CONGRESS. (THE OLEOMARGARINE LAW.) 



235 



in" a total loss of $150,000,000 in milch-cattle alone ; 

 that during last year there were slaughtered in Chicago 

 alone about 300,000 milch-cows, or an average of about 

 1 000 per day ; that there are from four to five million 

 American citizens engaged in the dairy business, and 

 that they must all abandon it and be driven into some 

 other already overworked branch of industry unless 

 they can be relieved from the present ruinous compe- 

 tition with cheap imitations of butter and cheese ; that 

 the dairy interest is a necessity to all other branches 

 of agriculture, as it is the cheapest and most reliable 

 means of producing or continuing the conditions of 

 soil necessary to the production ot crops of grain and 

 grass ; that the cost of producing the usual imitations 

 of butter is from seven to eight cents a pound, and 

 the cost to the consumer has been and is about equal 

 with the price of genuine butter ; that such imita- 

 tions are not only disastrous to the dairy interest di- 

 rectly and to all branches of agriculture indirectly, 

 but that they are detrimental to public health, being 

 the fruitful cause of dyspepsia and other diseases; 

 that among the articles and ingredients used in the 

 manufacture of such imitations there are the follow- 

 ing : Nitric acid, sugar of lead, sulphate of lime, benzoic 

 acid, butyric acid, glycerine, capsic acid, commercial 

 sulphuric acid, tallow, butyric ether, castor-oil, caul, 

 gastricjuice, curcumine, chlorate of potash, peroxide of 

 magnesia, nitrate of soda, dry-blood albumen, saltpeter, 

 borax, orris-root, bicarbonate of soda, caparic acid, sul- 

 phite of soda, pepsin, lard, caustic potash, chalk, oil of 

 sesame (or benne), turnip-seed oil, oil of sweet almonds, 

 stomach of pigs, sheep, or calves, mustard-seed oil, 

 bicarbonate of potash, boracic acid, salicylic acid, cot- 

 ton-seed oil, alum, cows' udders, sal-sodaj farinaceous 

 flour, carbolic acid, slippery-elm bark, olive-oil, bro- 

 mo-chloralum, oil of peanuts, sugar, caustic soda. 



The bill passed the House, June 3, as fol- 

 lows: 



Be it enacted, etc., That, for the purposes of this act, 

 the word "butter" shall be understood to mean the 

 food-product usually known as butter, and which is 

 made exclusively from milk or cream, or both, with 

 or without common salt, and with or without addi- 

 tional coloring-matter. 



SEC. 2. That, for the purposes of this act, certain 

 manufactured substances, certain extracts, and certain 

 mixtures and compounds, including such mixtures 

 and compounds with butter, shall be known and des- 

 ignated as "oleomargarine," namely: All substances 

 heretofore known as oleomargarine, oleo, oleomarga- 

 rine-oil, butterine, lardine, suine, and neutral ; all 

 mixtures and compounds ot oleomargarine, oleo, oleo- 

 margarine-oil, butterine, lardine, suine, and neutral ; 

 all lard extracts and tallow extracts ; and all mixtures 

 and compounds of tallow, beef-fat, suet, lard, lard-oil, 

 vegetable-oil, annotto, and other coloring-matter, in- 

 testinal fat, and offal-fat made in imitation or sem- 

 blance of butter, or calculated or intended to be used 

 as butter or for butter. 



SEC. 3. That special taxes are imposed as follow : 



Manufacturers of oleomargarine shall pay $600. 

 Every person who manufactures oleomargarine for sale 

 shall be deemed a manufacturer of oleomargarine. 



Wholesale dealers in oleomargarine shall pay $480. 

 Every person who sells or offers for sale oleomarga- 

 rine in the original manufacturer's packages shall be 

 deemed a wholesale dealer in oleomargarine. But any 

 manufacturer of oleomargarine who has given the re- 

 quired bond and paid the required special tax ? and 

 who sells only oleomargarine of his own production at 

 the place of manufacture in the original packages to 

 which the tax-paid stamps are affixed, snail not be 

 required to pay the special tax of a wholesale dealer 

 in oleomargarine on account of such sales. 



