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The Greenock Jungle

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John Maclean

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Fonnwono
Upton Slnclair's 'Jungle' is a vivid portrait of life and death in a turn-ofthe-century American meatpacking factory. A grim indictment that led to government regulations of the food industry, 'The Jungle' is Sinclair's extraordinary contribution to literature and social reform. John Maclean's 'Creenock Jungle' is based on this book; however, his is no story, but a factual account about council corruption, profiteering and exploitatlon of working class Creenock. It was written in 19O7, and the abbatoir featured in the original pamphlet was located near King Street behind Clyde Square. Greenock at the time was a hotbed of socialism, and Maclean was no stranger to the area. Born ln Pollokshaws, he worked as a schoolteacher in Covan until he was sacked in l9l5 because of his political activities. He then became a full-time Marxist educator and organiser. He was appointed Soviet Consul on the Clyde after the Russian Revolution, and was imprisoned several tlmes between l9l6 and 1923, serving four prison terms. After his death in 1923, a street was named after Maclean in St. Petersburg. The original document and the photograph of Old Slaughterhouse Lane featured on the cover of this edition have never been published locally. We feel they are both of massive historical and social significance to this area, and as a folkloric society we are proud to reintroduce them to the people of lnverclyde.

Ross Ahlfeld

The following history has been written to give the people of Creenock and other towns in Britain an accurate though brief statement of the recent scandalously lax and unscrupulous method of supervising the slaughter-house of Qreenock;

the events that led up to the final exposure; the treatment meted out to Mr.
James Houston; and the duty that yet devolves upon the citizens of finding work for this genuine man who by his efforts has done much to rid the community of a most pernicious traffic in unwholesome flesh.

As the whole narrative circles round the person of Mr. Houston, it is but appropriate to give the reader one or two facts in connection with him, so that a clear comprehension of the events as they arise may be possible.

ln the employment of R. Rasmsay & and Co., Ltd., tlide and Skin Brokers, Clasgow, for 5l years, Mr. Houston spent the last l8 at the Creenock Slaughtertlouse. Whilst there from day to day he witnessed the violation of the law by the cow-butchers, who were regularly engaged in selling diseased meat and vile sausages for large profits, although they well knew that the poor who had to purchase these articles were liable to that deadliest of working-class maladies - consumption. This slaughter-house is owned by the Town Council, and is managed by a committee which, prior to April, I gO7, employed a Mr. Ballantine to inspect, amongst other duties, all carcases taken out of the premises. Every carcase showing traces of disease ought to have been detained by him until thoroughly examined by a competent veterinary surgeon, Mr. Pottie. Upon the
shoulders of the latter rested the responsibility of deciding whether an animal was or was not fit for human food. All carcases condemned by him were tahen to a neighbouring chemical work, where they could be boiled down and made into several preparations.

On frequent occasions Mr. tlouston noticed that tnspector Ballantine let out diseased cows without calling in the services of the veterinary surgeon. The entrails of these bad carcases were sent over to the chemical works along with carcases wholly condemned. The manager permitted this to go on for some time, but at last he refused to accept entrails unless in conJunction with the accompanying carcases, as in themselves they were of very little use to hlm. But the lnspector had to get rid of them somehow. Can you imagine what he did? tle actually sent these diseased entrails to Qlasgow in bags labelled "Tripe'! Mr. Houston, now tortured by the thought that the poor of Clasgow were being poisoned instead of being fed, at length wrote to the Clasgow Sanitary authorities, telling them where these "tripe' bags were to be found. They were found in the place specified in the letter sent. Thereupon Clasgow's head Meat lnspector, Mr. Trotter, visited Qreenock to complain about this base system of deceiving the people of Clasgow, and from that date the contemptible business ceased.

tlowever, to tlouston's chagrin, the council made no attempt to ferret the matter to the bottom and root out the pemicious trafflc - the smuggling out of diseased carcases went on as merrily as before. still some other means then, had to be devised to dispose of the entrails that could no Ionger he packed off to clasgow as 'tripe'. They were now burned in the slaughter-house fire. unfodunately for the culprits, the smell of the burning entrails was too unlike the sweet odour of summer's blossom to please the occupants of houses in the neighbourhood, and thus again for the third time had the conspirators to resort to other devices to evade the keen eye of the Sanltary Inspector.
The cow-fleshers in unison clamoured for the purchase of a digester by all in the trade, so that all carcases and entrails could be bolled down. The plea advanced by these innocenls was the proflt that would accrue from the bones, fat, etc., left over after the bolllng process had been completed. Naturally, these .practical. buslness men did not deem lt necessary to inform their unsuspectlng colleagues that they were specially lnterested in the disappearance of the tell-tale entrails, discovery of which might have applled the closure to their malicious trade and

inflated profits.

