. 



WP.l'P, 1 



OLEOMARGARINE. 297 



Mr. SCHELL. Now, if I knew what sort of statistics the gentlemen 

 were handing in, as courtesy entitles us to know in cases at law before 

 anything goes to the judge or the jury 



The ACTING CHAIRMAN. I have here the report of the Commissioner 

 of Internal Revenue. 



Mr. SCHELL. Now, gentlemen, I personally watched the carrying 

 out of these rules, and it was amusing to see the resentment on a 

 woman's face when she would point to the oleomargarine tubs, so pla- 

 carded and priced, and say, "Give me some of that 15-cent butter," 

 and be met with the remark, "You want oleomargarine?" or "You 

 want butterine?" It was not a pleasant task for the sales girl. But 

 I think the rule was largely carried out, except in cases of regular cus- 

 tomers, regarding whom mention has been made; and in those cases 

 there was not even a technical violation, since they had most of them 

 been theretofore informed orally and by a multitude of stamped 

 wrappers. 



Senator PROCTOR. Allow me to ask how it is with the people who 

 eat it"? Are they notified at hotels and restaurants and boarding 

 houses 1 Do they eat it as oleomargarine or as butter? 

 *Mr. SCHELL. As was said yesterday, I think that the law as it stands 

 at present, especially if modified in accordance with the recommenda- 

 tion of Commissioner Wilson, confines the question of fraud to the 

 hotels and boarding houses. And as was, I think, fairly stated, the 

 hotels could not stand the prosecutions that would follow and the 

 advertisement that would be given. As to boarding houses, they would 

 come under the same ruling, except that they could better stand the 

 prosecutions. But they could better afford to display the required 

 sign, as most of them do. As to the people who live largely in board- 

 ing houses, I think they are principally limited to old bachelors. We 

 have too many boarding houses and not enough homes; and if some- 

 thing could be done to drive those bachelors away from boarding 

 houses and get them to establish homes of their own, I think it would 

 be a good act rather than otherwise. [Laughter.] 



Senator HANSBROUGrH. And until they get married you think bache- 

 lor butter is good enough for them? [Laughter.] 



Mr. SCHELL. The bachelor who can not look out for his interests and 

 find what he wants to eat, by changing boarding houses or otherwise, 

 had better get married and get a wife to take care of him. I am speak- 

 ing from the standpoint of the bachelor. 



To continue, I have seen the package, branded according to instruc- 

 tions, handed back by the customer for rewrapping on account of the 

 stamp showing on top of the wrapped package. 



Some time ago one of the Cleveland (Ohio) justices of the peace 

 decided that this provision that each package should have on its upper 

 side a label on which the word "oleomargarine" was printed did not 

 merely mean that the paper, the wrapper, should be stamped, but that 

 it must have a separate, distinct label a label printed and stuck on 

 the top of the package. That ruling was attempted to be complied 

 with, with the result that the keeper of the market raised quite an 

 objection in regard to these labels being so used, because the customer, 

 in the furtherance of that false pride, perhaps that pride which exists 

 in the poor and the rich alike, as a result of which they do not want to 

 be advertised as buying anything but the highest priced in the market, 

 even if they are getting better goods for less money would tear that 

 label off and throw it down in the market house ; so that it was quite 

 a great deal of extra trouble for the market-house keeper while this 

 system was enforced. 



