262 ILLINOIS STATE DAIHYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



TEN CENT TAX MOVEMENT. 



The effort to secure through congress a law imposing a tax of 10 cents 

 per pound on all oleomargarine colored in imitation of butter received the 

 endorsement of the Galesburg convention. This movement is backed by 

 the National Dairy Union of which Ex-Governor W. D. Hoard of Wisconsin 

 is president, and already a bill, which the next congress will be asked to 

 pass, has been introduced by Congressman Davidson of Wisconsin imposing 

 the tax. 



The dairymen of Illinois ask for this protection because most oleo- 

 margarine is colored in imitation of butter and probably nine-tenths of the 

 oleomargarine retailed is sold to th e consumer for butter and at butter 

 prices. With a law prohibiting manufacturers from coloring oleomargar- 

 ine to resemble butter, this fraud would cease. 



The object of the 10 cent tax on yellow oleomargarine is to make it 

 cost the manufacturer so much to produce the outlawed counterfeit that he 

 cannot afford to sell it to the retailer at such a low price that the latter 

 will be tempted to palm it off as butter because of the big profit he can make 

 selling it at butter prices. Unless there is a big profit the retailer won't 

 run the risk of evading and defying our state laws. Now he can make as 

 much as $6 a tub profit selling oleomargarine for butter. 



There is no such thing as escaping the tax if it is levied by Congress, 

 Large establishments and capital are required to manufacture oleomargar- 

 ine. Violation of the internal revenue law forfeits these factories to the 

 government. There are only 14 in the country, and they are not difficult 

 to keep under surveillance. 



Oleomargarine can be made at a cost as low adl 5 o&nts< a ptound for a 

 low grade. Paying a 2 cent tax raises the cost that much. The materials 

 which take the place of butterfat are oleo oil (made from kidney fat of the 

 steer), lard, and cottonseed oil. Cottoon seed oil costs about 3 cents per 

 pound; oleo oil from 10 cents down ; lard and grease from 6 cents down, ac- 

 cording to quality. These are mixed in different proportions and churned 

 in skim milk as a rule, and the whole colored like butter and put up in rolls 

 and prints like butter. The cost of the finished product depends entirely 

 upon the proportions and quality of materials used. 