As may be observed from the above remarks, the charges specified by me are not brought to the door of all butchers in creenock, but solely to that of those almost exclusively dealing ln cow-flesh. And lt is to be particularly noted that of all bovines used for human food cows are most frequenfly found suffering from that deadly disease - tuberculosis. This malady, being more commonly f,ound amongst cows, placed greater temptation in the way of the cow-fleshers who did

not fail to make the best of their opportunities.

conceive of a better opportunity offered to those anxious to practise doubledealing ?

They were remarkably fortunate, besides, because Bailie Andrew, smart lawyer though he be, exercised the utmost laxity whilst so long convener of the slaughter_ House committee. This genfleman, be it carefully noted, visited the premises only seven or eight times during his long term of office. could you, genfle reader,

And bear in mind that it was this smart genUeman who did everything possible to cover up the misdeeds of the cow-fleshers whilst doing his utmost to foil the
efforts made by tlouston to save the people from peril. But more of him hereafter. In course of time the agitation for the digester culminated successfully, and the agitators were now able with easy minds to transform those troublesome entrails. so lax thereafter became the inspection of carcases at the slaughter-house that for years oreenock became the dumping ground for old dead and dying cows

withln a radius of twenty miles. If a cow turned sick and showed signs of dying

then off to Greenock was it sent, there to be killed and sold as wholesome food! Even cows have been carted from Paisley to be slaughtered and sent out to adorn the tables of the working-class of Oreenock; and many a time have aninials died going to or from the station and have had to be carted to the slaughterhouse. The usual price for cows in this condition was 17 /6, and for their hides Houston frequently paid from 231- to 25/-. On one occasion a flesher got ten cows for J I O; but on expressing the opinion that this charge was excessive, he got another thrown into the bargain! We can very well imagine the highly nutritive

food these animals would

suPPlY!

The following throws a search-light on the insatiable rapacity of the unscrupulous gang who were determined to make money by fair means or foul. Many of the cows killed were in calf. The calves were taken away from the dead carcases of their mothers and stored away out of sight, until sent out with their mothers or

sold separately for l/- or l/6. flouston saw hundreds of such calves sold for human food. Those without hair were simply boiled down unskinned to make potted head; those with hair were sldnned so that the skins might realise 4d'! compare this price with the 5/lo paid for the skins of nw-born calves!
A still more shocking method of maklng'profit'was resorted to by a few who no

doubt posed as philanthropisS for selllng to the people 'cheap' sausages. All the filth of the slaughter-house was put into a large bucKet stowed away in a dark corner until sold for the feeding of pigB. Many a time tlouston saw the contents taken to fleshers to maKe potted head and cheap sausages! One man especially told him that as he passed the shop of a butcher on his way home

with this feeding for his pigs, the latter would stop him to select the best portions to cater for the wants of the people. This divulges the secret of his ability to sell sausages at 5d. per lb.! tlouston warned the Inspector that these despicable practices ought to be put a stop to, but he seemed utterly regardless of his duty

to the peoPle.
Convinced that the continued sale of putrid flesh was bound to undermine the constitutions of those upon whom it was being imposed, Houston nevertheless carried out in a succssful manner an experiment which conclusively proved the relationship that exists between bovine tuberculosis and human consumption' lle tooK two young healthy cats into his office and with the utmost care fed and tended them until they grew sleek and fat. tle thereupon began to feed one of them solely on tuberculous flesh similar to that sold for food. Very soon it began to look sicKly, become thin, and cast ils hair. At last it could scarcely stand on its to legs, so weak aud puny did it become. At this stage Mr. Ballantine consented as exPected, kill it, and maKe a post-mortem examination of its remains, andiust it was found that the lungs were completely rotten, and its digestive organs had

