338 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



do it, that I will simply cop}' his edi- 

 torial entire, and thank him for the 

 privilege. Here is what he says : — 



The Hepburn pure-food bill, one of 

 the most important measures that ever 

 passed Congress, became a law on 

 June 30th of this 3-ear, but will not be 

 in force until January 1, 1907. I have 

 before me a copy of the law, and the 

 rules and regulations applying to said 

 law as they were prepared by the Sec- 

 retaries of the Treasury, of Agricul- 

 ture, and of Commerce and Labor. 

 That the new law has "teeth" in it, 

 can not be denied. It is going to do 

 more to wipe out adulteration and mis- 

 branding than anything that has ever 

 been done for half a century. While 

 in a sense it is restricted to interstate 

 and territorial business, yet \{& prarii- 

 cat working effect will be to prevent the 

 dishonest food and medicine purveyors 

 from doing business in aJiy Sfote, 

 whether it has a pure food law or not. 

 No glucose mixer or adulterator, after 

 January 1st next, will dare put his 

 goods on the market again; for if he 

 does he is liable to run up against 

 Uncle Sam in a way that will not only 

 subject him to a heavy fine, but may 

 put him behind the bars where he will 

 stay for a time. It is a well-known 

 fact that law-breakers are far more 

 afraid of United States officials than 

 mere State officers. 



It is vitally necessary that every bee- 

 keeper and honey-seller know some- 

 thing about this new law. Even 

 honest men might inadvertently become 

 eixtrapped; and it is important, alike, 

 for both the law-abiding as well as the 

 would-be law-breaker to kno»v what 

 the law is. 



In a general way it makes it a crime 

 against the United States to misbrand 

 or adulterate cn?y food product, medi- 

 cine or liquor, without showing the ex- 

 act contents on the outside of the pack- 

 ;ige. In any State where there is no 

 pure-food law one may adulterate and 

 misbrand as before, proindivy; his pro- 

 ducts do not go beyond tjie limits of 

 that Slate. But the moment they pnss 

 beyord the border-line into another 

 State lie is liable to fine and imprison- 

 ment. There is where the rub is In- 

 asmuch as it would be impossible to do 

 astrictly within-the-State business, the 

 practical working efll'ect of the law 

 would be that misbranding and adul- 

 terating will have to stop on ev( ry foot 

 of ground owned or controlled by any 

 State or by the United States as a 



whole. The law goes farther. One 

 cannot adulterate or misbrand goods 

 that are to be used for export into a 

 foreign country without taking fearful 

 chances. 



PENALTIES. 



Any person who shall violate any 

 provision of this law relating to an in- 

 terstate or territorial business shnll 

 be guilty of a misdemeanor, and .shall 

 on conviction, be fined not to exceed 

 $500, or be senterced to one year's im- 

 prisonment, or both; such fine and im- 

 prisonment to be at the discretion of 

 the court. For each subsequent offense 

 and conviction he shall be lined not 

 less than $1000, or sentenced to one 

 year's imprisonment, or both, at the 

 discretion of the court. 



The penalty for exporting mis- 

 branded goods will be $200 for the first 

 offense, and $500 for a succeeding 

 offense, or to be imprisoned one year, 

 or both, at the discretion of the 

 court. 



GUARANTEE OF PURITY REQUIRED. 



A special feature of this bill is that 

 no dealer in food or drug products will 

 be liable to prosecution if he can show 

 that the goods were sold under a guar- 

 antee of purity from the wholesaler, 

 manufacturer, jobber, dealer, or other 

 party residing in the United States, 

 from whom purchased. It is proper to 

 remark right here that it is very im- 

 portant that every purchaser of honey 

 or beeswax secure from each wholesale 

 jobber or producer, that the goods 

 purchased are guaranteed by him to 

 be pure. In the event that it is found 

 afterward that they are adulterated or 

 misbranded. the presentation of this 

 guarantee by the dealer will protect 

 him, when proceedings will be taken 

 up against the maker of the guarantee, 

 and he, in turn, as I understand the 

 law, can go back to the original pro- 

 ducer, provided, of course, that he in 

 return is protected also by a guarantee 

 of purity from said producer. As I 

 understand it, this guarantee will not 

 apply in any case where the original 

 package in which the goods were re- 

 ceived has been broken and the goods 

 have been put into other packages. 



It will come to a pass that, before a 

 sale can be consummated, a guarantee 

 of purity will have to be furnished. 

 Wheti the examination or analysis 

 shows that the food or drugs are 

 adulterated, the dealer furnishing such 

 goods shall be duly notified. 



