No. 8.
Mr. Davis to
Mr. Taft.
Washington, January 19, 1883.
Sir: I am in receipt of your No. 26, of the 28th of November last, in regard to the agitation now being developed in Austria-Hungary in the interest of the meat producers in that Empire. You inclose an article from the Tagblatt newspaper, in which it is proposed to extend the prohibition at present in force against American pork to all kinds of American meat on the ground that beef as well as pork is liable to be affected with trichinae. You state that on inquiry at the foreign office you could get no intimation that any such measure was at that time under consideration, but that the opinion appeared to be general that the Government would adopt the suggestion of the newspaper article.
In this connection you inquire the present situation of the pork question in France. * * * In reply I regret to inform you that the prohibitory decree in France is still in force. A bill to withdraw the decree and adopt certain microscopic examinations in its place, was passed by the French Chamber, but was defeated by a small majority in the Senate, and since that time no other action has been taken by the French Government in the matter. * * * The existence of trichinae in beef has never before been suggested. It is, in fact, an impossibility, as the ox is purely herbivorous, and trichinae are only (and that rarely) communicated among carnivorous and omnivorous animals.
I am, &c.,
Acting Secretary.