246 HEARINGS BEFORE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE. 
am also here for information. I want to know how you secure the 
purity of the labels on the wines that you sell in this store.” 
Mr. Burieson. That was in London? 
Mr. Wier. That was in London. 
Mr. Buruzson. That is the point I wanted to know a while ago: 
Mr. Wiuey. ‘‘It is very curious,” he said, ‘‘ because I have sucha 
case on the hooks. A while ago we were offered a me invoice of wines 
under the name of a first-class quality and we thought it was impossi- 
ble that they should be sold in such quantity. We did not believe so 
much existed and we sent our expert to Bordeaux to investigate it, 
and he found out, as we suspected, that those wines were stretched, 
and our agent obtained that proof and so we have refused them.” 
Mr. Scorr. He did not tell you how he got that proof? 
Mr. Wirzzy. By the agent he sent who was skilled in that kind of 
work. 
Mr. Ropry. Suppose he succeeded in securing a market for those 
particular Government vineyards over here, and then the other wines 
were sold afterwards in the country for a cheaper price, those cheaper 
wines would take their place, would they not? 
Mr. Wizey. The result I have in view is to prevent the cheaper 
wines being sold at the higher rates. 
Mr. Ropry. Why would not the effect of this be to raise the price 
of the government vineyard wines? 
Mr. Wizey. I was about to explain that. 
The CuarrMan. Please go ahead with your story about the army 
and navy stores. How did he find out, or how did his agent find out 
that those were not the wines that they purported to he? 
Mr. Wier. I could not tell you. He simply told me he sent his 
agent to investigate that and his agent got the proof. I have referred 
to a man that we sent over to Europe. He was a Frenchman and he 
knew the trade well. He went right to the people and asked them 
what he wanted to know. He said ‘‘I am a special agent of the 
eet of Agriculture; there is nothing secret about this, and I 
wish you would tell me what you do.” He went to one place and he 
found that they had taken down the wall of an old wine house because 
the casks of Spanish wine that they brought there were too large to 
goin the door. He went in there and found them mixing Spanish 
wine nee selling it for three or four times as high a price as it was 
worth. 
The Cuarrman. We are mixing California champagne with eastern 
champagne and selling it as eastern champagne. Referring to Mr. 
Scott’s question, I wish you would tell us how this man can trace those 
goods, and how he is going to let you know just what goods they are 
that you must look after. They are on the steamer in different 
packages and fastened in different kinds of boxes in different ways, 
and I do not see exactly how you are going to get at them—how he is 
going to let you know that there is a parcel of goods on such a 
steamer misbranded. How is he going to get the information that 
they are misbranded when they are boxed up in the way they will be! 
Mr. Witey. He must have knowledge of the dealers in the genuine 
articles. He knows who they are and where these wines that are 
entitled to be branded as these special classed wines go; and I want to 
say here that these High classed wines do not go out into the general 
trade to any extent. They go largely into private cellars for indi- 
