38 OLEOMARGAEINE. 



Mr. KNIGHT. Somebody forged my name to a letter, and I denounced it. 



Mr. GARDNER. I do not know, but, according to the report in the 

 Congressional Record, a letter was read, I thought, from Governor 

 Hoard. Of course I accept his statement. The letter stated that he 

 was incorrectly reported in what he said before the committee. 



Mr. HOARD. I submitted my argument in writing, so that whatever 

 I said was correctly printed. 



Mr. GARDNER. Besides the allegations made by the advocates of 

 this bill, what they have done in the States where they had the power 

 to carry their theories into effect shows that they intend to destroy this 

 industry. In the State of Vermont there is a law which requires that 

 no oleomargarine shall be sold unless it is colored pink. 



Mr. HOARD. No; that was the law in the State of New Hampshire. 



Mr. GARDNER. That is said to be the law in the State of Vermont 

 and in the State of West Virginia. 



Mr. KNIGHT. The New Hampshire law has been repealed. 



Mr. GARDNER. The New Hampshire law has been repealed, and it 

 is the law of the State of Vermont to-day. 



Senator HANSBROTJGH. It is in the report here. 



Mr. GARDNER. It is in the report. 



Mr. KNIGHT. I guess that is true. Two States have that law. 



Mr. GARDNER. Occasionally 1 do make a statement which is accepted 

 to be true by my friends on the other side. 



Mr. HOARD. It is news to me. 



Mr. GARDNER. There is a good deal that is news to you, no doubt, 

 but it is true, notwithstanding, that in the State of Vermont, the State 

 which is represented in Congress by the author of this bill, there is a 

 law which requires that all of this substance which is sold shall be 

 colored pink. Now, this substance can not be colored pink without 

 introducing an element into it which makes it a menace to human 

 health, which makes it a deleterious substance. The State of Vermont 

 has, therefore, legislated not to regulate this industry, but to destroy 

 it. It is absolutely certain that no man would spread upon his bread 

 any pink substance. 



Senator WARREN. Those laws have been repealed in some of the 

 States. 



Mr. GARDNER. I do not care whether the law is in force or not; I do 

 not care whether the law is operative or inoperative; it shows the pur- 

 pose which is entertained by the people who are here advocating this 

 bill; a purpose not to regulate this industry, but to destroy it; a pur- 

 pose not to have oleomargarine sold as butter, but not to have oleo- 

 margarine sold at all. That is the purpose which is evidenced by the 

 words; it is the purpose that is evidenced by the action which, is louder 

 than words, and whether it is the purpose or not it is the inevitable 

 result. 



It is the inevitable result for this reason: Oleomargarine can not be 

 colored and pay a tax of 10 cents a pound and be sold in competition 

 with cheap butter. I have previously argued to you, and I will not 

 repeat myself, the reasons why it seems to me that it can not be sold 

 in competition with high-grade butter. It can not be sold in competi- 

 tion with butter which costs over 22 or 23 cents a pound. It can not 

 be sold in competition with cheap butter. 



Oleomargarine, which to-day pays a tax of 2 cents a pound, retails 

 at from 13 to 15 cents, with a profit, I assert, of much less than 1 cent 



