OLEOMAKGAKINE. 57 



"Your petitioner, the South St. Paul Live Stock Exchange, respect- 

 fully represents to your honorable body that it is an association of live- 

 stock dealers engaged in buying and selling, feeding and shipping, and 

 slaughtering live stock, and was organized, among other things, for the 

 purpose of promoting the best interests of the live-stock industry of 

 the Northwest, jealously guarding the interests of the producer and 

 consumer alike. 



"Your petitioner, in behalf of its constituency, desires to enter its 

 emphatic protest against the enactment of House bill No. 6, introduced 

 by Mr. Tawney, providing for a tax on the manufacture and sale of 

 oleomargarine. In support of this protest, a few of the many reasons 

 that might be mentioned are hereinafter set forth." 



I will say just here that this petition was drawn when the former 

 bill, the Tawney bill, was before the House more prominently than 

 the Grout bill. That bijl was practically the same as the Grout bill, 

 and the petition would of course apply to any further legislation on 

 butterine. 



The CHAIKMAN. That we will print with the rest. 



Mr. MILLER. Yes, sir. 



The CHAIKMAN. There is no need to read it unless you care to do so. 



Mr. MILLER. Very well, if the committee would not like to hear it. 



Senator BATE. I think that you had better read it. 



Mr. MILLER. All right. The petition proceeds: 



' ' The measure is a species of class legislation of the most dangerous 

 kind, calculated to build up one industry at the expense of another 

 equally as important. It seeks to impose an unjust, uncalled-for, and 

 unwarranted burden upon one of the principal commercial industries 

 of the country. Manufacturers can not assume this added burden and 

 continue to sell their product in competition with butter. The passage 

 of this measure would throttle competition, render useless the immense 

 establishments erected at a great expense for the manufacture of oleo- 

 margarine, deprive thousands of employees of the opportunity to gain 

 a livelihood, and deny the people, and especially the working people, 

 a wholesome article of diet. 



' ' The butter fat of an average beef animal for the purpose of man- 

 ufacturing oleomargarine is worth from $3 to $4 per head more than 

 before the advent of oleomargarine. This has increased the value of 

 the beef steer and consequently to the profit of the producer. 



" To legislate this article of commerce out of existence, as the pas- 

 sage of this law would surely do, would compel slaughterers to use 

 this fat for tallow, and depreciate the market value of beef cattle of 

 this country $3 to $4 per head, which would entail a loss on the 

 producer of this country of millions and millions of dollars. 



"The use of this fat for the purpose set forth is an encouragement to 

 the producer to improve his herd and raise a class of thoroughbred cat- 

 tle capable of carrying the fat, and thus resulting in a benefit to all. 



" The rights and privileges of the producers of beef cattle should be 

 as well respected as those of others, and as they are the beneficiaries 

 in the manufacture of this wholesome article of food they should not 

 be burdened with unnecessary special taxes levied avowedly for the 

 purpose of prohibiting its production. 



"The product of the beef steer should receive at the hands of Con- 

 gress no greater exactions than are imposed on competing food prod- 

 ucts. The manufacture and sale of oleomargarine is already surrounded 



