INTRODUCTORY, 



" There never was, nor can there ever be, a more deliberate, outrageous 

 swindle than this bogus butter business. The whole scheme was conceived in 

 iniquity, is nurtured by commercial moonshiners, and carried into execution by 

 desperate men who are careful to appeal to that protection which our laws 

 wisely throw about those charged with crime, in order that the innocent may 

 not unjustly suffer, while they are deliberately, persistently, and willfully violating 

 the law and profiting by the perpetration of a base fraud upon the people." 



These words were used by State Dairy Commissioner Brown, of New York, 

 and none could have been chosen to express more succinctly and more 

 pointedly the opinion entertained by all honest citizens on the dishonest traffic 

 in oleomargarine and other imitation butter by unscrupulous men who throw 

 honesty to tne winds and glory in the wealth obtained through fraud, deceit, 

 and misrepresentation. 



This little book is designed to set before the people the enormity of this 

 abominable traffic ; the laws that have been passed or are in contemplation for 

 its prohibition or regulation; the decisions of the courts of law; the movements 

 that have been set on foot against it in the various States of the Union ; the 

 injury that is being done to one of our most important agricultural interests ; 

 and such other facts as may fully open the eyes of the public to the importance 

 of procuring legislation for the protection of honest dairymen, dealers in dairy 

 products, and above a41, of the consumers. It is made up from a series of 

 articles printed in January last in the New York Star, and takes in all important 

 movements for the much-needed reform throughout the country. These articles 

 met with the approval of many of the leading merchants of this city, and, as was 

 evidenced by the favorable notice taken of them by the press in other States and 

 cities, were well received everywhere by those interested in this important 

 question. 



Inasmuch as the fight against this gigantic swindle is only now assuming 

 national importance, it is hoped that this book may be of service to those who 

 are interested in procuring legislation for the protection not only of their own 

 interests but of the public health. The manufacture of this imitation butter and 

 its sales to consumers are increasing daily (except in the State of New York, 

 where the strict enforcement of the law has brought about a reduction of about 

 fifty per cent, in the number of violations), and the manufacturers, grown arrogant 

 with their ill-gotten wealth, now demand that the product of their factories shall be 

 declared a legitimate article of human food. Backed by unbounded wealth and 

 aided by the best legal talent that money can procure, they assail all our legis- 

 latures, and, if not strenuously resisted by the people themselves, will eventually 

 succeed in effecting their desires. They claim that they want the people edu- 

 cated so that they will appreciate the blessings of the cheap butter they afford 

 them, but they have no desire that that education shall extend to an exposure 

 of the vile materials they use and the injurious processes they employ. So far 

 as it has been possible to obtain them for the manufacture of oleomargarine is 

 a valuable trade secret they are given in this book, and if consumers, after 

 reading it, are content to spread the stuff upon their bread, they may consider 

 themselves educated up to the manufacturers' point. 



