500 OLEOMARGARINE 



Senator MONEY. Would it not be worse then? They would not be 

 so anxious to make money out of it, would they? 



Mr. KNIGHT. Commissioner Wilson himself states, and it is in the 

 testimony here, that he had no fear but what the tax part of it would 

 be enforced if they made the tax 10 cents a pound. 



Senator MONEY. In other words, they would be divested of the 

 desire to make money out of it by increasing the tax ? 



Mr. KNIGHT. Let me tell you, in answer to that, that the fraud in 

 oleomargarine is not inspired by the desire to evade the tax, but by 

 the desire to get a price like that of butter to get the butter price. 

 There is where the fraud comes in. 



Eepresentative BAILEY. Now, following out that same argument, 

 would they not be compelled to sell it as butter if they had to pay this 

 10-cent tax? Would you not compel the retailer to sell it as butter by 

 virtue of that fact? 



Mr. KNIGHT. There is no incentive in any man to sell oleomargarine 

 as butter unless there is a profit in it that unless it is better than but- 

 ter; and if it is better than butter it can go on its own merits. 



Eepresentative BAILEY. If you take the price to-day and add 10 

 cents a pound to it, and make the manufacturer or dealer pay that extra 

 10 cents, you will compel him to sell the product as butter. That would 

 still leave the fraud unrestricted. 



Mr. KNIGHT. No ; there would be 8 cents a pound less profit in the 

 transaction if he did it, and that is a good deal. 



Now, Senator, I will leave these books here, showing you the down- 

 ward trend of prices of butter during the last ten years, and with that 

 1 shall close. 



The ACTING CHAIRMAN. It strikes me, before going any further, 

 that a time limit ought to be set here, and that we ought to determine 

 when these hearings shall close. 



Senator MONEY. Mr. Chairman, I want to say that I had an under- 

 standing with the chairman of the committee that there would be no 

 action of that sort taken until Senator Warren came back from Boston. 

 There is nobody here to-day but myself in oppposition to this course. 



The ACTING CHAIRMAN. When will he be here, Senator? 



Senator MONEY. He is to speak to night to the Boston Wool Manu- 

 facturers' Association, and he will certainly be here by Monday. I do 

 not think he could possibly be here by to-morrow. He asked me par- 

 ticularly to see about this matter, and at his request I suggested to the 

 chairman of the committee that no executive business of that sort be 

 transacted until his return. 



The ACTING CHAIRMAN. Of course, it is evident to anybody that 

 whatever the report of this committee may be, pro or con, if the bill is 

 to be acted upon at this session of Congress it must be reported upon 

 within a reasonable time. 



Senator MONEY. Well, we can not put out of joint any of the appro- 

 priation bills, which are coming up right along, so far as that is con- 

 cerned; so a week more would not make a bit of difference in that 

 respect. 



The ACTING CHAIRMAN. I formed no opinion thus far upon the 

 merits of this bill, and shall form none until the hearings are con- 

 cluded. But it is due to all parties, in my judgment, that we report 

 upon the measure as speedily as we can conveniently do. 



Senator MONEY. Now, I am going to make a motion, Mr. Chairman. 

 That motion is that Mr. Coyne be invited to appear here as speedily 

 as possible say next Monday. If he has anything to say in reply to 