almost gone. Tuberculosis had been doing its deadly work. Mr. Houston hinted that he intended to show the carcase to to the veterinary surgeon as an object lesson, and for that purpose he covered it up, and left it in his office till the vet's arrival. when he did arrive, the body was gone, The reader, no doubt, could guess who had been at the bottom of thls theft of the cat's body. Mr. Mcflarlane, the vet. at that time, felt sorry that he had not seen lt, as he intended to base on it an address to be delivered before one of the Meat lnspectors' Conferences'

tlaunted more than ever now by the thought that the poor were not only being mercitessly cheated and defrauded, but also were threatened by consumption, tlouston cautiously dropped hints here and there, where he thought they would be effective and lead to an inquiry or a strlcter suPervision of the slaughterhouse. By this proccss rumours did actually circulate about town, and more than once the tlealth Committee made investigations, but failed to find specific information. tlouston at this time thought it inadvisable to make a statement of
what he saw going on, lest he might lose his Job. That, of course, is the position of the wage slave who has a wife and family to maintain.

At length appeared Upton Sinclair's'Jungle', containing a graphic account of the Tinned Beef factories of Chicago. Fired now with an intensified desire to expose the still grosser evils of the beef trade of Creenock, he determined to speak out against the next irregularity that might come under hls notlce. He had not long to wait. on August 5lst, and on september 4th, 19o6, two carcases, bad with tuberculosis, were let out. tle at once informed Ballantine that he was going to report to the Sanitary Inspector. The same nlght he called at Mr. Devine's house, and let him know what had been going on for years. That gentleman rubbed his eyes on hearing this astounding news, but, nevertheless, rePofted it to the Health Committee. The latter would have dropped the matter had not Houston made

clear to Mr. Devine and ex-Bailie Baxter, convener of the Health Committee, that he would communicate with the Local Covernment Board if the Council failed to do its duty in the matter. lt must in justlce be here stated that these two
gentlemen were as anxious as nouston to get the matter Probed to the bottom, but were, till this moment, thwafted by the obstinacy of their colleagues. Now that they had to move in the matter, the Town Council appointed a Committee

of Inquiry.
In due course Houston received a request from the Town Clerk to give his evidence

before this Committee. This he rightly refused to do unless all witnesses were summoned, put on oath, and gave evidence in public; for the committee sat in private, and allowed voluntary witnesses to appear and give evidence without oath. Of course, the Committee was appointed unwillin$y, and was itself unwilling to sift the case to the bottom. llouston clearly saw that the procedure adopted

by the committee reduced its efforts Lo afarce, and that whatever he said would have no weight at all. what he foresaw actually happened, and fully justified his refusal to countenance the Committee by his presence.

All who could be relied upon to deny Houson's allegations, and to hush the matter up by telling lies were induced to give evidence; all others were discouraged. In fact, Mr. Ballantine was permitted to select his own witnesses, and naturally chose three operatives, who worked under his charge, were subservient to him, and were willing to state whatever he wished. Here is the proof. on the day prior to their giving evidence they were taken to the Town Clerk's office, and drilled up in the questions likely to be put to them, and the replies expected from them. Immediately after the inquiry, one of the three
admitted he had deliberately told lies, as he was not under oath, and confessed that his reward was half-a-crown. This suffices to confute the Town clerk, who had written Houston that evidence would be taken on oath. Contrast the above with the fact that one man was actually told he was not asked to give evldence because he was sure to tell the truth. What a happy state of affairs! But the following series of facts proves up to the hilt that tlouston was correct when he asserted that the meat inspection was extremely lax, and the nquiry an unscrupulous attempt to cover up the corruption disclosed by him. During the first eight months of lgo6 the total nunber of carcases condemned was 46, or an average of less than 6 per month. During the months of september, october,

and November, immediately after flouston had complained to the sanitary Inspector, and whilst the Committee of Inquiry was investigating, the number rose to 55, or an average of almost I B per month. ln other words, the number
per month was actually trebled. However. for the next three months -. December, January, and February, l9O7 - the number fell to 2Z , or an average of 8. This sudden decrease resulted from a hint dropped by a friend of the cow-dealers on the Inqiry Committee, who always hastened to the Slaughter-ttouse after each sitting to acquaint his friends of the day's proceedings. As the consequence of this hint, it soon got noised abroad that the Committee's Report was going to exonerate Mr. Ballantine and the cowdealers, and to prove that Houston was entirely wrong in his asseftions. Even a letter on this aspect of affairs appeared in the Telegraph.

