45 



most deeply affected by its adulteration ; it therefore appears to be the one best cal- 

 culated to enforce proper rules which, while accomplishing the objects desired, bear 

 without undue weight upon commerce, manufacture, and transportation. 



That one of the first considerations of every civili/ed government is its food sup- 

 ply can not be controverted, nor can it be contested that the purity of the supply 

 is as important as the supply itself. Quantity alone will not meet the demand ; 

 quality, within certain limits, is as necessary to health and the prolongation of life 

 as quantity is to its preservation. 



The recent exhaustive examination into the alleged adulteration of lard by this 

 committee demonstrated the prevalence of covetous and dishonest practices in the 

 degeneration, counterfeit, and substitution of commodities by which inferior, cheaper, 

 and sometimes injurious articles were made to represent those of standard quality 

 and absolute purity. 



This state of facts amounts not only to a premium upon dishonesty but is a threat 

 to national health. Honest manufacturers and dealers are placed at a disadvantage 

 or are forced into a reckless competition with fraud. Legitimate trade is handi- 

 capped and demoralized. It tends to make an Ishmaelite of both manufacturer and 

 dealer, and the hand that is raised against competitors in trade falls in the case of 

 the meat industries of the country necessarily upon the 7,000,000 and over of farmers 

 who produce the supply, and fraudulently upon the entire population that consumes 

 it at second hand. 



#***### 



To say nothing of the home interests to be conserved by the legislation herein pro- 

 posed, of the protection to health, and the defense against imposition attempted by 

 this bill, the importance of our exports alone is sufficient to require the passage of 

 this act. 



The value of farm animals as given by the statistical abstract from 1865 to 1883 

 shows a steady increase both in number and value. Beginning with a value of 

 $300,879,128 in 1865, they reach the vast aggregate of $-2,338,215,268 in 1882. In 1884 

 the value was $2,467,368,924; in 1885, $2,456,428,383; in 1886, $2,365,159,802. In 1887 

 there is a shortage of the herds, and only a slightly increased valuation. The statis- 

 tics from 1884 to 1887 shows proportionally a more alarming decrease, the figures 

 being as follows : 



For 1887 there is an apparent increase in the total value, but in reality only 21.8 

 cents per hog, and is due entirely to the fact that the hog crop fell off 1,474,207 in 

 numbers from all causes, and the fact stands forth, leaving out the short crop years 

 of 1833 and 1887, that the decrease in these six years in value of the heg product 

 reached $66,973,301, with comparatively no increase of the numbers. 



The opponents of pure lard claim that the admixture of foreign compounds has in- 

 creased the value of hogs and cattle. The facts prove that within the seven years 

 this compounding has been going on the values have steadily decreased, as shown 

 by the foregoing tables. 



* * * * *> * * 



The interest in and necessity for the legislation proposed in the accompanying bill 

 is evidently felt most by two classes of our people the producers and the consumers 