Retail dealers in oleomargarine shall pay $48. Every 

 person who sells oleomargarine in less quantities than 

 ten pounds at one time shall be regarded as a retail 

 dealer in oleomargarine. And sections 3232, ?233, 

 3234, 3235, 3236, 3237, 3238, 3239, 3240, 3241, and 3243 



of the Revised Statutes of the United States, are, so 

 far as applicable, made to extend to and include and 

 apply to the special taxes imposed by this section and 

 to the persons upon whom they are imposed : Pro- 

 vided, That in case any manufacturer of oleomarga- 

 rine commences business subsequent to the 30th day of 

 June in any year, the special tax shall be reckoned from 

 the 1st day of July in that year, and shall be $500. 



SEC. 4. That every person who carries on the busi- 

 ness of a manufacturer of oleomargarine without hav- 

 ing paid the special tax therefor as required by law, 

 shall, besides oeing liable to the payment of the tax, 

 be fined not less than one thousand and not more than 

 five thousand dollars ; and every person who carries 

 on the business of a wholesale dealer in oleomargarine 

 without having paid the special tax therefor as re- 

 quired by law, shall, besides being liable to the pay- 

 ment of the tax, be fined not less than five hundred 

 nor more than two thousand dollars ; and every per- 

 son who carries on the business of a retail dealer in 

 oleomargarine without having paid the special tax 

 therefor as required by law, shall, besides being lia- 

 ble to the payment of the tax, be fined not less than 

 fifty nor more than five hundred dollars for each and 

 every offense. 



SEC. 5. That every manufacturer of oleomargarine 

 shall file with the collector of internal revenue of the 

 district in which his manufactory is located such no- 

 tices, inventories, and bonds, and shall keep such 

 books and render such returns of materials and prod- 

 ucts, shall put up such signs and affix such number to 

 his factory, and conduct his business under such sur- 

 veillance of officers and agents as the Commissioner 

 of Internal Revenue, with the approval of the Secre- 

 tary of the Treasury, may by regulation require. But 

 the bond required by such manufacturer shall be with 

 sureties satisfactory to the Collector of Internal Reve- 

 nue, and in a penal sum of not less than $5,000 ; and 

 the sum of said bond may be increased from time to 

 time and additional sureties required at the discretion 

 of the collector or under instructions of the Commis- 

 sioner of Internal Revenue. 



SEC. 6. That all oleomargarine shall be packed by 

 the manufacturer thereof in firkins, tubs, or other 

 wooden packages not before used for that purpose, 

 each containing not less than ten pounds, and marked, 

 stamped, and branded as the Commissioner of Inter- 

 nal Revenue, with the approval of the Secretary of the 

 Treasury, shall prescribe; and all sales made by 

 manufacturers of oleomargarine and wholesale dealers 

 in oleomargarine shall be in original stamped pack- 

 ages. Retail dealers in oleomargarine mut sell only 

 from original stamped packages, in quantities not ex- 

 ceeding ten pounds, and shall pack the oleomargarine 

 sold by them in suitable wooden or paper packages, 

 which shall be marked and branded as the Commis- 

 sioner of Internal Revenue, with the approval of the 

 Secretary of the Treasury, shall prescribe. Every 

 person who sells or offers for sale, or delivers or offers 

 to deliver, any oleomargarine in any other form^than 

 in new wooden or paper packages as above described, 

 or who packs in any package any oleomargarine in 

 any manner contrary to law, or who falsely brands 

 any package, or affixes a stamp on any package de- 

 noting a less amount of tax than that required by 

 law, shall be fined for each offense not less than $100 

 nor more than $1,000, and be imprisoned not less 

 than six months nor more than two years. 



SEC. 7. That every manufacturer of oleomargarine 

 shall securely affix, by pasting on each package con- 

 taining oleomargarine manufactured by him, a label 

 on which shall be printed, besides the number of the 

 manufactory and the district and State in which it is 

 situated, these words: " Notice. -The manufacturer 

 of the oleomargarine herein contained has complied 

 with all the requirements of law. Every person is 

 cautioned not to use either this package again or the 

 stamp thereon again, nor to remove the contents of 

 this package without destroying said stamp, under 

 the penalty provided by law in such cases." Every 



