OLEOMARGARINE. 569 



a minimum. We went to the Internal Eevenue Commissioner and 

 requested him to have his law officer amend the law which is now in 

 existence, the law of 1880, so as to cover the points which we made 

 that is, to tell the manufacturer to manufacture and sell only in 1-pouud 

 or 2-pound prints. 



Now, I have here before you these samples, because I think these will 

 show you in a better way than language just the practical working of 

 it. That [indicating] is a 2-pound print. We first compel the manu- 

 facturer to imprint on the brick or roll, or whatever you call it, the word 

 " Oleomargarine." That should be in one word. The factory has no 

 stamp fitted on that, but the depth of those letters and the size of those 

 letters, if you will read the substitute bill, are to be determined by the 

 Commissioner of Internal Revenue. The word " < oleomargarine" is first 

 stamped on that brick ; then we compel the manufacturer to wrap it up 

 in thin paper like that, on which is to be printed the word "Oleomarga- 

 rine" and the name and address of the manufacturer. There is the first 

 wrapping. He is then to put around that wrapping this second wrap- 

 ping of paper, or, I believe, they have some wrappings of thin wood 

 pulp on which the word " Oleomargarine" is again printed, and around 

 which the revenue stamp that green band represents the revenue 

 stamp is to go. It is to go completely around, just like a hogshead of 

 tobacco. When he sends that out to the retail dealer or the wholesale 

 dealer the law provides that he shall pack it in boxes or crates, and on 

 the crate is to be printed the word " Oleomargarine," the number of his 

 factory, and so on. The size of the print and all that is left under the 

 Commissioner of Internal Eevenue, with the approval of the Secretary 

 of the Treasury. Now, he ships it out that way. It has to go that way 

 to the dealer. 



We put in a proviso in the bill which I think will at least convince 

 you gentlemen of the sincerity of our pupose to stop this fraud. We 

 say: 



Retail dealers in oleomargarine shall sell only the original package to which the 

 tax-paid stamp is affixed, and shall sell only from the original package or boxes in 

 which they receive the pound or 2-pound prints, bricks, rolls, or lumps. 



Iii other words, when you go in and ask for a pound of oleomargarine, 

 he has that box in evidence. He has got to take his butter right out 

 of that, with this stamp on the outside, with the stamp around it, with 

 the printed word "Oleomargarine" there, and printed on the inside 

 wrapper, and stamped on the article itself. 



Senator WARREN. If the dealer is dishonest and he takes this and 

 melts it up or pounds it up into another mass, and then does it up into 

 packages and sells it lor butter, you provide for that, I suppose? 



Senator FOSTER. That is a fraud on the revenue, of course. 



Mr. WADSWORTH. Yes; we have not altered the license fee of $600 

 a year to the manufacturer, $480 to the wholsesale dealer, $48 to the 

 retail dealer, or the tax of 2 cents a pound. That all remains. All 

 the penalties provided by the act of 1880 remain. 



Senator WARREN. Do you increase the penalties at all? 



Mr. WADSWORTH. I think they are not increased over those fixed in 

 the original act. Of course, it is possible for a dishonest man to take 

 that and do as you say. Murder is committed in this country. Lar- 

 ceny is committed in this country. There is a law against it, but the 

 peculiar part of it is that the fraud is not committed by the oleomar- 

 garine dealer. It is committed by the butter dealer. Senator Money, 

 you introduced a bill which you call the Wadsworth bill. We aban- 

 doned that as not going far enough. I want to say that very frankly to 



