450 OLEOMAEGAEINE. 



it become a law ; in view of all these facts, it seems to me that one 

 must be willfully ignorant who says or intimates that farmers or dairy- 

 men are not asking or particularly desiring that this measure become 

 a law. 



In my own State very few measures before Congress have ever 

 created the interest among our farmers that this one does. 



We have been struggling for years to suppress the fraudulent sale 

 of oleomargarine as and for butter. By a large majority in the House 

 and with but two dissenting votes in the Senate we passed in 1895 a 

 law prohibiting the sale of imitation butter colored yellow. 



This law is openly violated. Large quantities of oleomargarine of a 

 yellow color are sold, and I fully believe 90 per cent of the same is sold 

 to the consumer as and for butter. 



In 1898 we created the office of food commissioner, whose duty it was 

 to enforce the dairy laws of the State. In attempting to enforce said 

 laws it became necessary for the deputy food commissioner to employ a 

 chemist and have analyzed samples of oleomargarine sold for butter. 

 When about ready for use of the testimony of the chemist in cases where 

 parties were to be tried for violation of the dairy laws, the chemist 

 refused to proceed with the analysis or to remain longer in the employ 

 of the food commissioner, giving as a reason that he had been employed 

 by other parties, and later it appeared that the other parties were those 

 engaged in the sale of oleomargarine. 



When the constitutionality of the law creating the office of food com- 

 missioner was raised in our courts, the oleomargarine interests asked 

 to be allowed to appear by their attorneys as against the law. I men- 

 tion these matters to show that a very large per cent of the people of 

 my State are opposed to the fraudulent sale of oleomargarine; that by 

 legal enactments they have endeavored to suppress this fraud, using 

 every reasonable effort in their power to that end; that the fraud con- 

 tinues to be perpetrated and the dealers in oleomargarine continue to 

 violate the law. 



It ought not to be forgotten, but should be kept constantly in mind, 

 that the exceedingly large profits which dealers in oleomargarine 

 receive is the reason why its sale is so strenuously pushed. Those who 

 divide the profits of this most profitable business are comparatively few 

 in number, and the retail dealers, who are the principal violators of the 

 law, receive the lion's share of the profit, considering the amount 

 handled. With us a retail dealer makes not to exceed an average of 

 2 cents per pound on butter sold, while the retail dealer in oleomar- 

 garine makes a profit of 8 to 10 cents per pound. 



By State legislation we seem well-nigh powerless to control this 

 fraud, and this is why we come to the National Congress, believing 

 that this is the only power which can compel the sale of this product 

 on its own merits and for what it is. 



There is one phase of this question which has been presented to your 

 committee which is of vital importance to the people of my State. We 

 not only produce dairy products of considerable value, but we also 

 raise and fatten for the market large numbers of cattle, hogs, and sheep. 

 The live stock industry is, with us, the leading industry. Hence, any 

 legislation calculated to injuriously affect this industry or materially 

 lessen in the markets the value of our live stock is of prime importance. 



Both before this committee and elsewhere the oleomargarine interests 

 have endeavored to make it appear that the manufacture and sale of 

 oleomargarine increases to a marked extent the value of each animal 

 slaughtered in our packing centers, and that the passage of this bill 



