Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1885-04-04

Bold Violation Of Law-Shameful Inn.
position Upon the People.
| To the Editor of THE EVENING STAR:
Some time ago when, in conversation with a
| reporter of THR STAR, gave 1t as my opinion
that there was more oleomargarine or butter
| Inc sold on this market than genuine butter.
since then have given considerable attention
TO the subject, and am surprised at the quantity
of those spurious articles sold here, and of the
| bold and defiant violation of law on the part OF
manufacturers and dealers in counterfeit but
ter. This morning over 200 tubs of this article
were unloaded from express wagons one
square, within a space of 200 feet. This is re-
peated about every day, and in greater or less
quantities all over the city.
| 1t is now about six years since Congress passed
| an act regulating the sale of this article. For
| the benefit Of manufacturers and dealers in this
| compound, sometimes called OleOmargarine
and sometimes butterine, quote the law en-
| tire, that these men may see what score of
INES they are running up against themselves.
The law is as follows:
dcepon In SALES of Butter and Cheese in the Dis
Be i enacted, &c [section II That every person
e1 sei for a for sale or who shall osr
iae prodaet the
Saty t and not made exclusively Of mk or cream
from milk enters component part. into which
as b but or oil
stamp brand or mark upon every tub firkn, box or
margerine in plain Roman letters not less than hall
| thus: " N--'
oLEOMARGARINE
Ana IN case of retail sales of such article substances
with to the purchaser written or printed label bear
ing the plainly written or printed word cleomargr
marked Or labeled be void and no cause ofacon
.s Sec Tina, sna sell offer to
| red nv frSfS
or TINS act to be stamped marked or labeled therein
retail sale Without delivery Of label required by BY
secuon one of this shall for each such oense for
OF OF Of
Retent jurisdiction for the trial of msdemeanors. and
former and the residue be paid into treasury
Sec That every person who shall sell. or offer or
expose for sale. who shall cause procure to be
@ e s amy this act
marked marked branded stamped or labeled, not SO marked
demeancr and on trial for such proof Of
the er Of
Gle SO 81, soi =, OF offered January 20 1883
this law applies only to the article known as ole
omargarime, which as is generally understood,
is made Of suet and milk, and that by substi.
| suet, and calling the compound 'butterine'
there is no violation of law. This is mistake.
as VIII Wb DE seen by serrng to section Of the
manufacture for sale, or who shall offer eX.
pose for sale, any article or substance in SEM
| blance OF butter or cheese, not the legitimate
product Of the dairy, and not made exclusively
OF milk or cream, but into which the oil or fat o,
| animals not produced from milk, enters as a
| cOmponentpa part, or into which melted butter, OF
| any Oil thereof has been introduced to take the
place OF cream, shall distinctly and durably
stamp, brand or mark upon every tub, firkin,
Dox or package of such article or substance, the
word oleomargarine in plain Roman letters, moi
| less than half an inch square, placed horizon
| tally III proper order thus:
1 A A
1t will be seen by this that Congress has pro
| v1ded name for any article made in semblance
! OF butter and cheese not composed entirely Of
| milk or cream, and that name is "oleomarga
| rine,' which is required to be stamped on every
package sold at wholesale and to accompany
every ounce sold at retail, the penalty for tho
violation thereof being 500 for every offenSe
1t does not say If made from suet Though &C
cording to Webster that term covers the fat Of
all animals), but from "the fat Of animals mean
| ing any or all animals from the OK to the
| mouse There is no mistaking this language
It Is so plain that all can understand it, and yet
dreds of times every day within the distance O.
one mile, between the capitol of the United
states and the Executive mans on. More than
1000 tubs of this compound. some marked
| "Dairy'' and some with no mark at all, are
standing in the streets of Washington today
law Where are tRe i psrct pta,n
sioners? Where are the Washington detectives!
Where is the District chemist, and where have
|
gress has been daily trampled in the dust
The fines for the violation Of this law if collect
ed, would amount to more than the entire rev.
| enue of the District. They would long ago have
| wiped out the District debt, and yet in not one
| instance have known of an arrest under this
| law. The proof is ample; it is before our eyes
everywhere have seen detectives when or
| the track of some one for violation of the
license law. pass by tons Of this bogus butter
without seeming to notice 1t.
! HONEST DAIRY BUTTER
I,ocrh noV, Awi.,
| languishes in stores or farmers cellars from
which, when warm " Gather comes, and it gets
strong, 1t will be, last resort, brought forth
and sold at from six TO- ten cents per pound. ts
| be worked over and mixed with the fat of ami
mails, and then marked Dairy" and resold a.
fresh dairy butter. The great empire state O.
The legislature Of that state has so restricted
the manufacture and sale of butter, Of every
thing not genuine butter, that but very little
oleomargarine, or butterfne, is consumed in the
state, but New York relies on other states
now being supplied by buttermen, to take it.
surplus butter, the damage to farmers and mer
chants OF that state is serious.
FOR THE EYE OF PRESIDENT CLEVELAND.
1t is hoped that the new President. who a.
governor Of New York signed the bill puttins
butterine under proper restrictions and wht
upon his mothers Bible swore to execute tn,
laws, will give q moments attention to THU
subject, and see to it that this oleomargarin,
| law lnaL MS predecessors allowed to stand as
dead .1, letter ter for SIX years is EXECUTED EXECUTE
OF selling butterine as butter SO long as peopl,
are willing to buy 1t, and it contains nothins
| injurious to health ?" deny that people buy
this article knowing of what it is composed
| This may be the case in few instances, blu
Several years ago the undersigned had thirt,
tubs of the finest kind Of oleomargarine sent Il
him as q sample by one of the largest butte
houses In New York. He could have sold ever,
| tub of 1t as butter in less than a week at 81
cents per pound, but when customers were told
that It was oleomargarine, not a package coult
:. York. -.
! It Is singular how the masses of men and
women like to be humbugged, and to imagin,
they are making money buying an article be
cause It is cheap. See you that woman comine
arm, walking as fast as her feet will carry her
She thinks she has fortune right before he
eyes. She Is after pound of "that beautiful
country print butter that comes fresh from tn,
churn twice week." and which her philan
per pound. She is afraid 1t will be all gone be
fore she gets there. She enters the store and {
moment later comes out with an air of exulta
ton. her face wreathed with smiles. She sees
lady friend approaching, and thus commune
With herself: There comes my dear friend
Mrs. Verdant. heard her say she was paying
40 cents per pound for butter. Shall shart
with her my good fortune by letting her int
the secret Of how get 40 cent butter for 2.
cents? Shall run the risk Of not being able tx
get all want Of this butter in consequence O
muses. until they meet, when generosity get
the better of seldshness and she tells her frienl
all about It. Mrs. Verdant is given an introduc
ton to the generous butter dealer, secures