On getting the hint from a "friend at Court', Mr. Ballantine returned to hls old practices in December, with the result already stated. Houston, observing the turn events now took, kept a strict watch on all diseased animals let out during these three months, and found that27 were let pass. tlad these been condemned the total would have been 54 instead of the 27 actually condemned, thus raising the number to a level similar to that for the three preceding months. Probably

the most clinching aryument in support of Mr. flouston's position is the return for

theSeptember-Novemberperiodduringtheprecedlngnineyears:15, 14, I l, I O, and 23. All these figures fall far short of 5J.

lS, 12,15,
.:

16,

Why this remarkable increase during the early stages of the lnquiry, if all was fair and above-board? lt would take a better lawyer than Bailie Andrew to explain away that sudden leap. Durlng the November Dlection (19O7) ex-Bailie Baxter stated in public that, although the cows now admltted to the slaughter- house were much superior to those admitted before, more condemnations took place on some days than on any average month for the last ten years. Had the Committee been consclentlous ln lts work, what conclusion could it alone have come to? What conclusion have you come to, my level-headed reade(? Surely none other than that tlouston was entirely rlght in his hlnts and manly statements?

And yet here is the Report issued by the Committee, and presented to the
Corporation on l9th February, after havlng met once or twlce ln November, and then not again till 2 I st January: As the result of thelr investigations, the Committee (Dean of Cuild Baxter dissenting) flnd that the charge alleged to have been made by Mr. tloustonhas not been substantiated, and beg to repoft accordingly.' Our lawyer frlend, Bailie Andrew, in moving the Report, said the Committee were justified in carrying on their investigations prlvately, that Houston in an apology to a ceftain flesher had practlcally wlthdrawn his statements, that tlouston was actuated by malicious motives, and that the longer the Committee "sat prosecuting investigations, it became more evident that they were pursuing a shadow instead of a charge'. As Bailie Andrew, like a cute lawyer, made the best of Houston's apology to a certain flesher, and has since tried to assert and hint that he apologised for the charge made by him to Mr. Devine on 4th September, so that his own actlons and conclusions in connection with the lnquiry might be justlfied, an explanation of what led up to the apology ls necessary. lmmediately after the charge made on 4th September, Houston was set upon by some of the fleshers at the slaughterhouse. The argument naturally became heated, and angrywords were exchanged.

Houston in his anger made slatements which were perfectly true, but which
could not be supported by other witnesses. His opponenLs seized their opportunity and sent him a lawyer's letter demanding an immediate apology or proceedings would be taken against him for libel. Not wlshing to lose trade or job, he wrote the following apology:-

I I Dempster Street, Oreenock,

lOth October, 19O6.

Mr. R. MURRAY. Dear Sir,-With reference to the statements which have been in circulation that I

have made certain imputations, and used threats against certain members of the Association, or made complaints regarding the management and supervision at the slaughter-house, I beg to state that such is not the case, either directly or indirectly have I done so (except on one occasion on 4th september last, I admit I complained to Mr. Devine.) I admit I may, in the heat of the argument, have used expressions towards certain members which in my calmer moments I would not have done. And if in doing so I have reflected upon the character or business of any of them, I withdraw the expressions, and regret that they should have caused the present feeling to arise between us. I am desirous that all such feeling should be removed, and am open to renew my business relations with them in the same friendly spirit as formerly existed.-l am, yours respectfully,

(Signed)

JAMES HOUSTON

Here is what Houston says in the oreenock Telegraph, 2oth December, 19o6, anent this apology when used against him in a treacherous manner at the Private Inquiry, made public of course when anything against tlouston could be r3isedr

.sir,-ln answer to 'Anxious Enquirer' as to me sendlng a letter of apolog;l to the committee of lnquiry in connection with the slaughter-house, it is absolutely untrue; t never sent any letter to said committee, and also, this is the first and only letter I have written or sent to any newsPaper on the above subJect. -l am,
yours,
JAMES HOUSTON

one can easily understand the eagemess of Lawyer Andrew to catch at anything which would tell against llouston and thus enable him to clear his friends the cow-fleshers. fle was responsible for the holding of the Inquiry in private, and he was responsible for the printing of only one coPy of the evidence gathered. This

coPywassupposedtolieintheTownClerk,sofficefortheuseofallthe

Councillors, but was found to be lying at Bailie Andrew's office. why this hiding of the evidence? Because the whole business was meant to be a fiasco, and everything was intended to go on as before, after tlouston had been thoroughly discredited.
the following Mr. Mitchell moved as an amendment to the adoption of the Report

