248 HEARINGS BEFORE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE. 
Mr. Witry. What I am after is to secure means to execute this 
law. Jam not after a new law. 
Mr. Henry. We have recently passed a law affecting the maple 
sirup made in Vermont and elsewhere. 
Mr. Scorr. This is not designed to keep out these cheaper wines 
because they may not be of good quality, but because they may not be 
properly branded—may not be truly branded. 
Mr. Witey. We want the opportunity to protect our people some 
way against false brands, and that is one of the ways I have suggested. 
It may not be the best way, buta part of the money I asked for I had 
intended for that purpose. é 
The Cuarrman. I may be stupid about it, but I can not see how 
your agent can get at this information. That is what I would like to 
understand. 
Mr. Wizry. We did not know how to get at executing this law we 
have until we passed the Jaw, and then we worked it out. 
The Cuarrman. But you did that on your own shores? 
Mr. Wier. Yes. : 
The CHarrman. You have your own agents in this country to inspect, 
and they have the right to go ahead and do whatever is necessary, even 
so far as breaking bottles, if that is necessary; but over there I doubt 
whether your men would have any right to go ahead in that way. 
Mr. Wivry. They would not have to do that. 
The Cuarrman. How could your man tell whether it was misbranded 
just by looking at the bottle? 
Mr. Witey. He could not. If that could be done of course it would 
not be necessary to send him over there, he could look at it in this 
country; but the only way to tell whether those wines are misbranded 
is by having men over there and having them find out where these 
seen are put on, and tracing those classed wines and seeing where 
they go. : 
The Cnarirman. How many thousand vineyards is this wine coming 
from? 
Mr. Wier. This classed wine comes from only about 38 vineyards 
in France. There are such vineyards in Germany also. ~ 
Mr. Ropry. Your man might attend that big auction you spoke of 
and see what houses bought the wine? 
Mr. Winey. And then follow it up; yes. 
Mr. Henry. I suppose your man might find out that a big wine 
vendor was receiving Spanish wine in large quantities and selling 
wine with a French brand on it and you would come to the conclusion 
that he was doing a fraudulent business? 
Mr. Witry. Yes, certainly; but I can not know that by simply 
looking at the brand. We can not prove it without some evidence, 
which must be obtained over there. 
Mr. Lever. It seems to me you might trace these wines from the 
vineyards to the wine houses. 
Mr. Wier. Yes; we could do that. I have no doubt that most of 
those wines go direct to the consumer. What we want to get at is 
to find out where these immense quantities of inferior wine are put up 
and branded as classed wines. 
Mr. Ropey. In our country they have large wool sales, and at those 
sales it is always known where each big ranchman’s clip goes, and I 
suppose it is the same way in regard to the sale of these classed wines. 
