OLEOMARGARINE. 



723 



Fresh milk has the property of absorbing very freely butyric acid, 

 the rancid properties of butter. The butter is then worked in the usual 

 way with fresh cold water, salt, etc., thus reproducing fresh butter of 

 degenerate merit and short life. After a few days its old character 

 begins to reappear. There are no records as to the effect of such 

 butter upon the human health. A vile-smelling flavoring matter is 

 used to give process butter the desired creamery odor. Coloring mat- 

 ter is also used to give it the trade color of butter substances. It is 

 then marketed in tons as fresh creamery butter. 



STATEMENT OF MR. GEORGE B. ALEXANDER. 



Mr. ALEXANDER. I will state that I am engaged in the manufacture 

 of cotton-seed oil. I am the manager of the mill at Greenville, Mo. I 

 represent the Cotton Seed Crushers' Association, and am here to protest 

 against this bill, because they believe it is injurious to their interests. 

 This organization that I have mentioned extends not only to all of 

 the States which raise cotton, but also to many other States where 

 machinery is made which is used in oil mills and to States where cotton- 

 seed products are handled. The object of this association is to improve 

 and promote the general welfare of the cotton-seed industry by seeking 

 new channels for its consumption and by finding improved methods of 

 manufacture. We meet always once a year asocial meeting and dis- 

 cuss these matters. There is invested in the oil-mill business of the 

 South about $100,000,000. It is comparatively a new industry, having 

 been built up in the last few ears, and has converted what was for- 

 merly worthless stuff into a valuable product and added to the wealth 

 of the country and to its export trade, and helped to make the balance 

 of trade in our favor. Our product enters largely into butterine 



Mr. WILLIAMS. Before you go into that, about what proportion of 

 the value of a bale of cotton is in the seed itself? 



Mr. ALEXANDER. Take a 500-pound bale of cotton and it yields on 

 the average 1,000 pounds of seed. 



Mr. WILLIAMS. At present prices that would be what percentage of 

 the total? 



Mr. ALEXANDER. The average price would be 8 cents; that would be 

 -$40 for a bale of cotton. The last seed I purchased cost me $20 a ton 

 delivered at my mill. 



Mr. WILLIAMS. Twenty dollars? 



Mr. ALEXANDER. Yes; $10 for what comes out of a 500-pound bale 

 of cotton. 



Mr. WILLIAMS. That would make the seed worth about one-quarter 

 of the cotton, at present prices? 



Mr. ALEXANDER. Yes, sir. 



Mr. WILLIAMS. That is what I wanted to get before the committee. 



Mr. ALEXANDER. Gentlemen, I am not a speaker, and have prepared 

 no speech. I say that this is a new industry, and that if any protection 

 is to be given anyone we think we are entitled to protection, but we 

 do not ask it. All we ask is a fair field and a free fight, and we will 

 take care of ourselves. We have a product which has merits and 

 needs no protection, and we object being taxed for the benefit of another 

 industry, and we do not think it would be fair to tax one agricultural 

 product for the benefit of another. There are other gentlemen who 

 will follow me and who will have something to say on the subject, and 



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