338 



ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



In addition to the fines imposed, costs were generally assessed. 



Of the 457 civil cases terminated during the year, decrees of con- 

 demnation and forfeiture were entered in 387 ^ ; in 13, the proceedings 

 were terminated by release of the products upon stipulations of the 

 parties or by order of the court without condemnation ; in 20, the libels 

 were dismissed or the proceedings discontinued or dropped with the 

 consent of the Government ; in 36, the packages were broken or dis- 

 posed of before seizure could be made; and in 1, exceptions to the 

 libel were sustained. In the 387 cases in which decrees of condemna- 

 tion and forfeiture were entered, the goods were destroyed in 209; 

 released on bond in 140 ; sold in 30 ; partly destroyed and partly re- 

 leased in 2; partly destroyed and partly sold in 2; distributed to 

 charitable institutions in 2 ; ordered released or destroyed in 2. 



At the close of the year 435 cases were pending, of which 233 were 

 criminal prosecutions and 202 were seizures. 



In addition to the cases reported by this department to the Depart- 

 ment of Justice, the food and drugs officials of the various States and 

 of the District of Columbia, collaborating with the department in the 

 enforcement of the act, reported 53 cases to United States attorneys 

 for action. Of these, 49 were criminal cases and four were seizures. 

 In all but one of the criminal cases there were convictions, and in the 

 one in which there was no conviction the collateral deposited by the 

 defendant was forfeited by reason of his nonappearance for trial. 

 In two of the seizure cases consent decrees were entered and the prod- 

 ucts released on bond, and in the other two, default decrees of con- 

 demnation were entered and the products ordered destroyed. The 

 fines in the criminal cases were as follows : 



Six hundred and ninety notices of judgment were prepared. 



CASES OF INTEREST. 



In Glaser, Kohn & Co. v. United States (Circular No. 84, Office of 

 the Solicitor; 224 Fed., 84) the United States Circuit Court of 

 Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, construing section 9 of the act, held 

 that a guaranty, in the form of a letter, expressed to be good until 

 revoked on all articles sold, continued to be effective until revoked, 

 and that the guarantor was liable to punishment for violation of the 

 act, notwithstanding his sale and delivery of the goods were con- 

 summated wholly within the State. 



In United States v. 4 boxes of Mulford's Wintergreens (N. J. 

 2440) the article was alleged to be adulterated in that it was con- 

 fectionery and contained talc. The claimants contended that the 

 article was a drug, and therefore not subject to the provisions of the 



1 Two of these cases were won on appeal by the Government to the Circuit Court of 

 Appeals. 



