaged is as honestly and as efficiently managed, with as much respect to the duty owed to others as is any industry in the country. Prodding the industry in which we are engaged in the ribs with a sharp stick has in the past been a highly exhilarating pastime for certain people. It has never occurred to the gentlemen engaged in that pastime that, instead of correcting evils, which in a great majority of cases existed only in the willing imagination of the writer, they were inflicting a serious and lasting injury upon the commerce of our country, and not affecting the men actually engaged in the business nearly so much as they were the farmer and the producer. I believe that poking legitimate industries in the ribs with a sharp stick has ceased to be amusing or profitable, and that the packing and allied industries may look forward to a cessation of this form of guerrila warfare. I respectfully recommend that the incoming officers be directed to enlarge the scope of this association, and create machinery, even though it involves some expense, to collect and codify, for use of the members of this association, legislation, rules and regulations of the various states and the federal government affecting our various industries, and that these digests be transmitted to each member of the association, together with such comments and advice as may seem to be warranted. It may be necessary that some of these laws be submitted for legal interpretation, but I believe it is money excellently spent. What we must have is unity of action in such matThe attitude and interpretation of each member of this association, with reference to a particular piece of legislation, rule or regulation, should be the`attitude and interpretation of all, and therefore I contend that the collection and digesting of laws as they are passed, and rules and regulations as they are published, should be undertaken. I take this opportunity to thank the members and my fellow officers for their kindness to me during my term as president. I have been most loyally supported, and I am indebted to them for many courtesies. I beg to assure them, as well as every other member of this association, that my heart and hand are theirs to command at any time. After the president's address the calling of the roll showed the presence of over 650 delegates from every state of the union. Lack of space prevents our printing the names of the delegates in full. The reading of the minutes of the preceding meeting was dispensed with. The report of the executive committee was then read to the convention in open session and adopted and is as follows: Report of the Executive Committee. To the Members of the American Meat Packers' Association: It is a self-evident fact that this association is a success. It is fulfilling in every way the purpose of its existence. The record of the past year is one of which we may all be proud. Though the year has shown many tangible things accomplished, we are inclined to believe that what is of most importance is that through this association a harmony pervades the trade which is an assurance that this association is now established on a basis which guarantees that our main purpose of promoting the general interests of the packinghouse industry will be carried out in the years to come. We emphasize the fact that this association has not and will not act upon subjects involving prices or competition. But where it is proper and right for us to do that which will tend to improve our industry as a whole, or to act for and represent the interests of all the trade, we will do so to the best of our ability. The past year has been an extremely active one for your officers and committees. Public matters of direct interest have arisen time and again during the year, and your chosen representatives have not hesitated to give liberally of their time in your interest. During the year the meat inspection regulations of the Department of Agriculture were classified and amended. Various and highly important new regulations were issued, and some of the old ones changed. Your committee to confer with government officials will report upon this subject in more detail. same committee will also inform you as to the renewed effort of Senator Beveridge to place the cost of inspection upon the packers and to compel the dating of all packages. FIRE INSURANCE AND OTHER MATTERS. The Owing to the enormous amount of fire insurance placed by members of this association, and because of the widely varying rates, we thought it advisable to investigate this feature of our business. The fire insurance committee will report to you its interesting. and highly valuable findings. At the suggestion of Secretary Straus, of the Department of Commerce and Labor, the "National Council of Commerce" has been formed, for the purpose of promoting a closer relationship between the |