FOURTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART V. 275 



The Hammond Manufacturing Co. of Hammond, Ind., was assessed 

 $7,000. 



These are the amounts the Government has assessed against manu- 

 facturers who have tried to violate this law. I want to say to you in 

 this connection that while under the old law oleomargarine was made 

 in imitation of butter and was sold as butter, manufacturers could get 

 good prices for it and make big money. It was nothing for William J. 

 Mioxley of Chicago to put away $300,000 in a safety deposit vault at the 

 end of a year as a result of the profits of the business of the year. 

 Things are different now. The oleomargarine business is conducted dif- 

 ferently, for this reason: When colored oleomargarine was made and 

 every retailer had an incentive to sell it as butter, he was always liable 

 to prosecution either under the Federal or State laws (and we endeav- 

 ored to do our part in Chicago towards making life a burden to him). 

 T,he consequences were he would not dare sell oleomargarine unless 

 backed up by the manufacturers, who would indemnify him against the 

 payment of fines in case he should be arrested for fraud. The packers, 

 who have naturally the best facilities for making oleomargarine, in our 

 city at least (Chicago), would not stoop to this. They refused abso- 

 lutely to 'indemnify any retailer who fraudulently sold oleomargarine. 

 That opened the field for a class which was known as independent oleo- 

 margarine makers who came in and said to a retailer, "See here, I am 

 making oleomargarine that I will sell you for fifteen cents a pound and 

 you can sell it for biitter at twenty-five cents. While it is true that 

 Swiift & Co., or Armour & Co., will sell you oleomargarine at thirteen 

 cents, they will not defend you, consequently you do not dare to sell 

 it f?or twenty-five cents. You take our goods and sell them for twenty- 

 five cents and if anybody interferes with you we will come into court 

 and employ counsel to defend you and pay your fines. Go ahead and 

 sell our goods and you can make money." The result was the retailers 

 were all driven to buy goods of these independent people, because if they 

 did buy of the packers these independent manufacturers had men going 

 around and threatening them with arrest and driving them out of the 

 business, or driving them to the independent manufacturers. That en- 

 abled those independent manufacturers to get from one to two cents a 

 pound extra for their oleomargarine, and it did not cost them one quar- 

 ter of a cent per pound to do the protecting. In that way they corralled 

 nearly all the business and were making a big thing. 



Wliat is the condition today? With uncolored oleomargarine, witn 

 the profit squeezed out of the business, there are practically rio prose- 

 cutions for the sale of oleomargarine for butter. A firm can just as 

 well buy his oleomargarine one place as another. The competition is so 

 keen that instead of there being from one to three or five cents to figlit 

 the law with as formerly, they are getting down to a quarter of a cent. 

 The independent manufacturers are being d''iven out of the business. 



Mr. Burridge, of Cleveland, Ohio, who is here on the platform to- 

 night and who will address you upon this subject later, tells me that 

 the Union Dairy Co.. of Cleveland, one of the largest oleomargarine 

 manufacturing companies east of Chicago, has gone out of business as 



