The New York herald., 1874-07-29


pabe owner
Parliamentary committee has been in session
for several weeks TO inquire into the practical
working OF the Adulteration act The public mind
has been greatly disturbed by the alleged frauds,
and brief summary or the proceedings in com.
mittee will tend to show the extent to which the
inquiry became necessary.
The existing act Of Parliament makes the sale of
any adulterated article as pure punishable by a
fine on proof OF the adulteration; it also provides
that all mixed articles such as cocoa, mustard,
&c, should be duly labelled by the manufac-
turer setting forth the fact OF q mixture on each
package. The local authorities throughout the
country were directed to appoint public ofncers
for the purpose, at the demand OF any house.
holder, OF analyzing any article Of whose quality
there appeared reasonable suspicion This Is done
on payment OF small fee alter the result Is ascer-
tained. The act was. or 49, in operaton.in London
and most OF the larger cites, but in the rural dis
tricts it remained almost dead letter. A great
outcry was raised among country dealers against
what was termed oppression" In the outset 1t
was attempted to defeat the provisions OF the act
by pleading ignorance OF the existing adulteraton.
A magistrate could be induced to convict only on
proof OF the traders knowledge OF the adultera-
tion. This absurdity was subsequently overruled
by superior courts, and then another device was
resorted to by asserting that the additions made
to pure articles were not injurious to health, and
that In MANY cases it served even to improve the
quality OF the original article Thus, for instance,
cocoa In its pure state was declared indgestibIc.
Being insoluble by water the nutritious properties
OF cocoa not fully developed until some other
ingredients were mixed with the genuine article.
Ground mustard, as brought from the mill,
was declared as bitter, harsh sub
stance which, unless mixed with tempering
matter, the public would not purchase. Great
stress was laid on these facts, and 1t was argued.
with some show of truth, that all aduterations
were not positively injurious to health. Manufac
turers demanded the abolition OF the section
which made labelling compulsory in cases where
the mixture was not injurious to health. The ex-
posure on the label it was contended, did great
injury TO the trader. The courts, however, re.
fused to allow the argument and determined to
leave loophole, and thereby. II conceded, vitlate
the wholesome provisions OF the act.
The traders, being driven to despair, began now
to attack the law itself, showing 1t up as coercive
and unfair. This, as already stated. resulted in
the appointment OF a Parliamentary committee. 1t
seemed moreover, necessary to improve and
otherwise amend the act; hence lengthy inquiry
became necessary. 1t is, OF course, impossible
more than briefly to eptomize the evidence al.
duced before the committee.
STATEMENTS REGARDING TEAs.
waged most hoty. The adulteratlop, 1t was
stated, served the purpose OF improving the ap-
pearance, increasing the bulk and adding to the
weight For the two latter purposes finely ground
quartz and iron or steel filings were made use OF,
but the favorite ingredient was 'lie tea or leaves
which, after having been used, were redried An
astrngent called catechu gum is likewise much
in use. For improving the appearance, 'lie' tea
is sometimes mixed with low grades OF ordinary
tea and placed in cylinders under steam, with an
apportionate quantity OF carbonate OF mag
nesia, Dutch pink and Prussian blue. 1t was like
wise admitted as common practice to color or
"face" as 1t is commonly termed, many teas. one
witness asserted that in some parts OF the country
black teas only were consumed, while in otner
districts green teas were purchased In preference.
The articles were accordingly specially manu-
factured to meet the demands of customers.
These facings were acknowledged by some of the
public analysts not to be directly injurious to
health, and one of the witnesses declared that he
would allow their use in tea just as coloring
matter was permitted in cheese or butter.
There is another favorite practice, namely, to
purchase teas damaged by water being in that
state OF little use or value and these teas, ! am
told, are generally exported, and to large ex-
tent, ind their way to market in the States
The adulteration with 'lie' tea is carried on to
said to exist. The "faclngn is mostly carried on
IN England where 1t IS done more carefully tha in
China. Out OF 167, 900, 900 pounds OF tea annually
consumed in England, 1t is asserted that fully one
nth. say 35. 100000 pounds, is open to suspicion.
The blame OF adulteration Is laid at the door OF
wholesale and retail dealers, who insist on selling
teas bearing first class brands at prices for which
the real article cannot possibly be supplied.
On the whole 1t was acknowledged that the
prosecutions which mad taken place since the act
came into operation had proved beneficial to the
public. tea 'tacer" gave evidence that he
had lately been chiefly occupied in uncolor-
ing previously 'faced" tea. A well known
tea dealer named Hornman was compelled to
admit that his firm bought colored teas in the
market and, having unfaced them their custom
ers bought them as 'pure" teas Several dealers
deposed that there was no such thing as pure
green tea that green tea was always "iaced" The
remedy suggested was that all teas should be cx-
amined on landing or when IN bond; and, urther-
more, that government inspectors should have
power to stop and seize all teas adulterated with
iron filings or Gle"
BRITISH WINES
| wouli scarcely seem to be q wholesome drink.
! One OF the analysts declared that he had quite
given up port; that sherry was usually aduter-
ated with sulphuric ether; that potato spirit was
largely added, and that its effect was most injur-
ous. Wines aud spirits contained, as IL were.
| large quantities OF iusi oil, French treace or
brandy, which is often nothing more than beet
root spirit, colored and navored so az to puzzle
| chemist to discover cheat. 1t was useless, said
the analyst, to look for pure vintage OF foreign
wines, all being fortified with alcohol-port and
sherry wines especially so. On the other hand
BEER
is now comparatively pure while short time ago
the article was much adulterated with matter d.
recty INJURIOUS to health-such us cocoulus inui-
Gus, logwood, tobacco and other things The main
adulteration employed at present Is water. Still
there is large amount OF mixing going on to suit