82 OLEOMARGARINE. 



That I presume is correct. 



Mr. ADAMS. That is absolutely correct. 



Mr. SPRINGER. That is correct. In this connection, therefore, I 

 desire to say that I believe it will be the testimony of all those gentle- 

 men engaged in the manufacture of oleomargarine that all the product 

 made in this country is colored practically in imitation of butter. 

 There may be some that is not colored, but the manufacturers gener- 

 ally regard it as necessary to color it in order to make it salable. 



Other statements were made before the Committee on Agriculture 

 of the House, and of similar purport to that which I have read. 



Mr. KNIGHT. Mr. Chairman, if I may be pardoned, there is a state- 

 ment credited to me which appears there that not only was never made 

 before any committee, but it purports to be a letter written by me to 

 a Virginia dairyman, and which was never written by me. I never 

 heard of it and never thought of an} T thing of the kind. If it has ever 

 appeared it is a forgery. I denounced it so before the House com- 

 mittee and it appeared as such in the Congressional Record. 



The ACTING CHAIRMAN. It has appeared in the Congressional Record ? 



Mr. KNIGHT. As soon as I saw the minority report I telegraphed 

 to Congressman Grout to lay the matter before the House, that that 

 purported letter, if there was ever any ground for it, was a forgery. 

 I was not prepared to say that someone in the office might not have 

 sent it out in my absence while I was here. But at the time it pur- 

 ports to have been written I was in Washington and not in Chicago, 

 and I was sending out no literature from here. When I went home I 

 questioned my clerks and assistants there and could find no record of 

 such a letter having ever been written to anybody, or of anyone who 

 ever had any idea of sending it out. 



Mr. SPRINGER. I, of course, assume that matters which appear in an 

 official document are there with some responsible authority, and I 

 usually quote them without apology ; but the gentleman's statement is 

 to be considered as controlling in this matter. 



Mr. KNIGHT. The point was raised and never has been met. 



Mr. SPRINGER. I do not desire to hold the gentleman or anyone 

 else responsible for any statements which he has not made. It is a 

 very commendable course on the part of these gentlemen that they 

 should desire that the committee would understand exactly what they 

 have stated, and that they should not be misrepresented. 



Before entering upon the discussion of the pending bill, I desire to 

 enter my protest against the course pursued by some of the gentlemen 

 who favor the passage of the bill. 



I read from the argument of ex-Governor Hoard, of Wisconsin, 

 printed on the first page of the hearings. If this is not correctly 

 printed, the Governor is present and he can correct it. I will take it 

 back if it is not stated correctly. This report states, as coming from 

 Governor Hoard, the following: 



"The oleomargarine combine consists of less than twenty manufac- 

 turers, who have entered into a conspiracy to break down these State 

 laws, and, by bribing merchants, by deception of all kinds, by sub- 

 sidizing city newspapers, by employing leading politicians, to so neu- 

 tralize the effect and administration of those laws that they may force 

 their counterfeit upon the public. These manufacturers are assuming 

 to override all law. They stand behind all infractions of State and 

 national laws, and furnish money for the defense of their agents when 

 arrested. 



