66 ANNUAL REPORT OP THE Off. Doc. 



Anions the questions considered by the honorable court, was the 

 following: 



"Whether sod ion 2 of the act could be sustained as to drink under 

 the constitutional requirement that the subject of the act shall be 

 clearly expressed in the title?" 



The court declared that where such meaning is given to the words 

 describing the subject of the act, and is not that which attaches 

 to them in the common understanding, the Constitution requires 

 that the title shall express such special meaning with at least suffi- 

 cient fullness to put readers on inquiry as to its full provisions. 



"Whether the crime with which the appellants were charged was 

 anywhere made an offense in the statutes?" 



The opinion of the court upon this point was to the effect, in sub- 

 stance, that sections '2 and 3 did not agree in their definitions as to 

 scope and meaning, so far as "drink" and "food" was concerned. 



The court says: "The act after bringing food and drink together 

 under one definition, in section 2, returns in section 3 to the dis- 

 tinction commonly understood, makes full provision as to food as 

 a separate subject, and then stops short, without any provision 

 as to drink. It is apparent that the act either was left incomplete 

 by its draughtsman, or the part relating to drink was cut out in 

 its passage, and its place not supplied. Whatever be the reason, 

 the act fails to create any such offense as appellants are charged 

 with." 



With the removal of this last barrier against the sale of impure 

 and unwholesome liquor, earnest protests came from hundreds of 

 persons from all over the Commonwealth, the majority urging that 

 the needed bills to replace the defective legislation should -be pre- 

 pared and presented to the Legislature for consideration at the next 

 regular session, and that such proposed acts should receive prece- 

 dence. The press of Pennsylvania, ministerial associations, etc., 

 united in appeals for corrective legislation, and many pastors se- 

 lected the theme for stirring sermons. 



The legitimate distiller and brewer, as well as dealer, is also in 

 strong sympathy with the demand for unadulterated liquor. Their 

 trade organizations and journals have spoken in unmistakable Ian 

 guage, and, as already intimated in another part of this report, 

 their demands will be heeded at the earliest possible opportunity. 



REPEAL OF THE BORAC1C ACID ACT OF 1903. 



The repeal of the so-called "boracic acid law" of 1903, during the 

 legislative session of 1905, has resulted in warm commendations 

 from numerous scientific and medical experts, who freely declared 

 that there was no good reason for its enactment. The subject of 

 "doctoring" meat was not as fully understood, and as its abuse be- 

 came too frequent, there was no alternative but to secure the repeal 

 of the objectionable legislation. As to deleterious effects, Professor 

 Wiley, Chief of the United States Bureau of Chemistry, who made 

 exhaustive and far-reaching experiments, writes as follows: 



"Results show that one-half grain borax per day is too much for 

 the normal man to receive regularly. * * * Both boric acid and 

 borax, when continually administered in small doses, for a long 

 period, create disturbances of appetite, of digestion and of health." 