:-,Thattheevidencebeprintedandcirculatedamongthemembersofthe

Corporation, and that consideration of the present Report be deferred till a future meeting. Here is what he said. 'The Inquiry was a mockery and a sham" "The evidence did not agree at all with the verdict of the committee.' Mr. McCatlum, in seconding him, said-'lf the report was printed and circulated among the members of the corporation, they might come to a different conclusion from the members of the sub-committee.' Dean of Quild tsaxter, in supporting them, stated-'lt was a fact that irregularities had been found'. Despite statements such as these, and the knowledge of the entrails being sent to clasgow and of
the diseased carcase which had been seized in a shop in Port-Qlasgow unattended by a prosecution, the Report was adopted by 16 votes to 7. It is but fair to the

people to let them know exactly those who voted for the Report, so that they may give these estimable gentlemen rePose from public office when next they seek re-election. They are as follows:-Provost Denholm, Bailies Andrew, williamson, Bailey, Bennett, and shankland; Treasurer Brown; Messrs. Mclnnes, MacOnie, Robinson, Taylor, Smith, Forbes, Arch. Brown, Shearer and Swan'
Alas for Bailie Andrew! But four days after his masterly defence of corruption on 25rd February - Mr. Devine seized a very badly diseased carcase in a shop, and afterwards found the entrails, simply putrid, in the digester at the slaughterhouse. tle consulted Dr. Cook, who, after examination, admitted that this was the worst case he had ever seen. No prosecution followed this seizure, although

Bailie Andrew had all atong been loudly asserting that he would at once taKe action if a specific case were brought under his notice. When challenged by Houston why he did not prosecute in this case he stated that he could not; because two small parts of the entrails were amissing! A weighty reason, forsooth! The case was clearly one for prosecution, since the regulations of the Local Government Board clearly point out that lnspectors can seize carcases from which 'pleura' has been cut away. ln this case it was cut off both sides. And yet there was no prosecution, despite the confession of the butcher implicated' flow anxious Bailie Andrew was to hush up this'affair' is evidenced by his motion in the Council on lgth March, over which he presided in the absence of the Provost, to adopt the Law and Finance Committee minutes, containing Dr. Cook's report on the slaughter-house and the resignation of Mr. Ballantine, who meantime had been requested to do so. Again Mr. Mitchell came to the fore by honourably demanding that the Corporation apply to the Local Oovernment Board to institute a special inquiry into the alleged irregularities at the slaughter-house in connection with the disposal of unsound carcases. tlad Bailie Andrew actually wished to get light on the subject, would he have been afraid of such a sensible proposal? Would he not have withdrawn his motion and let the amendment be carried? If he were a disinterested party, would he not have gladly embraced this opportunity of proving or disproving the ominous whispers that were now public property? As might be expected, he pressed his resolution, which was carried by l6 votes

to Z. ffer" are those who stand honoured on this occasion:- Bailies Williamson and Lemmon; Messrs. Mccallum, McMillan, A. M. chalmers, Dunn and Mitchell. These gentlemen, to their credit, were so bent on havingan impartial lnvestigation, that they at once petitioned the Local covemment Board to institute an inquiry. This was immediately done, and on 2nd April Dr. Dittmar arrived from Edinburgh to see and find out what he could. what an inefutable proof of the allegations made by llouston! on 9th April he issued his report. what a contrast with that issued by the committee of lnquiry! In a day or two an utter stranger discovered more than the committee did in five months! The figures quoted above were taken from this Report, which would have been here reprinted had space permitted. tlowever, here are two samples of what ls contained therein:'The circumstances narrated above appear to me to warrant the conclusion that

recently there has been excesslve laxity in the methods of meat inspectlon at the Qreenock slaughter-house. No sooner was attention more or tess publicly directed to the matter than the number of condemnations lncreased, to be reduced when public suspicion seemed to be allayed. As soon, however, as a carcase extensively affected with tuberculosis had been seized in the town by the Sanitary Inspector (one that had admittedly been passed at the slaughterhouse) the vigilance observed there seems to have increased again, as is shown by the number of carcases condemned during March. But the figures for the ten years 1897-19o6 show, I think, more conclusively than any lnquiry could now do, that not only recently, but for years past, the inspection of meat at the public slaughter-house in Creenock has been inadequate..
Read carefully this second extract:-

