OLEOMARGARINE. 701 



nutritious, just as health giving as yours; consequently we are in the 

 same boat. 



Why, one man who addressed you said that the States ought to be 

 allowed to prohibit this thing, just like they did whisky. Now, gentle- 

 men, whisky demoralizes a man; it breaks up and ruins his family, 

 degrades them, and impoverishes them. Whisky does tbat. But a man 

 might gourmandize on oleomargarine for forty years, and he would be 

 a better man and a stronger man every day. The argument does not 

 hold. I thank you for your attention. [Applause.] 



The ACTING CHAIRMAN. Mr. Dadie, of Chicago, will next address 

 the committee. 



STATEMENT OF JOHN DADIE, ESQ., OF CHICAGO, ILL. 



MR. CHAIRMAN AND MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE : My ideas on 

 the oleomargarine question I have gotten up in manuscript form, and 

 with your permission I would like to read them to you, after which I 

 will be glad to answer questions that you may care to ask, if I am able 

 to do so. 



I have been actively engaged in the manufacture and sale of oleo- 

 margarine for the past sixteen years, and this is the first time I have 

 ever appeared before any legislative body in the interest of the business 

 that I represent, although during this period there has scarcely been 

 a time that some restrictive or prohibitive legislation has not been 

 pending of a State or national character* 



It is unnecessary to call the attention of the older members of this 

 committee to the fact that the Grout bill has been introduced here 

 many times before, and we find it presented again for your consideration, 

 but dressed in somewhat of a new garb. The Grout bill of to-day differs 

 from the Grout bill of the past. The present measure in its first sec- 

 tion embraces everything the original bill contained, but anew section 

 has been added thereto, which further provides for an additional tax, 

 the object of which is to throttle and strike out the very life of the 

 industry, so that the jobbers of butter may have no competition in their 

 field of commerce. 



The history of oleomargarine, since its introduction, has been one of 

 continual strife for its existence. In its earlier days it was the object 

 of ridicule in comic papers, wherein was described in print and carica- 

 ture methods and formulas for its manufacture that originated in the 

 lively imagination of the writer or the artist. They were all ridiculous 

 exaggerations, yet the dairy papers of the country would at once pos- 

 sess themselves of the idea and publish the same in all seriousness, 

 warning the public against the use of the article which they claimed 

 could only result in harm to the consumer, even when used in the 

 smallest quantities. These warnings, predictions, and misrepresenta- 

 tions of the dairy people failed in their object, and they viewed with 

 alarm the growing popularity and increasing demand for oleomargarine 

 as an article of food and commerce. Belief was then sought from the 

 different State legislatures, and by threatening the future political life 

 of the legislator who failed to labor in the interest of their iniquitous 

 measures, several were enacted into laws. A number of them, however, 

 have since been declared unconstitutional by State and Federal courts. 



In 1886 a bill was framed and presented to Congress placing the man- 

 ufacture and sale of oleomargarine absolutely under the control and 

 supervision of the Government. This measure placed an internal-rev- 

 enue tax of 10 cents per pound on goods when made. It further 



