THIRTY-THIRD BIENNIAL SESSION 
201 
First: Every package of fruit shipped or sold should be required 
by law to be branded with the name and address of the packer; the true 
name of the apple; where grown; and, with some mark indicating its grade 
or lack or grade. The Maine law prescribes certain grades and their marks. 
It then goes one step farther and requires every package not so marked or 
graded to be branded .“Unclassified,” thus putting the purchaser on notice 
and at the same time furnishing a strong incentive to use the regular grades. 
I heartily approve of the scope of that law. It is fully realized that under 
the Constitution no power exists to dictate in a compulsory way what a man 
shall or shall not sell, in what form it shall be, or how it shall be packed, as 
long as no fraud is perpetrated, or the public health or morals are not en- 
dangered. On the other hand there is no question of the right to compel com- 
modities to be honestly and accurately marked. That and that alone is the 
proposition submitted. I fully realize the value of a good second grade apple 
as a food commodity; nor do I wish to eliminate that or any sound fruit from 
its legitimate channels, but let it be marked honestly and in such a way that 
the purchaser may have full notice of what to expect. Compel every pack- 
age to be marked with its grade or lack of grade, using for the latter some 
such term as “Unclassified” or a mark positively indicating that it is not 
“Standard Grade.” To that no honest man can object. Allowing apples, 
however, to be sent out with no name attached; no quality marks and noth- 
ing but the variety name upon the package, and that many times false, is 
to put a premium upon dishonesty and slack methods. To my mind its effects 
are even worse than false marking, because false marking can be reached 
under the law, whereas there is now practically no redress for the other. 
Second: National or state inspection should be provided. We suggested 
it when the Sulzer bill was up, but it would have been easier for a camel to 
have gone through the eye of a real needle than to have secured an ap- 
propriation for this purpose. The first and last questions asked were, “Does 
the bill require an appropriation?” This important feature is bound to 
come in due time and under it the worst evil of the industry can be eradi- 
cated. 
Third: Prohibit the sale or shipment of diseased fruit in closed pack- 
ages. You now have before you the real essentials of an ethical and economic 
pack, or, in other words, the essentials necessary to the establishment of 
the “square deal.” Let us summarize them. First, there are the Sulzer 
standards, applicable to a reasonably high average of quality in the barrel 
states. Second, the box standards should be, and hope to be, established. 
Third, compel all packages to be branded with the grade or lack 
of grade, the name and address of the packer, the true name of the variety 
and where grown. Fourth, establish state or national inspection. Fifth, 
enforce the laws, including those we already have, and particularly the Food 
and Drugs Act. With these things in active force we would then be in 
position to meet every problem and develop both home and foreign markets 
along lines that have been tested and proven correct. 
