670 OLEOMARGARINE. 



You will draw from oleomargarine $100,000,000 in this case, and I think 

 that ;you will find that the value of butter, genuine butter of the low 

 grades made by the farmer, will be enhanced very much. 



The CHAIRMAN. Do you manufacture more than one grade of oil? 



Mr. OLIVER. Yes, sir; you can manufacture a dozen grades. 



The CHAIRMAN. What grade do you sell to the manufacturers of 

 oleo ? 



Mr. OLIVER. They buy the highest grade made in the South. 



Mr. NEVILLE. That is called butter oil, and takes its special name 

 from its use. 



The CHAIRMAN. What, if anything, have the chemists said about 

 the healthfulness of butter oil? 



Mr. OLIVER. All chemists, without exception, agree that cotton-seed 

 oil is as healthful as olive oil, and that it is one of the healthiest kinds 

 of oil that can be used in food. 



The CHAIRMAN. What relation does it bear to olive oil? 



Mr. OLIVER. It is almost identical in every respect. 



Mr. WILSON. It goes to England as cotton seed oil and comes back 

 here as olive oil. 



Mr. OLIVER. I suppose there is some of that done. 



Mr. WILSON. Why would the prohibition of the color in oleomar- 

 garine stop the sale of it? 



Mr. OLIVER. Just because your palate is the same as your idea, and 

 you would not buy natural white butter if you could buy natural 

 yellow butter; and I claim that the coloring of oleomargarine is being 

 copied by the butter makers and not the coloring of butter by the oleo- 

 margarine makers. Oleomargarine has always been colored and but- 

 ter has not. It is only since the finely colored oleomargarine has been 

 on the market that it has been found necessary to color butter. 



Mr. NEVILLE. Do you know where oleomargarine was first manu- 

 factured ? 



Mr. OLIVER. A French chemist discovered it in 1870. 



Mr. NEVILLE. Didn't it grow out of the necessities of the people 

 during the Franco-Prussian war? 



A MEMBER. 16 was during the siege of Paris. 



A MEMBER. Do you think the Government would have trouble in 

 collecting the tax, if this bill was passed? 



Mr. OLIVER. Ten times more than in South Carolina and in Ken- 

 tucky collecting the internal revenue tax on whisky. 



A MEMBER. Would they have any considerable difficulty in collect- 

 ing the internal revenue tax? 



Mr. OLIVER. They have no trouble now with the large manufacturers 

 of oleomargarine. 



A MEMBER. But they would have. 



Mr. OLIVER. They would have with everybody, because anybody 

 could buy what is necessary to make oleomargarine and take it home 

 with them. But there would not be a pound of oleomargarine made 

 where there is 10 pounds made now if it had to be placed on the mar- 

 ket as oleomargarine and uncolored. 



Mr. NEVILLE. Is there any competition of paraffin with cotton-seed 

 oil for use in making oleomargarine? 



Mr. OLIVER. None whatever. Paraffin is worth 14 cents a pound 

 and cotton- seed oil 5 cents. 



Mr. NEVILLE. Paraffin is worth almost what it is worth to manufac- 

 ture oleo. 



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