16 



ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



porary arrest of the power of the State, to enforce certain of its 

 laws in that community, and from the fact that its agents, acting 

 within the limits of the law which they are sworn to enforce, are 

 punished for their faithful performance of this duty by having the 

 costs of prosecution placed upon them to the extent of several thou- 

 sands of dollars in a single court. If this action is to be accepted 

 as a principle, controlling all prosecutions under State authority, 

 then there will soon be an end of civil government in this country. 



The details of this case are given in full in the report of the Dairy 

 and Food Commissioner, and are well worthy of serious considera- 

 tion. 



RULINGS ON THE PURE FOOD LAW OF 1895. 



The administering of the food law of June 26, A. D. 1895, pro- 

 hibiting the manufacture, sale or offering for sale of adulterated food, 

 deliuing the term ''food," and declaring what shall be deemed an adul- 

 teration, has been attended with considerable difliculty, arising 

 chiefly from difference of understanding in regard to the precise limi- 

 tations of its requirements. In the absence of published rules, upon 

 the various points covered by this act, manufacturers and dealers 

 were largely in ignorance of the exact requirements of the Depart- 

 ment, with respect to the various kinds of goods placed upon the 

 market. Their anxiety was also increased because of the fact that 

 any change in the officials having in charge the enforcement of the 

 law, might result in the adoption of a different policy, which might 

 greatly embarrass them in their business and occasion serious loss. 



The experience of this Department during the seven years in which 

 the law has been in operation in this State, together with that of 

 lifficials having charge of the enforcement of similar laws in other 

 States of the Union and in foreign countries, seemed sufficient to 

 enable us to prepare a set of rulings that would cover all of the points 

 in unmistakable language, and be legal in their requirements. 



TliL' adoption and publication of these rulings would place on 

 record for the information of manufacturers and dealers, the exact 

 present position of the Department, and would also be a guide for 

 future officials, in their administration of the law, ensuring harmony 

 of action during its future existence. 



The collection of data for this purpose was begun over two years 



