452 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



OLEOMARGARINE. 



E. K. SLATEB, WASHINGTON, D. C. 



Ladies, Gentlemen and Fellow Creamerymen : Mr. Barney said you 

 all knew me by reputation, but I'm not exactly satisfied unless I know 

 what that reputation is — good or bad. Perhaps he wanted to be strictly 

 neutral. Anyway he told you I had been at the front in the oleomarga- 

 rine fight, which is the all important object of my efforts these days. 



I am going to be brief with you for when you leave I want you to 

 leave feeling good. I came here as a guest of your association and as a 

 native-born Iowan to talk to you on the oleomargarine question — a ques- 

 tion which is of vital importance to you. In coming to you I represent 

 the National Dairy Union, which is an organization founded in 1902 

 HOLDS WORTH 5677 



for the express purpose of looking after oleomargarine legislation at 

 Washington. 



One of the fundamental principles of all pure food legislation is that 

 of insuring to the purchaser that he shall get exactly what he pays 

 for. In order to accomplish this, nearly all of the states that have enacted 

 pure food legislation have prohibited the sale of oleomargarine, which 

 resembles butter in color. This is absolutely necessary in order that the 

 consumer can distinguish between the two articles. The authorities in 

 these states have learned that in no other way can this be accomplished. 



Acting upon this same theory the Congress of the United States in 

 1902 enacted the present oleomargarine law, which imposes a Federal 

 internal revenue tax of 10c per pound on artificially colored oleomarga- 

 rine and one-fourth of one cent per pound on the uncolored product. The 

 purpose of this law is to make the production of yellow oleomargarine 

 unprofitable, so that the product will be placed upon the market in its 

 natural color. 



The ingenuity of the oleomargarine manufacturers, however, has en- 

 abled them to circumvent this law by securing a yellow color in selecting 

 the ingredients of their product and not by using artificial coloring 

 matter. They are thus enabled to produce oleomargarine that looks 

 like butter at a tax of but one-fourth cent per pound. Hence, the issue 

 must again be met by Congress and new means devised for eliminating 

 fraud. 



A great effort has been made by the manufacturers of oleomargarine 

 and their political allies to repeal the present law and substitute an orig- 

 inal package scheme bearing an internal revenue stamp. At the last 

 session of Congress several bills were introduced repealing the present 

 law and substituting this scheme. Every bill introduced, which is favor- 

 able to the oleomargarine interests, propose to allow the sale of yellow- 

 oleomargarine. To this the friends of pure butter and pure food in gen- 

 eral, object because it is impossible to prevent fraud in the sale of the 

 substitute when the consumer can't easily distinguish it from the gen- 

 uine. 



