826 OLEOMARGARINE. 



the Rooney s' history before the time they came to Chicago claim that they were sup- 

 plied with large capital before engaging in the sale of "prime butter." When an 

 attempt was made to gain possession of the books of the Aurora Produce Company it 

 was learned that Rooney and another man had burned them hi the kitchen stove. 



There were a number of very peculiar things about these cases, one 

 of which was the ability of these adventurers, with no known finan- 

 cial responsibility, to obtain credit for such large amount. Another 

 was the fact that the salesman who went into New York and sold the 

 4 'butter" proved to be a traveling salesman for one of these Chicago 

 oleomargarine manufacturers, and still another peculiar thing was that 

 representatives of the firms of Braun & Fitts and W. J. Moxley, the 

 Chicago oleomargarine manufacturers who sold this oleomargarine to 

 these swindlers, appeared before Commissioner Mason, and John 

 Dadie, of Moxley's concern, went bail for Rooney. 



We desire to call the attention of your honorable body to the fol- 

 lowing in the statement of Mr. Schell, page 264: 



I was talking with different members of the firm of French Brothers' Dairy Com- 

 pany, at Cincinnati, before I came here. I might say that Mr. Tilden R. French, 

 one of the present brothers, has been our county treasurer. He stands high politi- 

 cally, socially, and financially. The family have been in the dairy business from a 

 4 ' time whence the mind of man runneth not to the contrary." * * * They have 

 creameries in Hamilton County and creameries in the other southern counties of the 

 State. Mr. Albert French told me very recently that they had over $100,000 invested 

 in creameries in Warren County, one of our adjoining counties. 



I want to add here the statements of Tilden R. French and Mr. Albert French, of 

 French Brothers, to the effect that they do not recognize olemargarine as a compet- 

 itor in their business at all. On the contrary, they commend the manufacture and 

 sale of oleomargarine, in that it supplies people who are not able to buy their 

 product. 



Thinking this rather a strange position for such a prominent firm 

 to take, I telegraphed them the purport of the above statement. In 

 reply I received the following telegram, printed on page 473: 



CINCINNATI, OHIO, January 9, 1901. 

 Secretary National Dairy Union, National Hotel, Washington, D. C.: 



I^arge percentage oleo sold here as butter. Hurts legitimate butter business. We 

 want Grout bill passed. 



THE FRENCH BROS. DAIRY Co. 



And French Bros. Dairy Company are supported in this statement 

 by the testimony of ten leading wholesalers in butter at Cincinnati, 

 whose letters are published on pages 474, 475, and 476, nearly every 

 one of which tell of a fund of one-half cent per pound laid aside to 

 defend violators when prosecuted. 



One of these Cincinnati merchants writes: 



Of course the wholesaler, in selling to the retailer, sells oleomargarine for what it 

 is; he could not do otherwise. The retailer sells 90 per cent of what he buys for 

 butter, and gets butter prices for it. More than 100 retail grocery stores in Cincinnati 

 are to-day advertising the best Elgin Creamery at retail for 25 cents, while it is worth 

 25 cents in a jobbing way. The only opportunity in such transactions for profit 

 is to substitute oleomargarine for butter, which is being done to a very great extent, 



Another one says: 



It is the retailers who offer it to the unsuspecting public as the genuine butter, and 

 this without any interference. We know this to be a fact from transactions of this 

 nature in Cincinnati. 



A third substantiates the others, as follows: 



DEAR SIR: We have just seen a telegram that a statement had been made to the 

 committee that all oleomargarine was sold as such in Cincinnati. We wish to 



