OLEOMARGARINE AND BUTTERINE. . TJ 



a considerable extent by this consideration, and in the Albany campaign against the machina^ 

 tions of the bogus butter lobby this weapon will be effectively used. 



THE EVASIONS OF THE LAW. 



The troubles experienced by the Dairy Commissioners of the States having laws for the 

 prohibition or regulation of the traffic in oleomargarine, or what the outspoken Western men 

 denominate "bull butter," in enforcing those laws, have been more than doubled by the hesi- 

 tancy of some of the minor courts while awaiting decisions from higher authorities. This has 

 been more marked in New York, perhaps, than- in any other State, the decision in the Marx 

 case by the Court of Appeals having been held by those interested in bogus butter enterprises 

 as a declaration that the statute was unconstitutional. They forgot that there were provisions 

 in the Penal Code covering their illegal acts, entirely independent of what is known as the 

 oleomargarine law, and it was not until several convictions had been obtained through the 

 prompt action of the Dairy Commissioners for violations of the law in the lower courts, and 

 sustained by the Supreme Court, that these nefarious traffickers in unwholesome food began 

 to fully appreciate the dangers of their position. In speaking of these frequent evasions of 

 the law, Mr. J. H. Seymour, said: 



' ' This question of bogus butter is one that involves not only our national commercial 

 honor, but the health of our people. The manufacturers of olemargarine, butterine, and other 

 mock butters are possessed of immense capital, and leave no stone unturned to advance their 

 own interests. My belief is that Congress has the power to pass an act to preserve the public 

 health, and it is probably on this ground that the enactment of a law relative to the manufac- 

 ture and sale of oleomargarine will be asked. The trouble about the State laws hitherto 

 enacted was that they could be easily evaded. Thus, when the law directing manufacturers 

 to stamp each package with the name of the product it contained was passed, they obeyed it, 

 of course, but at the same time managed to practically evade it by stamping the word " oleo- 

 margarine " in diminutive letters on some part of the package where it could be less 

 readily seen. It took a good pair of eyes to read this inscription, and for some time the traffic 

 went on uninterruptedly, and the markets were flooded with cheap bogus butter. The next 

 enactment provided that each package should be branded " oleomargarine " in Roman letter's 

 at least one inch long, and this, and the public agitation as to the wholesomeness of the stuff, 

 made oleomargarine very unpopular for a time. Seeing that their trade was being injured, the 

 shrewd manufacturers changed their tactics and simultaneously changed the name of their 

 product, dubbing it this time "butterine." In spite of the new name it was the same old 

 compound, made of animal fat and treated with strong acids and coloring ingredients that are 

 dangerous to public health. 



" If you will read the testimony taken belore the Legislative Committee you will see that in no 

 case would the makers of oleomargarine admit that in the processes of manufacture the fat was 

 subjected to a temperature of over 120 degrees. It is known that some of these factories use the 

 fat of diseased animals, and chemists hold that it takes 212 degrees Fahrenheit to destroy the 

 germs of disease in animal matter. Is it not fair to conclude, then, that where the fat of dis- 

 eased animals is used and submitted to a heat of 120 degrees or less that the germs still live ? 

 I forgot to mention, when speaking of evasions of the law, one interesting fact, and that was 

 the practice that was adopted by the ingenious manufacturers after changing the name of their 

 product to butterine. They complied with the law in stamping the packages, but the word 

 "butter" was in big letters and the terminal "ine" in little ones. You see there is practi- 

 cally no end to their ingenious devices. And yet they claim that their trade is legitimate, and 

 that they sell their wares for what they are. If this is true, why do they pack their bogus 

 stuff like reputable dairy butter, and why is it that pots of oleomargarine stamped like the 

 best brands of Philadelphia butter are offered for sale ? 



