262 THE BUTTER INDUSTRY IN UNITED STATES [486 



spent in legislating and prosecuting could also have been 

 used to better advantage. 



There seems to be a disposition now among the oleo- 

 margarine interests to follow at least partially the plan 

 above outlined. In New York City there appears at 

 numerous places the advertisement worded thus : " Oleo- 

 margarine, the great American spread for bread." A 

 block of oleomargarine is shown and alongside a cow, 

 beautiful and gentle in appearance, that is supposed to 

 say : " You can thank me for the butter flavor." This is 

 the attitude that the oleomargarine interests ought to 

 have taken from the beginning. Instead of attempting 

 to evade the law they should have complied with it. The 

 law has been a serious hindrance to the kind of business 

 policies to which they have adhered. In helping them 

 to establish a reputation for the product, however, the 

 federal law has been a great ally. This law puts its 

 stamp of approval upon the method of manufacture and 

 upon the wholesomeness of the product. 



As a revenue measure the federal law is unsuccessful. 

 The Internal Revenue Commissioner states that its ad- 

 ministration entails great effort and expense. The 

 following statement shows also that the total tax receipts 

 from oleomargarine are small : 



1900 $2,543,785 



1902 2,944,492 



1904 480.097 



1914 1,325,219 



From 1887 to 1902, the year the rate of tax was 

 changed, the federal oleomargarine statute yielded a 

 gradually increasing revenue. In 1902 it amounted to 

 nearly three million dollars. After this year it decreased 

 very materially, but beginning with 1905 it began to 



