TENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART IX 399 



Considering that complaints for violation of this act will constantly be 

 presented to your department, I suggest that you refer all such com- 

 plaints to the county attorney of the county where the law is violated, 

 and also to the department of justice. 

 June 4, 1909. 



H. W. BYERS, 

 Attoi-ney General. 



H. R. Wbight, 

 State Food and Dairy Commissioner. 



It must be noted that the enforcement of this statute is by law 

 imposed upon the county attorneys of the respective counties and 

 the attorney general, and that complaints of its violation should 

 be properly addressed to these officials. The state also has laws 

 requiring the county officers to investigate complaints and prose- 

 cute offenders. 



The impression that the law is intended to destroy or prevent 

 competition is entirely unwarranted. The impression that the 

 statute prohibits absolutely a creamery from paying different 

 prices to different individuals is not correct. Careful reading of 

 the letter of the attorney general is invited on this point. For ex- 

 ample, if a local creamery's price on butterfat is 25 cents and that 

 of an outside creamery at other points is 20 cents, it is manifest 

 that a law prohibiting the outside creamery from paying more than 

 20 cents at the local point would wholly destroy competition be- 

 tween the two, and competition having been destroyed a local mo- 

 nopoly Avould be created. No courts anywhere have sustained 

 statutes resulting in monopoly, or which destroy competition. So 

 that a statute specifically requiring the central creamery to pay the 

 same price for all its products would be clearly unconstitutional — 

 a fact pointed out by the best lawyers in the state when the bill 

 was considered in the legislature. It, therefore, follows that the 

 outside creamery may come into the territory' of the local creamery 

 and compete with the local creamery, that is, pay as much for but- 

 terfat as the price paid by the local creamery. 



Numerous complaints come to this office that outside creameries 

 are paying more near the local creamery than the outside creamery 

 pays at home, but we have not received any complaints during the 

 last several months. Avhich would indicate a violation of the statute. 

 AVhile there is still friction between the two competing systems it is 

 believed that at least the existence of the statute has done con- 

 siderable good. A local creamery can in every case, by giving bet- 

 ter service, easily compete with an outside creamery when the out- 



