OLEOMARGARINE. 603 



oleomargarine, and no protests come from the actual consumers among 

 the remaining one-fifth, should Congress hesitate to accept it as prac- 

 tically the unanimous wish of the people that everything possible be 

 done to discourage this fraud by whatever means in its power? 



Possibly the most comprehensive way in which to get at the merits 

 of our case is to answer the objections to the imposition of a ten-cent 

 internal-revenue tax upon oleomargarine colored to resemble butter, 

 as urged by Swift & Co., of Chicago, one of the leading manufac- 

 turers of that article, who are now doing business in the State of 

 Illinois in contravention and defiance of a State law passed with a two- 

 thirds majority by the Illinois legislature in 1897. Swift & Co. say, in 

 a letter mailed every member of Congress under date of January 27, 

 1900: 



THE MAGNITUDE OF THE INDUSTRY. 



" First. Oleomargarine has been manufactured in this country for 

 about twenty-five years, and in its manufacture there is now invested 

 more than $15,000,000, furnishing employment to many thousand men. 

 The wholesale and retail sale and delivery of oleomargarine furnish 

 employment to 25,000 men. There is probably $15,000,000 to $20,000,000 

 invested in the wholesale and retail trade, separate and apart from the 

 manufacture of the article." 



Here, as well as in every other effort to influence Congress by hold- 

 ing up to public gaze the "enormous proportions " of the oleomarga- 

 rine industry, Swift & Co. have evidently included in what they term 

 the "manufacture of oleomargarine " the neutral lard and oleo-oil 

 industry, which will be treated thoroughly under the department 

 devoted to the effect of the Grout bill upon the live- stock interests. 



It is a well-known fact that Messrs. Braun & Fitts and William J. 

 Moxley, of Chicago, produce almost if not quite one-third of all the 

 oleomargarine manufactured in the United States. The combined 

 extreme rating of these firms by Dun is $400,000. While we do not 

 doubt that their resources, from profits earned during the past few years, 

 is greatly in excess of this amount, anybody who is acquainted with 

 their establishments can readily realize that the rating, so far as money 

 actually invested is concerned, is amply liberal. If it took an investment 

 of $400,000 to produce one-third of the oleomargarine made in this 

 country not the oleo oil and neutral lard then their estimate of 

 $15,000,000 as the amount invested in the oleomargarine manufacturing 

 business is more than twelve times too high. 



SOME ABSURD FIGURES. 



Just contemplate, if you please, the statement of Swift & Co. that 

 "there is now more than $15,000,000" invested in the manufacture of 

 oleomargarine, " employing many thousand people." 



And "the wholesale and retail sale and delivery of oleomargarine 

 furnish employment to 20,000 men." Also that "there is probably 

 $15,000,000 to $20,000,000 invested in the wholesale and retail trade 

 separate and apart from the manufacture of the article," 



If this is true, let us sum up the total coat of handling this product 

 of 83,000 pounds made in 1898-99, according to the statement of Swift 

 & Co. as to the number of people employed outside of those in the 



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