188 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



to the supreme court and a decision rendered on that feature of 

 our law which is held to forbid the sale of oleomargarine "having 

 a yellow color." There is no qtiestion in regard to any State law 

 which forbids the sale of oleomargarine which has been artificially 

 colored in imitation of butter, but there seems to have b<:en no 

 decision rendered by any court of last resort which bears directly 

 upon the part of the Iowa law mentioned above. Early in Jan- 

 uary the dairy commissioner purchased from the Armour Packing- 

 Company in the city of Des Moines a quantity of uncolored oleo- 

 margarine, which, nevertheless, had a considerable tinge of yel- 

 low, and after some effort an indictment was secured charging 

 the Armour Packing Company with having sold oleomargarine 

 "having a yellow color." The commissioner was assured that 

 the Armour Packing Company was as anxious as himself to have 

 the supreme court pass upon this feature of the law at the earliest 

 date possible. However, this desire on the part of the Armour 

 Packing Company has not prevented their attorneys from using 

 every technical means to delay the suit. The first trial of the case 

 resulted in a disagreement of the jury; a jury under peculiar in- 

 structions. The second trial, before the same judge, but with 

 slightly different instructions to the jury, resulted in a 

 conviction. The Armour Packing Company then interposed an 

 objection to the form of the indictment, an objection which had 

 nothing whatever to do with the meaning of the oleo law, but 

 was simply a technical error in wording the indictment which 

 compelled the court to set aside the verdict. Instead of dismissing 

 the case, as he might have done, the judge sent the indictment 

 back to the grand jury for correction. On the meeting of the 

 grand jury in September the indictment was again returned and 

 again objected to by the attorneys for the Armour Packing_ Com- 

 pany, and up to this date, November ist, the case has not come 

 to trial. However, upon convicting the Armour Packing Com- 

 pany the dairy commissioner sent out the following circular to 

 the 205 dealers in the State : 



Des Moines, Iowa, May 12, 1903. 

 Dear Sir, — From the records of the Internal Revenue oflBce I under- 

 stand you are selling so-called "uncolored" oleomargarine, and this letter 

 is addressed to you for your information in regard to the laws of this 

 State governing the sale of oleomargarine, or substitute for butter. 



