OLEOMARGARINE. 499 



Senator HANSBROUGH. What was the character of the goods oleo- 

 margarine ? 



Mr. KNIGHT. Oleomargarine. They went through the whole neigh- 

 borhood and took orders. They killed the butter trade in the neigh- 

 borhood absolutely, by claiming that because they had creameries they 

 could sell butter much cheaper than anybody else. 



Representative BAILEY. Mr. Chairman, may I ask Mr. Knight a ques- 

 tion? Will Mr. Knight tell the committee, in case the Grout bill becomes 

 a law and the manufacturer of oleomargarine continues business and 

 pays this tax, where any fraud will be suppressed, and where in any par- 

 ticular the manufacturers can not do just exactly as they are doing now ? 



Mr. KNIGHT. Mr. Bailey, I will answer that question as T have 

 answered it a dozen times to you and anybody else. 



No man goes out and commits fraud for fun. No man goes and vio- 

 lates our State laws for the fun of violating them. No man violates 

 the internal-revenue laws for the fun of violating them. He violates 

 them because there is 8 or 10 cents a pound profit in violating them. 

 With a 10-cent tax on colored oleomagarine, the profit would go to the 

 Government in case oleomargarine were used. I think that is a full 

 answer, Mr. Congressman. 



Representative BAILEY. No; the fraud would be perpetrated exactly 

 the same. 



Mr. KNIGHT. I do not think people perpetrate fraud for fun. 



Just one other point, and I will close, gentlemen. 



A great deal has been said to you about the inspection of the Inter- 

 nal-Revenue Department. A gentleman from Ohio was telling you 

 about what rigid inspection and supervision the Government main- 

 tained over this oleomargarine traffic. He told you that inspectors 

 visit their factories and inspect their goods and keep a lookout for the 

 purpose of ascertaining whether there are any deleterious substances 

 in those goods or not. It has been attempted in that way to lead you 

 into a belief that the industry is really under Government supervision, 

 in spite of the fact that the manufacturers refuse to report the mate 

 rials they use when they are called on, as shown by this case up in 

 Rhode Island. 



There are, in the United States, over 9,500 dealers, I believe, and 30 

 manufacturers of oleomargarine. The report of the Commissioner 

 of Internal Revenue for the year 1900, which I hold here, shows that 

 during the year 1900 the chemical department of that bureau made 177 

 analyses. You can figure the proportion 177 bears to nearly 10,000. 

 That will show you how many times a year they get around to these 

 retailers and inspect their goods, and inspect the wholesalers, and 

 inspect the factories. 



There has been an attempt here to make it appear that the manu- 

 facture of this product is really under Government inspection, when 

 the Government absolutely cares about nothing except to get the rev- 

 enue out of it. That is all the Internal- Revenue Department cares for 

 in any place. It is not a police department; it is not a pure-food 

 department, and you can not make that out of it. 



There is where the trouble has been in the attempt to compel the 

 Internal Revenue Department to enforce a provision of the law relat- 

 ing to the stamping and branding, which is absolutely apart from its 

 business. As Commissioner Wilson said before the House committee, 

 they enforce the law from a revenue standpoint, not from a pure-food 

 standpoint. 