'ln the year l9o4,2oo7 bovine carcases, or 4.62 percent. of the total number of cattle slaughtered, were wholly and partially condemned as unfit for human food by the officials responsible for meat inspection in the public slaughterhouse of Glasgow. During l9o5 the percentage of bovine carcases wholly and partially condemned on account of tuberculosis in the clasgow slaughter-house was 5. 15. compare these facts with facts for ereenock! only home animals are slaughtered in creenock, and I am afraid that a considerable proportion of . these are cows. During eight of the ten years - l897-1906 inclusive - less than one per cent. of the carcases were condemned for all causes! comment is needless. The conclusion to be drawn from the figures seems to be that the ,
inspection o[ carcases at Qreenock slaughter-house has been extremely lax during

the last ten years." could evidence more conclusive be brought forward than is glven expression to in the passages just quoted? Could indictment be stroriger? The Doctor, in his

concluding remarks, suggests that a fully-qualified inspector of meat, aided by an assistant, should be engaged to supervise the slaughter-house. From April, since the appointment of the new inspector, the number of condemnations has risen very rapidly. But how long will this last seeing that Houston has been driven out of his job and that Mr. Banks, the cow-flesher, though defeated in the Fourth ward at the November election last (19o7), was appointed by the Town Council to fill a vacancy in the Fifth over the head of the defeated candidate for that ward? so long as profit can be made out of the sale of diseased carcases, just so long shall these be sold. This is just as true as the sLatement so persistengy uttered by those of us who are social Democrats, that so long as the present
class ownership of the factories, ships, mines, land, etc., lasts, just so long shall the working class be robbed of at least two-thirds of the wealth they produce. As social Democracy is the only organisation of industry able to stop this robbery, so Municipal supply of beef, provisions, and milk will alone lead to the ending of this capitalist infamy of adulteration. lf the people of creenock are wise, they will bestir themselves and never rest till the beef and other food-stuffs are sold for the benefit of the consumers and not for the enrichment of a few privileged merchants. If a Municipal slaughter-house, why not Municipal catfle and Municipal flesher-shops? Here is a prosecution, to prove that with all the changes at the slaughter-house the same old selling of bad flesh goes on as cheerily as ever. on 6th January, 1908, John eordon,6l Vennel, was fined f lo or 5o days for having in his possession on sth December the carcase of a calf unfit for human food. It is well known that only once in a while are such irregularities discovered. we can therefore, with safety, conclude that the end of corruption has not arrived, and will not come until the Municipality undertake the supply of wholesome

agriculture of the country is organised by the nation acting through the county councils. Then the counties can rear healthy animals, which shall be slaughtered and sold by the Town Councils. That is quite practical, and can be accomplished when the people are alive to their best financial and physical interests, and are determined to dispense with the public services of their .Bailie Andrews,. This exposure of the Beef scandal of creenock will have been useless unless it has added another to the many apparent facts of everyday life, proving that only when property is owned by the people and used by the people to create those things necessary for life and happiness, shall we have swept away for ever poverty, adulteration, and the multitude of attendant evils of capitalism. The only hope of the masses of mankind lies in Socialism. Individual initiative and incentive in the beef trade are bad for the people; social initiative and incentive alone make for justice. we cannot close without further reference to the hero of this tragedy, Mr. tlouston, who has had to suffer for his action in this affair. He has now been out of employment eight months, compelled to resign after jl years, service under the same employers. As a socialist, flouston clearly comprehended the
t0

food for the people. This can only be thoroughly accomplished when the

dangers his action would lead him into, and therefore for years he smothered his indignation, until at least his family had grown up. Once his duty towards them fulfilled, he risked his all to save the health of many of his class from disease and death. How can we refrain from admiration of the courage of one who so nobly plunged into the ranks of the enerny single-handed to rescue his dying comrades? After the complaint made on 4th September, as above narrated, fourteen cow-fleshers went to Houston's employer to seek his dismissal. They failed. They then requisitioned the Fleshers' Association to call a meeting for the boycott of Houston's firm. The secretary, a local lawyer, warned them that Houston would raise an action against them if this were done. Again foiled, they persuaded the fleshers individually to boycott tlouston, but without success. Undeterred, they next plotted to get Houston imprisoned for theft. On 23rdl4ay, 19O7, two detectives asked him to lead them to hls office, as they desired to examine it.

