34 OLEOMARGARINE AND BUTTERINE. 



justify prompt action. You may be assured, however, that this bill will meet with a tremen- 

 dous lobby opposition, for the oleomargarine men are rich and determined, and have their 

 agents not only in Washington, but at the capital of every State in the Union. I think, how- 

 ever, that the pressure of public opinion can overcome even this otganized and desperate op- 

 position, and that if this Congress does not act, the people will take care to elect another 

 that will." 



State Dairy Commissioner Josiah K. Brown, when asked his opinion of Mr. Hopkins' bill, 

 replied: " The title of this act is somewhat misleading, because the compound commonly 

 known as oleomargarine is in no sense an adulterated butter. It is simply animal fat made to 

 imitate butter, and contains only a small percentage of butter fat. 



" L am not prepared to express an opinion as to the provisions of the act, for I have 

 merely glanced at it ; but I will say that if the national Government decides to take action 

 upon this question of the sale of sham butter, it would be wise to intrust the enforcement of 

 the law to the Internal Revenue Department, which has the necessary machinery to under- 

 take the work. It would be unwise, in my opinion, on the part of Congress to enact any law 

 on this subject without careful consideration and exhaustive discussion. If I made any rec- 

 ommendation it would be that Congress pass a law compelling manufacturers, in case the 

 bogus product is to be sold at all, to put before the people an article that could not by any 

 possibility be mistaken for butter an article that a child could recognize on sight and without 

 explanation. It is a notorious fact that these manufacturers make and pack their product so as 

 to imitate natural butter of all kinds, and the trade they are engaged in is a monstrous and in- 

 famous swindle upon the consumers. 



" In this State the law takes the ground, and justly, as I can prove, that the stuff is un- 

 wholesome. Section 20 of chapter 183 reads : ' This act and each section thereof is declared 

 to be enacted to prevent deception in the sale of dairy products, and to preserve the public 

 health, which is endangered by the manufacture of the articles or substances herein regulated 

 or prohibited.' This is as plain English as can be desired and nobody can dispute the right 

 vof a government to protect the health of its people." 



THE LAWS OF THE DIFFERENT STATES. 



The last annual report of Dairy Commissioner J. K. Brown, of New York, contains a suc- 

 cinct presentation of the status of dairy products in all the leading States of the Union. He 

 has not confined himself to New York in his researches, but has obtained information on this 

 vital and important subject from all parts of the country. While Commissioner Brown is 

 understood to hold strong prohibition views, the portion of his report bearing upon his rec- 

 ommendations has not yet been made public ; and whether he will recommend a more strin- 

 gent law or not cannot now be definitely asserted. The facts he gives relative to the laws in 

 other States, however, are well worthy of reproduction here. 



Of the thirty-eight States in the Union, all but ten have laws governing the manufacture 

 and sale of sham butter. These are Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mis- 

 sissippi, Nevada, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas, none of which rank very high 

 among the butter-producing States. Of the Territories, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, 

 Utah, Washington, and Wyoming are as yet unprotected by laws against the swindle. In all 

 the other Sta'tes and Territories there are laws guarding one or all of the branches of dairy 

 production. In California, where the butter produced in factories and creameries, not count- 

 ing that made by the farmers, amounted in 1880 to 2,074,344 pounds, manufacturers and 

 dealers in oleomargarine are required to brand the article with its proper name. The law 

 also requires hotel keepers, restaurant keepers, and others who feed the public for pay to keep 

 posted up in three conspicuous places a notification to customers that their bread must be but- 

 tered with oleomargarine. Any caterer v who sets out oleomargarine without such notification 

 is subject to fine or imprisonment. 



