836 OLEOMARGARINE. 



Senator HANSBROUGH. Did all this come under an order for tincolored goods? 



Mr. ADAMS. These all came under an order from my inspector, Mr. N. J. Field, to 

 Jensen & Beck, Racine; Hanley Brothers, Racine; D. 0. Adams, Milwaukee; J. 

 Linehan, Milwaukee, and Hoenig & Co., Oahkosh. He purchased samples of 

 uncolored butterine for the purpose of demonstrating the fact that some of the grocers 

 of our State think they are endeavoring to comply with the law, and some of them 

 are endeavoring to comply with the law, and some of them sell oleomargarine 

 uncolored. 



******* 



The figures given to me or to my assistant by gentlemen connected with the firms 

 which have been cited here as to their sales of what they call uncolored butterine, a 

 portion of which is evidently uncolored butterine, and a portion of which is faintly 

 colored, possibly, and possibly not that is to be determined by a chemist are: 

 Jensen & Beck, 3,000 pounds a year; Hanley Brothers, 3,000 pounds a year; D. C. 

 Adams, Milwaukee, 19,000 pounds a year; L. Linehan, 5,000 pounds a year, and 

 Hoenig & Co., of Oshkosh, 6,000 pounds a year. These are approximate figures. 

 Perhaps D. C. Adams, of Milwaukee, who said he sold 60 pounds a day, sells more 

 or less than the figures I have given. Sixty pounds a day during six days of the 

 week, calling 320 days to the year, would amount to about 19,000 pounds. 



The following, in this connection, is interesting, as printed on page 

 531: 



Mr. JELKE. Would you want to eat uncolored oleomargarine on your table? 



Senator DOLLIVER. No; I have a constitutional prejudice against it, I must confess. 



Mr. JELKE. Would you want to eat white butter? 



Senator DOLLIVEK. Oh, yes; I have eaten it the year round, and in youth I churned 

 it. As Senator Allen says, everybody eats white butter on the farm. 



Mr. JELKE. As soon as that butter is shipped to the city it is colored. 



Senator DOLLIVER. I am talking about my own taste. 



Mr. SCHELL. The wholesale dealers in Cincinnati have tried to put white oleomar- 

 garine on the market, but have reported to me that it was absolutely impossible to 

 do it. Mr. Seither, who claims to be, and I believe is, the oldest man in that busi- 

 ness in this country, tells me he has tried it from time to time, but it is utterly 

 impossible; that the people will not take it. He has not told me the reason why, 

 but I think one of the principal reasons is the fact that there is an unwarranted 

 sentiment attached to it, an unwarranted prejudice against it, and people do not 

 want to put it on their tables for the criticism of their neighbors. You know how a 

 neighboring woman will say: "Mrs. Smith uses oleo, n etc. 



Senator ALLEN. Is not this the fact: That the man does not want to put oleomar- 

 garine on his table knowingly, because of his natural inclination for butter? 



Mr. SCHELL: No; I think not. * * * 



Now, as to the fairness of coloring butter and not coloring oleomar- 

 garine. There were a number of interesting discussions. The fol- 

 lowing is reported on page 127: 



Mr. MATHEWSON. Would it be a fair proposition to ask the manufacturers of cream- 

 ery butter to leave the color out of their butter? 



Mr. FLANDERS. No, sir; and I will tell you why. In the first place, that is the 

 natural color of the butter, if they color it as they ought to color it. Butter is yellow 

 when the cows feed upon nature's succulent food. Color in butter is for the purpose 

 of uniformity. 



Mr. MATHEWSON. It brings a little more on the market. 



Mr. FLANDERS. Not at all. I ate butter in New York City the other day with all 

 the flavoring you could ask, and not one bit of coloring and not a bit of salt in it. 

 I ate to-day down at the hotel cheese with not one bit of coloring matter in it, and I 

 liked it just as well. The truth is that the people, if your commodity is good, can 

 be educated to eat it without its coloring matter, and you will not deceive them as 

 to the commodity. 



On page 421 Secretary Wilson says: 



There is no difficulty about having naturally colored butter. It is colored by the 

 grass in summer. That is nature's way, and when you imitate nature you are prob- 

 ably not going very far wrong; but we do not know enough about milk, any of us 

 yet, to be able to form a substitute that will stay on the stomach the same as butter. 



