OLEOMARGAKINE. 41 



Mr. KNIGHT. If you will give me just a second, let me ask a ques- 

 tion. You represent the Oakdale Manufacturing Company? 



Mr. GARDNER. I do. 



Mr. KNIGHT. Are they satisfied with the present law on oleomar- 

 garine ? 



Mr. GARDNER. Yes; they are satisfied with it. 



Mr. KNIGHT. Do they comply with the provisions of it? 



Mr. GARDNER. They do. 



Mr. KNIGHT. That is all. 



Mr. GARDNER. In concluding, gentlemen, it seems to me that 1 

 ought to apologize for all the time that I have taken up this morning. 

 I have argued this morning largely upon the question of expediency. 

 1 have not endeavored to meet, as perhaps I ought, and as perhaps I 

 must meet, the matter which has been referred to this morning by a 

 member of the committee a matter which is so familiar to us ail- 

 that this legislation is urged upon this committee and urged upon Con- 

 gress because it is stated that 5,000,000 people engaged in agriculture 

 in the United States desire it. It ought not to be a balancing of the 

 numbers who desire it or who do not desire it. It ought to be a matter 

 of principle. But it is perhaps necessary to meet arguments of that 

 character, and if it is necessary to meet them 1 ought perhaps to take 

 the time to show that not only the interests of a few manufacturers 

 and dealers in oleomargarine are here concerned, but that the interests 

 of very many other producers in this country are indirectly concerned. 



Oleomargarine is not produced by magic. Into oleomargarine have 

 to enter various substances which are the product of the agricultural 

 industries and interests of this country. The raiser of hogs, the 

 raiser of cattle, and the producer of cotton-seed oil are all interested 

 in the growth of the oleomargarine business. The neutral lard which 

 is used in the manufacture of oleomargarine, and which comes from 

 the hog, is a product which sells at 2i cents per pound higher than the 

 only other alternative product which could be made lard itself and 

 8 pounds of this substance are produced from the hog. That shows 

 that for all the hogs that can be utilized for this purpose there is an 

 added value of 20 cents to each hog. The report of the Commissioner 

 of Internal Revenue for the year ending June 30, 1899, when the pro- 

 duction of oleomargarine was considerably less than it is to-day, shows 

 that 31,297,251 pounds of neutral lard were used in the manufacture of 

 this product. 



Senator MONEY. What is neutral lard? 



Senator HEITFELD. Leaf lard. 



Senator FOSTER. How many pounds do you state were used? 



Mr. GARDNER. Thirty-one million two hundred and ninety-seven 

 thousand two hundred and fifty-one pounds in that year. So there is a 

 vital interest on the part of the farmers who are engaged in the raising 

 of hogs that this industry shall not be wiped out of existence. 



Senator FOSTER. What part of beef enters into it? 



Mr. GARDNER. Oleo oil is a product of the beef, and it sells at a 

 much larger price than any other product. 



Senator ALLEN. What would become of these elements if they were 

 not used in the manufacture of oleomargarine? 



Mr. GARDNER. They would have to be sold at lower prices for other 

 purposes tallow in the case of beef. 



