The Swiss federal law, under which these two orders are professedly made,
was designed to prevent the importation and sale of meat treated with
borax as preserved or cured meat, but did not prevent its importation or
sale as fresh meat. A copy of these laws was transmitted to the
Department by Mr. Broadhead in his dispatch No. 67, of date of April 3,
1895.
These orders indicate a clear and unmistakable purpose of hostile
discriminations against American pork, and if the statements contained
in the inclosed memorial are found to be true such a purpose will be
conclusively demonstrated. If it be true, as stated in the memorial,
that borax is universally used in the treatment and preparation of pork
in Austria, Germany, Italy, and England and Switzerland, and that the
pork thus treated is permitted to be sold without objection upon the
part of the Swiss authorities, then it will be clearly manifest that the
law was passed in the first instance merely to furnish the pretext for
the exclusion of American pork.
I have submitted this matter to the Department in order that the
Department might, if it should deem it advisable, cause an investigation
to be made through the consular service in the countries named as to the
truth of the above statements, and after an ascertainment of the facts
the Department could adopt such measures as might be deemed best
calculated to protect American interests.
I have but little hope of being able to secure any substantial relief
through the Swiss federal council in the present attitude of the case,
but the effort can be made if thought advisable by the Department. I
await the instructions of the Department.
[Inclosure 3 in No. 51.]
Translation of memorial in regard to the hostile
measures taken by the authorities of the Cantons of Zurich and
Schaffhausen against the introduction of American salt meats
which have been subjected to a preliminary
treatment.
Ever since salted or smoked ham has existed there has been a
discussion as to the best method of preparing it, and no agreement
has ever been reached as to whether the use of salt and saltpeter
alone or a mixture of the preservatives is to be preferred. In
former years pork was generally pickled or smoked by the raiser in
the country and by him marketed, but later the butchers took
possession of the trade in this article, once in very limited
demand, but now become a leading and indispensable article of
consumption.
The primitive method of preserving meat by the use of salt or
saltpeter always proved more or less unsatisfactory, and for a long
time the attempt to discover a better process was without success.
As it was necessary to use saltpeter in connection with salt for the
completion of the pickling, the meat acquired in this way an acrid,
pungent, disagreeable taste. To find a means of avoiding this
unpleasant result was the constant aim of specialists in this branch
of business as well as of chemists. In the years from 1870–1880 Dr.
Jannasch, of Bernberg, first offered an article especially adapted
to the preservation of meat which attracted much attention among
German specialists. The essential ingredient of this preparation was
borax, and after the authorities had declared its employment
permissible its use by butchers, sausage makers, and all who are
interested in the salting or preparation of meat, fish, etc.,
continually increased. Meantime a number of factories were built for
the manufacture of curing salts and other means of preserving meats.
The basis of all of them was borax.
The employment and effect of borax as a means of curing meat are
decidedly different from those of saltpeter. The latter substance
forms with the salt a pickle, which completely penetrates the meat,
so that the saltpeter remains in the piece after it has been
withdrawn from the pickle and smokes. Merchandise treated in this
way retains, therefore, no inconsiderable percentage of saltpeter,
and, what here is essential, a harsh, unpleasant taste, which
impairs its quality and, as we shall show hereafter, renders it
unwholesome. With borax and borax preparations it is quite
otherwise; the meat, slightly salted, is sprinkled with borax, by
which the air is excluded and the meat kept in a state of perfect
preservation. The borax lies on the exterior of the piece and can be
removed by proper treatment before the merchandise is smoked and
offered for consumption, so that only slight traces of it remain.
Meat treated with borax has the advantage of being only slightly
salted and of having a fresh, agreeable taste. It is clear that the
superiority of the treatment with borax, rather than with saltpeter,
was everywhere recognized, and to-day butchers and the allied
branches of trade universally make use of borax and borax
preparations, not only in Germany, Austria, Italy, and America, but
also in Switzerland.
Meats introduced into Switzerland from Austria (ham, kaiserfleisch,
corresstucke, [Page 551]
schopfbraten), Italy (bacon, salami, martadella, etc.), Germany
(Westphalia bam, gothaercervelatwurst, other sausage, and bacon),
England (Yorkshire ham, etc.), and America (ham, corned meat), are,
with few exceptions, treated with borax preparations; and in
Switzerland itself the ham and other pork contain more or less
borax, according to the season of the year.
