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tute be better, unless its true character be explained. It is claimed by 

 the vendor of adulterated goods that the demand for cheap goods 

 causes the supply; that the desire to get something for nothing ends 

 in compelling sophistications. Admitting the justice of such a line of 

 argument, it only goes to show the utter disregard people have for 

 their own comfort and pockets, and their absolute ignorance upon mat- 

 ters relating to their health. People who take it for granted that what 

 they eat is all right will take very great care about selecting their shoes 

 and clothes. Under such circumstances, and believing that there exists 

 no more serious or exhaustive drain upon the resources of the people 

 than the adulteration of their food and drug products, I take it that 

 the Federal Government should enact a law of such a character as to 

 prevent the transportation of misbranded, poisonous, or deleterious 

 food and drug products from one State or Territory into another, not 

 interfering with the police powers of the States. This being done, the 

 various State laws would become effective, and by systematic effort on 

 the part of officials or honest dealers and manufacturers, adulterations 

 would be reduced to a minimum and millions of dollars saved annually 

 to the country. 



Fortunately most of these adulterations are commercial frauds only 

 but these in themselves produce others and degrade the tone of moral 

 ity. They would be rejected by the majority of dealers and uianufac 

 turers if the law enabled them to compete with dishonesty, but so long 

 as no restriction is placed upon the evil-doer so long will he attempt to 

 make money by swindling his fellows, and naturally the more honest 

 man, finding his business ruined by the pirate, without chance for 

 redress or relief, drifts into the same channel and becomes a party to 

 the crime by adopting the methods and practices of the rogue. 



The law should not be made to discriminate against one class ol 

 manufacturers or producers at the expense of another, equality before 

 the law being the fundamental principle of our Government; but as 

 the necessity for law exists only to insure the life, liberty, and happi 

 ness of our people, its province is undoubtedly to protect the weak anc 

 restrain the strong, especially when by misrepresentation frauds are 

 put upon the people in the essentials of life and health, and the prod 

 nets of honest manufacture and agriculture are debased,. as is done 

 when a food or drug product is sold under a misleading brand, or for 

 something which it is not, thereby reducing the value of the real prod 

 net. In many cases the masquerader usurps the market and destroys 

 the genuine article. Honest business is thus demoralized, and when our 

 products seek a foreign market they are met by the foreign inspector 

 who at once discovers the fraud and advertises to the world our peo 

 pie as a set of swindlers, and our Government as the abetter and 

 aider in the crime, because it fails to do as all other civilized and 

 Christian lauds do, viz, see that the products sold to the people are 

 branded true to name. Repeated instances of exposure of fraud in 



