OLEOMARGARINE AND OTHER IMITATION DAIRY PRODUCTS. XXI 



garine to sell it for what it really is and not for butter. The substitute offered is 

 practically an amendment to sections 3 and 6 of the existing oleomargarine law. The 

 licenses for manufacture and sale of this article are not changed, and are as follows: 

 Manufacturers, $600 per annum; wholesale dealers, $480 per annum; retailers, $48 

 per annum, while the penalties imposed for violation of the law are materially 

 increased. We quote in full section 2 of the substitute bill, and ask for it the careful 

 and thoughtful consideration of the House, believing that it is just and fair to all the 

 interests involved: 



"SEC. 2. That all oleomargarine shall be put up by the manufacturer for^sale in 

 packages of one and two pounds, respectively, and in no other or larger or smaller 

 package; and upon every print, brick, roll, or lump of oleomargarine, before being so 

 put up for sale or removal from the factory, there shall be impressed by the manu- 

 facturer the word "oleomargarine" in sunken letters, the size of which shall be pre- 

 scribed by regulations made by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue and approved 

 by the Secretary of the Treasury; and every such print, brick, roll, or lump of oleomar- 

 garine shall first be wrapped with paper wrapper with the word "oleomargarine" 

 printed thereon in distinct letters, and said wrapper shall also bear the name of the 

 manufacturer, and then shall be put by the manufacturer thereof in such wooden or 

 paper packages or in such wrappers, with the word "oleomargarine" printed thereon 

 in distinct letters, and marked, stamped, and branded in such manner as the Com- 

 missioner of Internal Revenue, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, 

 shall prescribe, and the internal-revenue stamp shall be affixed so as to surround the 

 outer wrapper of each one and two pound package: Provided, That any number of 

 such original stamped packages may be put up by the manufacturer in crates or boxes, 

 on the outside of which shall be marked the word "oleomargarine," with such other 

 marks and brands as the Commissioner of Internal Revenue shall, by regulations 

 approved by the Secretary of the Treasury, prescribe. 



"Retail dealers in oleomargarine shall sell only the original package to which the 

 tax-paid stamp is affixed. 



" Every person who knowingly sells or offers for sale, or delivers or offers to deliver, 

 any oleomargarine otherwise than as provided by this act or contrary to the regula- 

 tions of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue made in pursuance hereof or who 

 packs in any package any oleomargarine in any manner contrary to law, or who shall 

 sell or offer for sale as butter any oleomargarine, colored or uncolored, or who falsely 

 brands any package, or affixes a stamp on any package denoting a less amount of 

 tax than that required by law, shall be fined for the first offense not less than one 

 hundred nor more than five hundred dollars and be imprisoned not less than thirty 

 days nor more than six months; and for the second and every subsequent offense 

 shall be fined not less than two hundred nor more than one thousand dollars and be 

 imprisoned not less than sixty days nor more than two years." 



One of the claims made by the friends of the Grout bill is that it will protect the 

 interests of the farmer. We call attention to the fact that every ingredient that 

 enters into the manufacture of oleomargarine is as much a product of the farm as the 

 butter, and that such ingredients are made more valuable on account of their use in 

 the manufacture of oleomargarine. 



Your committee has had before it representatives of both the cattle and hog raisers 

 of the country, and also representatives of the cotton industry, and they are unani- 

 mous in their opinion that their business will be materially injured and the price of 

 their product lowered by the passage of the Grout bill and the destruction of the 

 oleomargarine industry. 



The manufacture and sale of oleomargarine does not interfere with the growth and 

 prosperity of the butter industry. Statistics show a much greater percentage in the 

 increase of the production of butter than in the production of oleomargarine. Though 

 similar in ingredients, they are not strictly competing, as the oleomargarine is prac- 

 tically all bought by the poorer class of our people. 



In justification of this statement we have received a large number of petitions from 

 the labor organizations of our country protesting against the passage of this bill for 

 the above-given reasons. 



It being possible to keep oleomargarine in a sweet and sound condition much longer 

 than butter, it is also used extensively in the mining and lumber camps, on explor- 

 ing and hunting expeditions, on ships at sea, and by armies in the field. 



The claim made by the friends of the Grout bill that the manufacture and sale of 

 oleomargarine has greatly depreciated the price of butter will not obtain when it is 

 known that there is now manufactured in the United States nearly 2,000,000,000 

 pounds of butter annually, and it is positively known that there only were 83, 000, 000 

 pounds of oleomargarine manufactured last year, which shows that the amount of 

 oleomargarine produced is about 4 per cent of the amount of butter produced. There- 



