REPOKT OF THE CHEMIST, 211 



confusion and apparent conflict between the local and Federal laws 

 and the local and Federal administration of laws seemed to exist, so 

 that it was difficult for the two sets of officials to supplement one 

 another. In consequence it was often necessary for manufacturers 

 to make very special preparation for shipment to certain States at 

 extra cost, which naturally was passed on to the ultimate consumer. 

 This lack of uniformity has been remedied to a considerable degree 

 by two agencies: (1) The Joint Committee on Definitions and 

 Standards, consisting of representatives of the Association of x\meri- 

 can Dairy, Food and Drug Officials, of the Association of Official 

 Agricultural Chemists, and of the Department of Agriculture, and 

 {•2) by the Office of Cooperative State and Federal Food and Drug 

 Control, established in the Bureau of Chemistry in 1914. The Joint 

 Committee, which was established by the Secretary of Agriculture, 

 proposes standards and definitions for the consideration of State 

 officials which, after adoption by these officials, are adopted by the 

 Department of Agriculture for the guidance of its officials. In this 

 manner independent and conflicting action by independent groups 

 of officials is, to a large extent, voluntarily obviated. The Bureau 

 of Chemistry's Office of State and Federal Cooperative Food and 

 Drug Contl-ol is essentially a State agency in a Federal bureau. It is 

 a special agent for the State or municipal official. It acts as a clear- 

 ing house for all matters dealing with food and drug control so 

 that all the officials of the country may be kept informed upon all 

 that is in progress throughout the country. It furnishes regularly 

 information and assistance to State and municipal officials. The re- 

 sult is that Federal, State and municipal officials are able to supple- 

 ment each other more effectively than was possible early in the law's 

 enforcement. This is well exemplified by the fact that during the 

 fiscal year ending June 30, 1917, one hundred and seventeen cases 

 were instituted under the Federal law by State officials, exclusive of 

 the officials of the District of Columbia, and that these officials have 

 collected more than three hundred official samples for consideration 

 by the Bureau of Chemistry. Through these two agencies a way has 

 been found, so far as the Food and Drugs Act is concerned, to over- 

 come in a fairly satisfactory manner some of the difficulties that arise 

 out of our form of Government with its conflict of Federal and State 

 jurisdiction. 



The Food and Drugs Act was among the first of that group of 

 laws which today would be classed as laws for the prevention of un- 

 fair competition. The suppression of fraud upon the consumer and 

 of unfair competition among business rivals are but the two faces of 

 the same coin. In consequence the food industries are sincerely and 

 effectively supporting and helping the Bureau of Chemistry to en- 

 force the law. Indeed, the Bureau is not infrequently appealed to 

 by the industries to compel the cessation of unfair practices and to 

 encourage the standardization of products when the industry is in- 

 capable by itself of bringing about these results. Instances of th*is 

 kind may be found in the citrus-fruit industry, the evaporated-milk 

 industry, and the sardine industry. The act has been one of the in- 

 fluences which has helped to draw competitors together into asso- 

 ciations like the guilds of the Middle Ages, associations shorn of the 

 special privileges which the ancient guilds often enjoyed. These 

 associations have come to understand the value of constructive work 



