SOUTHERN HORIZONS 



name of oleomargarine. During World War I, it was of 

 necessity made of coconut oil, and of course there never 

 was a farm bloc in Washington to support that great 

 oil from the South Sea Islands. The gradual switch 

 from coconut to cottonseed was completed during 

 World War II, and lately soybean oil has been added, 

 which enlisted farm support from the Middle West 

 dairy states and thus split up the opposition. 



That opposition has been powerful, determined, and 

 merciless. The elder statesmen of the dairy group 

 have followed the example of Cato, the implacable 

 Roman Senator who ended his every speech with the 

 ringing exhortation, "Carthage must be destroyed I" To 

 them margarine is a dangerous upstart to be ruthlessly 

 legislated out of existence. But some younger dairymen 

 are beginning to wonder whether this die-hard policy 

 is either necessary or wise. 



The public is already critical of the high price of 

 fresh milk, the drinking of which increased rapidly dur- 

 ing the war. If the dairy industry cannot supply all of 

 the whole milk and butter that the people will want, 

 now that the war is over, the reaction will be sharp 

 and may prompt more Government controls. Already a 

 city's milk supply is spoken of as a "public utility," 

 which gives a forward-looking farmer the cold shivers. 



The restrictive laws against butter substitutes were 

 shoved through Washington and the various state cap- 

 itals without attracting general attention. But now that 



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