492 OLEOMARGARINE. 



internal-revenue collector went after him, with the result I have stated. 

 I do not know how many more men were traced in that way. 



When the man who was the head of this concern was arrested, it was 

 not through the activity of the internal-revenue office, but through the 

 department of agriculture of New York, which sent detectives to Chi- 

 cago, tracked him down, got evidence against him, and turned him over 

 to the internal-revenue collector. When he was arrested two of his 

 people fled the country and got into Canada, and one of them, before 

 he went, burned his books, and permitted nobody to see anything 

 about his transactions. The people were absolutely irresponsible, and 

 yet they had done a business of $140,000 within a few months. 



When this man was arraigned before Commissioner Mason (who, by 

 the way, is Senator Mason's son) the leading oleomargarine manufac- 

 turers of the city of Chicago came and put up bail for him, and kept 

 him from going to jail. I can not say that they furnished counsel for 

 that man, for you can not find out from their check books who they pay 

 money to for such purposes. But the point I was coming to was that 

 this thing started an investigation (commenced, as I understand it, by 

 the Internal Eevenue Department) for the purpose of finding out where 

 these goods were being shipped by the manufacturers, so that they 

 could u get on to them/ 7 and that investigation led to the locating of 

 some twenty places where oleomargarine had been shipped by the 

 manufacturers, without making the proper report. 



When that matter was brought up, and this man was arrested and 

 put under bail, an offer of $7,500 was made as a compromise for his 

 case and the twenty cases brought against this firm for fraud. That 

 offer was rejected. The man who was caught in the act of distributing 

 this oleomargarine was fined $1,000. He got off. Two of his other 

 people are over in Canada to-day, waiting for an opportunity to either 

 come home and be cleared by the people who are back of them or to 

 turn State's evidence. 



This concern, in order to clear up this matter, offered $7,500 to the 

 Internal Revenue Department. The Internal Revenue Department 

 recommended the acceptance of that offer. The collector at Chicago 

 recommended the acceptance of the offer. The Commissioner of Internal 

 Eevenue at Washington recommended its acceptance, but Attorney- 

 General Griggs sat down on it. He said: " No; we will try these peo- 

 ple, and go to the bottom of the matter." 



What is the condition to-day? In order to find out what this firm 

 was doing in the way of sending out these goods surreptitiously, with- 

 out returning the proper names, the collector of internal revenue (as 

 the law gave him a right to do, as he supposed), demanded the private 

 books of this concern, alleging in his complaint that they had reported 

 fraudulently to him, and had not given him the correct report according 

 to law. 



The firm refused to give up the books. They set up the plea that the 

 Government had no right to the books. The Government insisted. 

 The collector insisted that he had the right, and he went before Judge 

 Kohlsaat and asked'for an order for contempt to bring them into court 

 and compel them to give up the books. They came into court and made 

 the plea that they had given everything the Government required, and 

 that the Government had no right to go into their private books further 

 than what they had submitted. 



The judge I think it was Judge Kohlsaat, or else the other Federal 

 judge there, Judge Grosscup ruled that their plea was not sufficient, 

 and that they must bring those books into court, under the order of 



