X OLEOMARGARINE AND OTHER IMITATION DAIRY PRODUCTS. 



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." 



Oleomargarine is a legitimate article ot commerce. 



This has been distinctively held by the Supreme Court of the United 

 States. In the case of Schollenberger v. Pennsylvania (171 U. S., 

 30), which was decided May 26, 1898, the Supreme Court held as fol- 

 lows: 



In the examination of this subject the first question to be considered is whether 

 oleomargarine is an article of commerce. No affirmative evidence from witnesses 

 called to the stand and speaking directly to that subject is found in the record. We 

 must determine the question with reference to those facts which are so well and 

 universally known that courts will take notice of them without particular proofs 

 being adduced in regard to them, and also by reference to those dealings of the com- 

 mercial world which are of like notoriety. Any legislation of Congress upon this 

 subject must, of course, be recognized by this court as of first importance. If Con- 

 gress has affirmatively pronounced it a proper subject of commerce, we should 

 rightly be influenced by that declaration. 



After referring to the act of Congress of August 2, 1886, being the 

 law now in force, imposing a tax of 2 cents a pound on oleomargarine, 

 the court further stated as follows: 



This shows that Congress at the time of its passage in 1886 recognized the article 

 as a proper subject of taxation, and as one which was the subject of traffic and of 

 exportation to foreign countries and of importation from such countries. Its manu- 

 facture was recognized as a lawful pursuit, and taxation was levied upon the manu- 

 facturer of the article, upon the wholesale and retail dealers therein, and also upon 

 the article itself. 



Concluding upon this branch of the case, the court stated as follows: 



The article is a subject of export and is largely used in foreign countries. Upon 

 all these facts we think it apparent that oleomargarine has become a proper subject 

 of commerce among the States and the foreign nations. 



Coloring matter is used both in the making of butter and in the 

 manufacture of oleomargarine for the purpose of catering to the tastes 

 of consumers who have been accustomed to a generally yellow tint in 

 both food products. 



Neither the makers of butter nor the manufacturers of oleomarga- 

 rine can claim rightfully any exclusive right to the use of coloring mat- 

 ter in their respective products. Both admit that coloring matter is 

 used for the reason that their customers prefer an article of a yellowish 

 tint. If consumers preferred the article white, or free from any tint 

 whatever, the makers of butter and the manufacturers of oleomarga- 

 rine could just as easily, and even more easily, respond to that taste. 

 The question for the lawmaking power to consider is this: Should the 

 law interfere in a case of this kind and aid the makers of one product 

 and injure the manufacturers of the other? 



The second section of the proposed bill imposes a tax of 10 cents a 

 pound upon colored oleomargarine, or, in the language of the act, "col- 

 ored in the imitation of butter." The advocates of this proposed legis- 

 lation admit that their object is to place the tax on oleomargarine so 

 high that it can not be placed upon the markets of the countiy if colored. 



It is the universal opinion of those engaged in the manufacture of 

 oleomargarine that a tax of 10 cents a pound upon the product colored 

 a yellow tint will destroy that industry, for the reason, which expe- 