They produced a warrant empowering them to break it open if need be. Accordingly he yielded. On the road the detectives admitted that four master fleshers were responsible for the investigation, Sure enough some stuff was found hidden away under a desk. lt was taken to the police station, and a notice of prosecution was served out to Houston. The police authorities soon perceived that it was a crudely-designed conspiracy, and let the matter drop. Robert King and John Cordon (who was recently fined) interviewed the Superintendent and the Fiscal, but both refused to prosecute. Thereupon Mr. Banks visited tlouston's employer to tell him about the dishonesty of his Creenock employee, but his visit proved a failure. A last attempt was made. Ramsey does a large trade over Scotland, so all the cow-fleshers were got to boycott him. This had the desired effect, and the unfortunate Mr. Houston was asked to resign. tlere are his exact words:-'Owing to the misunderstandingg which have arisen in my management of your business here, and the actions of certain parties therein concemed, I now resign the position which I have held in your employment. '25rd July, 19O7.'
Shortly afterwards a testimonial was raised to requite Mr. Houston for the valuable services rendered by him. Again, his enemies were active to prevent the success of the testimonial, for they visited probable subscribers and represented him as a thief, an Anarchist, and a Socialist, who made himself a nuisance at Liberal meetings for the sake of notoriety, and not for the good of the people. tlowever, a goodly number of appreciative citizens were found, and a meeting arranged for the occasion. tle received a purse of sovereigns, a gold badge, and a silvermounted biscuit box for his wife. The following inscription is engraved on the badge:-'Presented to Mr. James tlouston, along with a purse of sovereigns, and a silver-mounted biscuit box to Mrs. tlouston, by many friends, for recognition of valuable services rendered to the community in exposing the base methods of meat inspection in Qreenock Slaughter-tlouse.-2oth September, 19O7.' Mr.

ll

and statesmen, for their supposed great services to the nation, surely creenock is not so base and mean as to let suffer one who has nobly done his duty to the community at rarge. we hope that the peopre wiil, with determination, agitate until this modicum of justice has been rendered to one so worthy of it. Those who have reduced him to the position he is in to-day, wiil certainly exert themselves to the uttermost to prevent him from making an honourabre riverihood under the corporation, or under a private emproyer, but if the class-conscious Trade Unionists and socialists, who know the rearities of victimisation, stand solid and steadfasily press forward the claims of Houston, nothing can prevent success. This is a subject for the Trades, council, if ever there was one. It is to be hoped that someone wiil take the initiative and carry to success the negotiations obligatory under the conditions. For a certainty we socialists have made up our minds that the matter is going to be fought out untir victory is ours. flouston's unscrupulous enemies shail very soon regret the dastardly attack they have made on him, for if he is not praclo in a position of financial security, we will single out individuals amongst them and treat them with their own methods of attack in an intensified form. They have money to lose; we have none!

generals, admirals,

recognise in a more tangibre form the respect they owe to one who so unserfishry sacrificed himself in the best interests of his fellow-beings. without delay the corporation of Greenock ought to provide him with a comfortabre and weilremunerated position. lf the eovernments can and do reward the outstanding

to be, whilst Mr. Bailantine, the guilty Meat rnspector, is earning at reast *.2 per week by selling fodder for the catile in the slaughter-House? why should the guilty one enjoy such a great privirege, whire the innocent one must suffer the worries of unemployment, and the fears and forebodings accompanying the prospect of immediate financial ruin. The purpose of this pamphlet will not have been completery accomptished untir such times as the citizens of ereenock

flouston is very proud of this generous recognition of his services by those who have appreciated what he has sacrificed in acting as he has done. But he cannot but feel miserable, now that he has been unemproyed for so long. ought this

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