284 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



necessary funds for such an organization as the National Dairy Union. 

 These officers have been with you now for a long time; you know what 

 they have done for you; they have been tried and have not been found 

 wanting. 



One of the most difficult things to do in this cmmtry is to go to con- 

 gress and have congress pass a revenue measure. They did that for 

 you and for the salvation of the butter interests of this country. Let 

 me tell you as quickly as possible, because the hour is growing late, in 

 regard to butterine in Chicago. 



I have been on the market for twelve years, I first went with Mr. 

 Wrightson, who was one of the largest dealers in butter at that time in 

 the country. That was back in '91. We did a large business; we bought 

 from thirty-four jobbing houses in the city of Chicago, houses that had 

 a butter business where they sold in a wholesale way, and business con- 

 tinued good both to the commission houses and brokers until along in 

 1894. About that time things began to show something was wrong, and 

 along in '95 it commenced to get worse. Then we called a meeting to 

 talk the matter over. We knew there was an increased sale and consum])- 

 tion of butterine, and with the assistance of Mr. Knight and a few 

 others on our market, we sent a delegation to Springfield and had 

 passed by our legislature there a law similar to laws enacted in other 

 states, which had apparently been all right in those states. We felt 

 quite happy and cheerful when the delegation came back from Spring- 

 field and stated that the law had been passed. We felt that we would 

 regain our prestige as a butter market. Unfortunately, our joy was 

 short lived. We never got a conviction under the law, and we then 

 realized what a desperate proposition it was to go up against the butter- 

 ine crowd, men who were making millions and had political influence to 

 undo our work. 



In 1900 things began to get desperate, and I remember when Mr. 

 Price, one of the old wholesale merchants of our city who had retired from 

 the butter business three or four years, said to me one day: "Purcell," 

 he said, "how is business?" I replied, "Business is all right, but there 

 is no butter. You know we have few jobbing houses now." He then 

 asked how many are left there. I , counted them up, I knew them all 

 and there were eight. In ten years the butter business in the great city 

 of Chicago had declined from thirty-six jobbers (where it should have 

 increased to fifty or sixty), down to eight, and yet Chicago is one of the 

 most prosperous cities in the Union. The reason was that practically 

 every grocer in Chicago had become an agent for butterine. If this con- 

 dition had gone on, probably every grocer in the United States would 

 have soon been in the same position. Why? Because they were 

 able to make large profits out of butterine, and grocers are human — 

 they are not in the business for their health. 



I am only going to keep you a moment. Mr. Knight then came for- 

 ward with a proposition to tax colored oleomargarine ten cents per 

 pound. You know the rest. He accomplished his work, he did it well, 

 but we were a little doubtful after the work was accomplished whether 

 it would stand or not. They commenced to use palm oil; we then 



