OLEOMARGARINE. 329 



Mr. BOND. Yes, sir. 



The ACTING CHAIRMAN. Or do they inform their customers that it is 

 butter? 



Mr. BOND. Each brick or print of it is wrapped up separately, and 

 has the word ''oleomargarine/' in large letters, printed on the outside 

 of the wrapper. 



Senator HEITFELD. That is in accordance with this statute, which 

 says that it can be sold, but not in imitation of butter. It must be free 

 irora color. 



Mr. BOND. It is not sold in imitation of butter. It is sold as oleo- 

 margarine. 



Senator HEITFELD. It says here plainly, " But oleomargarine, free 

 from color or other ingredient to cause it to look like butter," can be 

 sold. 



The ACTING CHAIRMAN. Would you expect this committee to be 

 more tender of your cotton-seed interests than the legislature of Ten- 

 nessee has been? 



Mr. BOND. Well, sir, oleomargarine is sold there openly. I did not 

 know of this law. I do not think that is the law now. 



The A CTING CHAIRMAN. I have no doubt it is. This is a compila- 

 tion of the Department of Agriculture, giving a statement of the national 

 and State dairy laws. 



Mr. MILLER. Mr. Chairman, I will say here for the benefit of Mr. 

 Bond that there is a law in Tennessee, but it is practically inoperative. 



The ACTING CHAIRMAN. That is to say, the oleomargarine manufac- 

 turers and dealers violate it! Is that the idea? 



Mr. MILLER. The goods are sold in the State as oleomargarine by the 

 retail dealers as well as by the manufacturers. There is no attempt at 

 violating the law. The goods are sold exactly on their merits. 



The ACTING CHAIRMAN. But the law seems to prohibit the sale of 

 the article if it is made in imitation of yellow butter and not made 

 exclusively from pure milk and cream. It is stated here that any arti- 

 cle which is in imitation of yellow butter, and not made exclusively 

 from pure milk or cream, is prohibited. 



Mr. MILLER. Well, Mr. Chairman, as you know, there are thousands 

 of laws on the statute books which are offensive to the mass of the 

 people and are not enforced. That is one of them. 



The ACTING CHAIRMAN. There ought not to be any law in the State 

 of Tennessee which would be in violation of material interests such as 

 our friend here has described, I should say. 



Mr. CONLEY. Mr. Chairman, I would like to call your attention to the 

 Mississippi law for a moment. Have you it? 



The ACTING CHAIRMAN. I have it here. In Mississippi the law pro- 

 vides that packages of oleomargarine or similarly manufactured but- 

 ters shall be plainly labeled with the correct name of their contents, 

 and the product shall be sold by that name. A privilege tax of $5 is 

 imposed upon persons selling the article named. 



Senator HEITFELD. That is simply a label law. 



Mr. CONLEY. I merely wanted to call your attention to the fact that 

 the Mississippi law does not prohibit the sale of colored oleomargarine. 



Mr. PERSON. It recognizes its legality. 



Senator HEITFELD. Oh, yes ; you can sell oleomargarine of any color 

 there. 



The ACTING CHAIRMAN. Now, in South Carolina, which is one of the 

 great cotton-producing regions of the country, I notice that the State 

 has enacted a law which says that any article not made wholly from 



