, 1881-06-19

| same be 50 manufactured, used, or sold uT
der its true and appropriate name, ana notic:
that the same is mixed and impure is marked
printed, or stamped upon each package con
tanning the same; or unless the purchaser h,
informed by the seller of the true name 4,
the ingredients Of slel article OF food, drinl-
or medicine.
! Sec. 1 prohibits the mixing of oleom,,
| garinc, sulne, beef fat, lard, or any fo,,
cign substance with any butter or cheese. Ii:
tended for human food without .listinctlv
| marking the package containfn:. tile sama
| with the true Nalne and percentage of such
foreign substance contained in the composi.
ttou: it also prohibits the sale or offering f.,
! sale Of such adultcrated compound witlout
| information to the purchaser.
Tile penalties III case Of conviction ara.
For the first otfense u fine Of not less than
SIS nor more than $500; for the second nj.
fense not less than 500 HOT more than SIN
or confinement in the jail from one to sfr
months, or both; and for the third and ;otha,
otfenses fine of from $500 to $1,000 and in.
prisonment in the Penitentiary from one IN
five years.
~
shall be convicted under this act If lie shows
to the satisfaction Of the Court or Jury tbat
he did not know he was violating the act
and that he could not with reasonable d;,t::
gence have obtained the knowledge. ;:
The British Parliament many years asn
undertook by law to prohibit and punish 'tha
adulteration of articles Of food, and several
acts and anlentlat0ry acts on the subject
proved failures. There was too much aimed
at by the law. After twenty years experience
Parliament ut last reached the law which ia
now in force in England. 1t prohibits tha
adulteration and sale OF food and drink with
any ingredient fatal or Injurious to health,
This is absolutely prohibited. It also ,re-
quires that any article Of food or a.ink that
may be mixed or adulterated for gain or
profit with any foreign substance shall not
be sold without informing tie purchaser Of
the fact, and without marking the pacEas;a,:
in which tits contained with statement Of
the proportions Of the genuine article and.
the proportions Of all other substances mixed:
Herewith. The first class of adulterations
were peremptorily prohibited Us crimi-
nal; the SECOND class of adultera>
tions were treated rs frauds upon
consumers. to whom notice Of the fraud:
was required to be given. After some years'
experience, the criminal adulte1ations have
been practically broken up, while the inyes-
LEGATIONS show that the adulreration for tha'
purpose Of fraud, in given number Of cases:
of different forms of food articles, has de-
clincd from 60 to 10 per cent. The law Of H.
linols is framed substantially upon the model
OF the English law. :
There can be no objection to the exclusion
from sale of all food articles which contain
adulteratlons with other articles dangerous.
to personal health. Their manufacture and.
sale is i crime which should be punished Sc;
verely. Il,
The requirement. that all articles Of food
offered for sale shall be in fact pure, unless
the fact of their adulteration is made known
to the purchaser and the fact stamped upon
the box, bottle, jar, or other package is In
the interest of honesty as opposed to fraud.
Tea, chocolate, coffee, sugars, -four, oat-
meal, spices, bread, crackers, CAKES.
candies, canned goods, and a long
and varied list Of other articles which.
frequently adulterated, but with harmless ),
.hings; the purpose is to sell as certain ;,
quantity of a pure article a one-third or one:
lalf of some other cheaper foreign substance,
obtaining for it the full price Of like quQn-'
ity Of the genuine. This Is simply dishon-
sly even if the substance used for adultera-
ion be of itself harmless. 4 striking in-s
tance of this is milk, the only value Of which
s III the proportion Of its purify. 1t Is as
uned that even in England, under the rigors
# the law, 90 per cent Of the articles Of food
old as pure are adulterated, and this does not
include those where the fact Of adulteration
5 marked on the goods. How much greater
must be the extent Of the fraud in this coun~
r., where no such law prevails? This fraud
, mainly dishonesty. The manufacturer
escorts to adulterattn2 his goods to the ex-.
ent Of 20 per cent; he is thus able to sell his
10 per cent cheaper than his
lyals; but he is soon overreached by an-.
ther who sells the same article 70 per
ent cheaper than the pure, by increas-:
lg the adulteration. This Is Illustrated by
like fraud in the case Of canned
oods, where purchaser Of dozen
so-called three-p0und cans will be f0tu-s
ate if his purchase equals twenty-five.
ounds. Had the law included punishment,
" false weights in goods sold by the pack
&c, 1t would have only enlarged the scope Of
le prohibition OF 4 common fraud.
The objection is that this law, being in forca
/ Illinois only, exposes manufacturers In
lis State to the competition Of the manufae-
lrers Of adulterated goods iu other States,
ho will flood this State with their impure
.oduetions. The answer to this il, that the
llnois merchants and manufacturers have,
e remedy in their own hnnds. They know
hat goods are pure, and what are not. Let
em have two or three specimens Of these
relgn-made adulterations seized, and have
me person convicted of selling them; and
it be known that, by judicial finding, the
lie of such goods in Illinois is prohibited
adu!teratlon. Such an advertisement
onld prohibit the further sale OF any such :,
rods III this State. as 4 whole. the end and
lrpoSe OF the law are III the Interest Of JUS
e anl honesty, and If visi!antly enforced :;
i'll accomplish good results.
-
iES. GRANT will hardly deny that George
nh IaF cf