Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1879-12-26
Dishonest Practices in Trade.

~ 40 uSlIHcu W thS AuAhDSAAS"o PN'-
ty cheats which are creeping into all
branches of BUSINESS is evident to
anybody WHO takes the trouble to
investigate. If we take the shelves
of any grocery store, and weigh the
articles put in packages of any given
number of pounds, we will find am
pie evidence of en- almost universal
disposition to give short weight. 1t
! is not confined alone to obscure
manufacturers for the names of some
houses of worldwide repute en-
b,azon packages which do not con-
tain honest measure, nor can the
excuse once offered be admitted that
the cost of the wrapping is deducted
from the weight of contents, when
the cover consists of sheet of pa
per, of almost no appreciable value.
Nor will the plea of shrinkage of
contents hold good, when the same
articles of foreign manufacture uni
versally turn the balance at the pro-
per figure.
A dealer'in this place, the other
day, weighed number of packages
10 illustrate this fact. Tea, repackcd
by American firms and bearing their
name as an apparent guarantee of
quality and quantity, fell from two
to four ounces short on the pound,
while those put up by the heather
Chinese or by the expert jugglers
in Japan, weighed actually more
than standard weight. Soda, cream
of tartar, and many other articles of
domestic manufacture told the same
woful story of moral turpitude, when
weighed in the scales and were found
wanting, while similar imported ar
ticles were invariably of full weight.
The same thing may be said of
syrup, sugar and almost every arti-
cle--at least those manufactured or
repacked on this Coast-in the sale
of which the deception can be prac-
ticed. Five-gallon kegs of syrup are
notably deficient, sometimes nearly
gallon, and the tare on barrel of
sugar is invariably more than the al
lowance figured on the head of the
cask, unless it comes from some for
eign market. A box of California
crackers weighing so pounds gross,
with 10 pounds allowance for weight
of the case, contained barely 33
pounds-a charge of seven pounds,
more than the box weighed, and this
is fair average transaction.
It has been reported that the dis
honest practice of giving short weight
had even found imitators among our
farmers, and that scarcely roll of
butter brought to town weighed the
prescribed two pounds; but this is
explained by one of our butter
makers, quite satisfactorily for past
transactions, provided new depar-
ture is taken when their attention is
called to the discrepancy. 1t ap-
pears they nearly all use the two
pound mould, made in the East,
which, true to custom, is purposely
contrived to perpetuate the cheat.
We cannot say as much however,
for the one or two instances of the
stock-raisers who placed large stones
in the middle of their bales of wool,
cheat which was only discovered
and exposed accidentally when the
wool was reracked for shipment, a
contingency which was not anticipa-
ed by the sellers.
Quite enough instances have been
cited to convince all honest people
that q reformation is needed in the
VIII ole system of retail business on
this coast. If consumers would give
the preference to brands of staple
articles containing full weight, the
evil would soon be abated. There is
no nerve more sensitive than that
which leads to the pocket, and the
moment dishonest packers find that
their contemplate plan for securing
a double profit has been discovered
and will not be tolerated, they
will at once drop practice which
is comforting anything but an envi-
able name upon large class of man.
ufacturers and middle men.
A PETITION is in circulation at Wal
la-walla fo1 the removal of Judge
Winpa,d