It is true that the question has come up whether meat having
undergone a preliminary treatment is unwholesome, and this question
has been discussed by the chemical experts occupied in examining
provisions. So far no proof founded on facts has been offered that
the health of any human being has been in the least degree impaired
by eating meat that has been treated with borax. Prof. Dr. Bischoff,
official chemical expert for provisions in Berlin, who is regarded
as an authority on this subject, has repeatedly declared, as the
result of many years’ experience, that the meat treated with borax
is absolutely wholesome. The same opinion has been expressed by the
Liverpool board of health, the English naval office, the sanitary
authorities of Brussels, and many other states and cities. The best
proof, however, that the process in question is not harmful lies in
the fact that during the twenty-four years since borax has been
employed and the fifteen years since its use has been universal no
man’s life or health has suffered injury or peril in
consequence.
The like favorable judgment can not be formed in regard to the
treatment of meat with saltpeter. Not only does the pork receive the
acrid, unpleasant taste already mentioned, but it loses a part of
its value as nourishment, it having been shown that the frequent use
of salt meat works injury by disturbing the digestion.
Under these circumstances it is astonishing to find that the
authorities of two Swiss Cantons—Zurich and Schaffhausen—have
absolutely forbidden the sale of meat preserved by borax. The
proscriptions of the Zurich authorities contain no indications of
the grounds of the exclusion, but suggest that it is the American
meats that are aimed at. The board of health of Schaffhausen
expresses itself more clearly, and says: “The sale of meat, picnic
ham, corned meat, principally of American origin, is forbidden
because they are injurious to the health”
We see from the decrees of both Cantons that the measures of
exclusion are directed against meat of American origin. Both say
that the employment of salt and saltpeter for the curing of meat is
authorized. It would be difficult for the Schaffhausen board of
health to bring the shadow of a proof for its declaration that meats
treated with borax are directly injurious to the health. So long as
no facts are cited as proof, we must reject this assertion as
utterly devoid of foundation. Still more singular is the regulation
appearing in both decrees that only table salt and saltpeter shall
be employed. We should like to ask both the authorities in question,
especially those of Schaffhausen, if they really believe that
saltpeter is a harmless means of preserving food. It is difficult to
believe that the answer would be in the affirmative.
For persons engaged in the trade the affair presents itself in this
way: The producers of salt meats are to be forced to prepare their
merchandise with saltpeter, according to a method long since
rejected, and thus obtain a product of inferior quality which can be
sold with difficulty at reduced prices. A further disadvantage
connected with the process prescribed by the officials mentioned is
that in the opinion of the best chemical experts the saltpeter to be
used is directly injurious to the health. So it could easily happen
that while Zurich forbids borax and prescribes saltpeter, Berne
might forbid saltpeter and prescribe borax. The regulations issued
by the two Cantons would, under existing circumstances, be
completely unintelligible were it not that a simple solution to the
riddle is afforded by their common reference to “meats principally
from America.” At any rate, American producers are forced to observe
the regulations and prepare their meat in such a way as to obtain an
inferior product of difficult sale and drenched with saltpeter; then
will be obtained what, after all, is no doubt the chief purpose in
view—an insurmountable obstacle to the importation of American
meat.
But the principal point in the whole matter is this: The
proscriptions and prohibitions of Cantonal or Federal Government
neither ought to nor can be other than of a general nature; that is
to say, we may not make regulations in regard to the products of a
country with which we are on friendly terms that do not apply to the
producers of other countries also. Yet this is here the case, for
while meats treated with borax are introduced from Italy, Austria,
Germany, and other countries with practically no limitation, like
American products are forbidden; nay, we learn on the best authority
that the officials charged with the inspection of meats expressly
refuse to extend their researches for borax to the products of the
countries mentioned. It is further to be considered that the
domestic products are subject to no control as to the use of
borax.
We are not called upon here to discuss the legal aspect of the
question. We are convinced that the American Government and its
officials, as in former instances, will take energetic measures to
secure for American products in Switzerland the same treatment as
that accorded to those of other countries.
