Commissioner of Agriculture. 63 



new. The greed of profit, which has adulterated or disguised 

 almost every article of food, has led to the device of preventing 

 natural decay or decomposition by mixing and introducing into 

 a dairy product a substance or chemical working its effect by 

 producing a rigid cohesion of the molecules of the food. 

 Although it is changed, the new product, nevertheless, has a 

 natural appearance and deceives purchasers. They accept it, 

 supposing it to he a pure dairy product in the condition of na- 

 ture and prepared for human digestion as nature prepares 

 it. It is offered to them under the name and guise, color and 

 consistency of the real dairy product, and they take it and use 

 it and feed it to their children, believing that the natural food 

 is being assimilated by them. It masks tlw truth, it effects a 

 disguise, it naturally deceives and is intended to deceive. The 

 purchaser comes and asks for a pure, fresh dairy product. The 

 seller gives him a preserved dairy product, an old, second-hand 

 dairy product, kept by a " preservative " from actual odor and 

 all those signs which indicate uncleanness, unwholesomeness 

 and decay. It is apparent that the " preservative " was used 

 for deception and to defraud the buyer. The Legislature had a 

 right to forbid that device and to put a stop to the fraud, but hoio are 

 they to do so? The Legislature might make the prohibition against 

 a " preservative " for the reason that any tampering with food 

 products which adds ingredients, not natural or essential, is fraught 

 with danger to the public health or, at least, involves the intent and 

 remit of a fraud upon the community. Food should be pure, abso- 

 lutely and unquestionably pure. [ No tricks should be played with 

 it. The Legislature may resolutely protect it. No " preservative " 

 could ever be added to a dairy product and the result sold as a 

 dairy product for any good or honest purpose that I can imagine 

 Counsel might say: "A dairy product might contain a harmless 

 preservative changing the appearance of the dairy product 

 so that no purchaser would take it for a dairy product, and yet this 

 law is broad enough to forbid that, I grant it. The case is imaginary, 

 but assume it to be real. The permission to any "preservative" 

 opens the door to other preservatives and which might icell be dan- 



