OLEOMARGARINE AND BUTTERINE, 3! 



of the legislature is plain. All cases now being prosecuted by me are cases where the defend- 

 ants have sold oleomargarine as butter, the product of the dairy, the sale being clearly a- 

 fraud upon the public, although they swear in court that it was sold for what it was. That 

 seemingly respectable tradesmen should engage in such a traffic I cannot explain, except per- 

 haps upon the hypothesis that the enormous profits to be derived from dealings in the cheap- 

 and bogus product tempt them to risk the chances of detection and prosecution. I am informed 

 that the price of oleomargarine delivered at the factory is from eleven to thirteen cents a 

 pound, and yet last winter I convicted a man of selling a pound of this stuff for thirty-seven 

 cents, which was then the price of fine creamery butter. Is it natural to suppose that he sold 

 this stuff to a purchaser who knew exactly what it was ? 



" The law of 1885 was one of the results of a very close and exhaustive examination into 

 the healthfulness of oleomargarine by the Senate committee on public health. They heard a 

 great deal of evidence pro and con, and unanimously favored the passage of the act. It may 

 be possible to make oleomargarine in such a manner and of such materials that it will not be 

 absolutely unwholesome ; but how can that be guaranteed to the public ? When you consider 

 that as competition grows, as it does grow every day, its selling price is reduced, and the 

 necessity for cheapening the materials and the processes of manufacture is increased, it is easy 

 to see how great is the temptation to utilize material that is unfit for human food. When you 

 consider further that this sham butter depends for its sale upon fraud and deception, and fur- 

 ther still that it can be made of any animal fat, no matter in what condition or whence 

 obtained, I leave it to you to decide whether you would regard it as a wholesome or safe 

 article of food to give your children. They can still sell their bogus butter to those who want 

 to purchase it, provided it is not colored or made in imitation of butter ; but I fancy that their 

 customers, should they try to sell their products on its own merits, would be few and far 

 between." 



Assistant State Dairy Commissioner B. F. Van Valkenburgh, who was appointed under the 

 act of 1884, and who has had many years of experience in the butter trade, said yesterday : 



" When the Court of Appeals decided against the constitutionality of the act of 1884 a 

 good many cases of violation of the law were left on the calendar, and the impression among 

 grocers was general that they could go right along selling bogus butter. It was hard to make 

 them understand that the new law was in effect, but during the summer months, when trade 

 was dull, we found very few violations of the law. In September, however, when the cool 

 weather began to set in, there was a marked advance in the price of dairy butter, and this 

 gave the conscienceless traders in the bogus stuff the opportunity they craved. Since 

 September last we have made over one hundred arrests, and many of. the cases are still pend- 

 ing in the courts. In nearly all of these ,the defendants declared that they sold the bogus 

 butter as oleomargarine, and in this their clerks unblushingly backed them up, but in no case 

 did we make an arrest until we had sure proof that the product was sold as prime dairy but- 

 ter. The temptation to deal in oleomargarine is a very great one, for the retailer can realize 

 a profit much greater than that of a pawnbroker. He can buy the bogus butter for from, 

 eleven to fourteen cents a pound, and sell for from, twenty-six to thirty-two cents a pound. 

 They do not dare to sell it cheaper than this, for fear of attracting the attention of our in- 

 spectors; but we are generally provided with evidence showing that they represent their 

 wares to be dairy or creamery butter. Some of the oleomargarine compounds that come to 

 this market are such perfect imitations of butter in color, taste, and general appearance that 

 only an expert can distinguish the difference. Even they are deceived at times by the tests of 

 taste and smell, and have to resort to more severe tests. 



" The manufacturers claim," continued Mr. Van Valkenburgh, "that they sell their 

 product for what it is oleomargarine and this I am not in position to dispute. But the fact 

 remains, and I can easily prove it, that in every possible way they send their wares to this and 

 other markets so packed as to deceive the public. The product of some oleomargarine facto- 

 ries comes in what are known to the trade as Orange County pails ; that of others in hickory- 



