ELEVENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART VIII 453 



Of course they provide for original packages and particular forms of 

 labels, but their supporters know as well as anyone that a label law 

 never can prevent fraud in the sale of the article as long as it is colored 

 to look like butter. They are willing to agree to any kind of a label 

 law and any kind of inspection just so long as they are permitted to 

 color their stuff yellow. 



Time forbids a detailed explanation as to the inadequacy of such regu- 

 lation, but the following points should be kept in mind: 



First, It would not affect the sale of oleomargarine in hotels, restau- 

 rants and boarding houses, where millions of our people eat butter. It 

 is argued that the state laws should regulate this trade. If the state 

 food laws are not inadequate why was it necessary to enact a Federal 

 pure food law? 



Second, and one of still greater importance, the internal revenue de- 

 partment is a tax collecting department and can not be made a police 

 department in enforcing laws against fraud, except when the fraud is 

 committed against the government by avoiding the payment of specified 

 tax. This department can not become interested in the question of 

 fraud when oleomargarine is sold to the consumer as butter. The inter- 

 nal revenue department is but a branch of the treasury department, 

 except in collecting revenues for the United States treasury. 



In case a uniform tax of 2 cents per pound were imposed upon all 

 kinds of oleomargarine, the commissioner of internal revenue would only 

 be interested in seeing that every pound of oleomargarine made was 

 taxed at that rate and the tax paid to the government. It is argued 

 that a heavy penalty for selling the stuff from any other package would 

 prevent the irresponsible dealer, or peddler, removing the stamp and 

 selling it as butter. But of what benefit is a heavy penalty if there is 

 no machinery by which violators are to be convicted? 



Third if, the law cannot prevent the hotel man from removing the 

 stamp and selling the product to his patrons as butter, how can it pre- 

 vent the peddler, who goes from house to house, from doing the same 

 thing? 



Fourth, a majority of our state law-making bodies, and those of 

 foreign countries, undertake to prevent fraud in the sale of oleomargarine 

 by drawing the color line. When the states fail it is because the admin- 

 istrative departments are not powerful enough to enfore the law vigor- 

 ously, and because the Federal law is not similar. 



The original package scheme is absolutely impractical, so long as oleo- 

 margarine is made to look like butter. 



Yellow is the trade mark of butter. All butter is yellow during cer- 

 tain seasons of the year, while that from certain breeds of cows is yel- 

 low the year round. The maker of butter uses a very small quantity of 

 vegetable coloring material to secure a uniform shade of color the 

 year round. It is still butter after being artificially colored and is not 

 colored so as to be sol4 for something else. When oleomargarine is 

 colored yellow, it is not for uniformity, but to cause the substitute to 

 look like something it is not. The natural color of oleomargarine is 



