194 OLEOMARGARINE. 



the present advanced age of creamery butter making is almost a lost 

 art, on account of creameries springing up at every crossroad and to 

 which farmers deliver milk, because it pays them better than to make 

 butter in small quantities, taking up a great deal of their time for 

 delivery and sale in the cities, etc. In our opinion if anyone needs 

 protection it is the consumer that should ask for it, and let this cry of 

 protection die out until it emanates from the proper source the con- 

 sumer. I could go on at length pointing out arguments entirely incon- 

 sistent to the charges made against the butterine manufacturers of the 

 United States, but will content myself with the few cases already sub- 

 mitted, and will conclude by submitting my humble opinion of what 

 ought to be done with this biannually vexatious problem of coloring. 



First of all, I, as a manufacturer, stand upon the broad base and 

 high pinnacle of fair-mindedness, and openly state, without retraction, 

 that if butterine is not wholesome, pure, and nutritious, and if its man- 

 ufacture is not conducted in a scrupulously cleanly manner, and if it is 

 not in every way a food product fit for the consumption of our citizens 

 of the United States, it is a plain and recognized duty to forbid its 

 manufacture entirely; but, on the other hand, if its ingredients are 

 pure and its manufacture conducted in a proper manner, and if it is in 

 every way proportionately as wholesome and satisfactory as butter, it 

 should be allowed to be manufactured containing that very insignifi- 

 cant but all-important ingredient of yellow color, which is so liberally 

 prescribed for butter. I also broadly assert that Congressional and 

 State legislation should tend solely for the betterment of food products, 

 and particularly in the case of butter and butterine should actually 

 prescribe that both products should be colored with a harmless color- 

 ing matter, and while in a certain sense it would be equitable to forbid 

 the coloring of butter if the coloring of butterine be disallowed, yet 

 I, for one, would condemn any such action, because I think, as stated 

 before, that legislation should encourage the coloring of both products 

 in order to enhance their value and improve the sightliness of both, 

 which would please the eye, and through the eye, which is in direct 

 communication with the stomach, increase the palatability of the prod- 

 ucts, naturally aiding the digestive organs, which is the creator of 

 44 better health," and which should be the sole object of all food 

 legislation. 



Mr. KNIGHT. May I ask a question, Mr. Chairman? 



The ACTING CHAIRMAN. Yes, sir. 



Mr. KNIGHT. Are you sure, Mr. Pinning, that the Commissioner of 

 Internal Revenue said that it was 3 per cent of oleomargarine that was 

 sold as butter? 



Mr. PIRRUNG. That is common knowledge all over the United States. 



Mr. KNIGHT. But I am speaking of his statement. He made a state- 

 ment before the Agricultural Committee of the House, and you have 

 made the statement here. I say are you sure of that? 



Mr. PIRRUNG. That was my information; yes. I did not read his 

 report. 



Mr. KNIGHT. Another thing. In speaking of the inspection of the 

 Government in the oleo factories, do you mean to infer that the Gov- 

 ernment does inspect the oleo factories ? 



Mr. PIRRUNG. Most decidedly. 



Mr. KNIGHT. Do they make chemical analyses of the oleomargarine 

 right along? 



