Commissioner of Agriculture 67 



The present contention of the manufacturers of this product is 

 that it has rights upon the market and that any restrictions placed 

 upon it as to imitation are an invasion of their right of freedom 

 of contract. It is my belief that this attitude is far fetched; that 

 the purpose of making the goods in imitation or semblance is to 

 put them in such form that they may, when desired, be. palmed 

 off upon the consumer as butter, the product of the dairy. This 

 desire, however, is being hidden by the articles which appear 

 from time to time in the newspapers in the interest of I ho product, 

 to the effect that the legislation which has been and is being 

 asked for in the interest of the consuming public is really legisla- 

 tion for the purpose of giving the butter interests of the country 

 a monopoly of the market. In one sense this is true and in 

 another it is entirely incorrect. The substance known as butter 

 should have the monopoly of the butter market, but should not 

 exclude all other harmless oleomargarine that may be offered 

 for sale as a substitute for butter. The sale of such commodities, 

 however, should be so regulated that the purchaser or consumer 

 will not be defrauded. I believe it was the intention of the 

 Legislature, under the present statutes, not only to prohibit the 

 sale of oleomargarine that looks like butter, but also to prohibit 

 the manufacture and sale of a commodity that smells and tastes 

 like butter, these three characteristics being the ones by which a 

 person would be enabled to determine its nature. There has 

 been some litigation upon this question, but a decision of the 

 Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has held the contrary 

 view. For a more detailed statement of the results, see the dis- 

 cussion under the heading Litigation. As the work now stands, 

 oleomargarine is being placed upon the markets of this state, 

 smelling and tasting like butter, so alleged. Much of it looks 

 like butter, though containing no artificial coloring matter, but 

 in many instances capsules of coloring matter arc given away 

 with it to the purchaser, with instructions as to how to use them 

 to color the commodity before use to make it look like butter. If 

 this can be done, the keeper of a place of public entertainment can 

 serve the substance upon his table in such form as to deceive 

 the ultimate consumer. It should be noted that, notwithstanding 

 the claims that are' from time to time made in the public press in 



