226 THE BOOK OF BUTTER 



oleo had entered into a conspiracy to break down the state 

 laws and had resorted to dishonorable methods in forcing 

 their counterfeit upon the public by avoiding and dis- 

 obeying the laws of the land to the extent of 5,492 dealers 

 selling 62,825,582 pounds of oleo out of a total product of 

 83,130,474 pounds for the year, contrary to the laws of 

 thirty-one states. The manufacturers went so far as to 

 encourage and urge dealers to violate the laws of the states, 

 and provided for a defense fund for the employment of the 

 best legal counsel obtainable in defending illicit sales 

 whenever prosecution was instituted. This led to the 

 passage of the present law. The object, of the proponents 

 of the present law was, first, to bring oleo under the 

 jurisdiction of the Federal Government by imposing a 

 nominal tax upon the article, and second, to remove the 

 incentive to defraud by taxing the coloring of the oleo, 

 causing it to look like butter, or the counterfeit at the rate 

 of ten cents per pound, which was then the difference in 

 the cost of butter and oleo. 



" The Secretary reports that the Government has been 

 defrauded, through artificially colored oleo being sold under 

 tax-paid stamps at one-quarter of one cent per pound 

 instead of at the rate of ten cents due on such product by 

 four manufacturers, the enormous sum of $17,692,410.47 

 since the inception of the present law. By another manu- 

 facturer, $1,503,205.30 in six years period. The five 

 above, in the aggregate $19,195,613.77 stamp taxes, 

 exclusive of special taxes of wholesale and retail dealers 

 incurred." 



179. Margarine test. — It is not always possible to 

 detect margarine without the application of a test. A con- 

 venient household test is that of holding a small quantity 

 in a spoon over a flame or fire. If when heated the fat does 



