Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-02-13
the liquor laws, and we have adequate measures
to meet this move and check it at once"

THE REASONS ARE THERE.
"win you give these reasons?" was asked OF
the gentleman.
well, hardly 1t is enough that l am giving
you what has already transpired, and hope
| you don't want me to tell you before hand Just
| what our grounds are. 1t is enough to say that
we have the law with us, and will speedily
make an example of any dealer who proposes
to evade the law by shipping directly to the
| consumer.
THE selling of butterine has been almost
| general, and as to the evils of ii, can demon
strate to you plainly that the sale of butterine
tends to keep the price of pure butter up to the
present exorbitant rate 1t not only tends
this way, but we claim it is the only and sole
reason.
The price of oleomargarine depends upon
the price of butter, and when butter sells ut 40
cents oleo is hanging somewhere about the
lower thirties This, you would say, ,disproves my
statement that butter is high because mar
gsrine is sold; but it goes to prove it because
margarine hangs just near enough and just far
enough away in price to ruin the sale of pure
butter. To explain this more fully l must go
back little to the time when the laws allowed
free and open selling of the bogus butter, and
its deadly competition with pure butter. As
the butterine cost only from 10 to l3 cents here,
there could be but one result, the sale of pure
butter was ruined, and if the sale is ruined. SO
is the manufacture, and the result was that
farmers stopped making butter to be sold at
ruinous rates, and turned their attention to
cream or pure milk, or perhaps sold of the
stock.
There are people who know good butter and
will have nothing else on their tables and Just
SO long margarine is sold at rates low
enough to keep the bulk of legitimate butter
makers out of the business, that long will the
high price of pure butter be maintained by
people who will have ii, no matter whatlt costs.
This demand, however. is limited.
You must understand there are different
grades and different prices of oleomargarine,
and the higher grades can scarcely be detected
by one who is not well versed while the lower
grades are very bad, IN fact the very meanest
facturers is this: they first send in very high
grade of margarine. SO mixed with large
proportion of pure butter that it
CAN HARDLY BE DETECTED,
Then, as their sales increase and their busi-
ness is established, they begin to send in grades
with less and less proportion of pure butter,
until, after the butter trade has been almost
entirely killed they ship in pure butterine, and
/ actually believe the final consumer is not
aware of it, so gradual is the change and so
thoroughly blunted have become his percep-
tions of what really good butter is. He may
miss sometimes the delicate flavor of the rich
Alderney, but is too Indifferent, or perhaps too
obtuse, to know the reason.
''ln every case in our hands we have the
oleomargarine carefully slowed away in boxes,
and we have an expert to analyze it, and to
show the vile character of the stuff in COM
parison to pure butter. Our chemical tests
will he given, and the people will be simply
amazed at the filth of the stuff they have been
buying for 80 to IS cents a pound, under the
impression it was pure butter. Some people
say they prefer it 10 pure butter, but that is
probably because they have been using a high
grade OF margarine or low grade of butter.
The bogus butter has its greatest sale from the
market men direct to the poorer population,
who probably haven't the faintest idea they are
buying margarine at eXorbitaut rates, and
serving to keep up the price of the very article
they want cheapened.
This association represent claims to be made
up entirely of honorable business men. and
they say man who deals in margarine is law
breaker, and should be given the penalty, lG to
30 days an Jail for the first offense, and not less
than one year for the second offense. There
fore, if the law is good public policy or not,
their claim is just, that one of the most impor-
tant branches of the grocery trade is being
turned over to a lot of irresponsible persons
who are utterly regardless of the law, and
whose selling of margarine persistently keeps
up the price of good butter by limiting its sale,
and therefore limiting its manufacture If the
public wants the law repealed the Legislature
is now in session and willing to take up popu-
lar measure. The association has no objection
whatever, as its members can make more
money on butterine than they can on butter, but
they demand that the law be kept by all, if
Kept by one. As to the virtue of the law, let
the public decide.
A MIGHTY INTERESTING WORK.
81 have run across some of the most interest
ing things in this affair, not the least of which
is the coloring material used in butterine in or
der to initiate the color of butter. The color
ing matter is taken from a seed grown in
Europe, and is used almost exclusively for that
purpose. 1t is made by Wells, Richards & Co.,
of Vermont, who advertise their butter color
as extensively as they do their famous rough
on rats This coloring material is too dear Tor
lower lOglS butter 6
sequence they use other and highly deleterlous
substances for their coloring. 1t is fact that
the poor farmer, finding his own honest, deli
butter eclipsed in color by
margarine, has taken to coloring his farm
product, in order 90 compete in looks with the
manufactured stuff; for nine people out OF ten
the butter. The popular idea that oleo is as
good as butter arises entirely from the fact
that the public has been using the latter for SO
long they don't know the difference. We will
give them some chemical tests, however, that
will open their eyes"
Where does the most OF the stuff come
from?'
'tMostly from the West: and by the way. here
answer 10 decoy letter. You see the letter is
headed Hammond & Co., wholesalers of dressed
beef, hogs, etc., and gives beautiful cut of
EXTENSIVE SLAUGHTER HOUSES
in Indiana and Nebraska, with not one word,
however in the letter head of bogus butter.
The letter is addressed to Messrs. Blank G. Co.,
two of our detectives. and reads:
GENTLEMEN-Your favor has been forwarded
from Detroit Office, and in reply we would say.
while our factory is in Indiana, general offices
are located in Chicago. We are at present making
two grades of oleomargarine, the Calumet and
the Hecla brands. The former is worth II 4 cents
per pound for solid packed in tubs +. o. b. at
and for smaller rolls we get one-half
cent per pound additional. The Hecla grade
costs 1O4 cents.
make shipments to you, would feel obliged to ask
you for references as you are entire strangers to
ping these goods into Pennsylyania while such
stringent laws are in force. We claim to make
the best low-priced goods in the market etc, etc.
This" continued Mr.. Yosu, In a disguised
tone, lis what we are paying Is to 35 cents a
pound for, and just to give you an idea of the
enormous profit some houses are making out of
the poor people in the cities, will tell you of
what know myself
A STARTLING STATEMENT
members OF two different houses came to |
me, and said plainly: 'Yost, if you let us alone
until May l, at our present rate of business we
will have cleared cool $40 900 to $50 900 each in
the first four months of this year. 1t was just
a few days ago one of our detectives found two |
cars packed solid with butterine fora single firm
in this city. They have some of the best attor- |
news in the city employed, and it is rather sig
nifcant that they have all employed the same |
lawyers, pointing to combination on their side |
also.
''Some of them have also said to me person |
ally that they did not fear prosecution, and |
they could buy any grand jury ever drawn, and |
that they could purchase our detectives. Most |
all of them have Government license for the |
sale OF oleomargarine, SO itwould be ridiculous |
for them to plead not guilty. Their usual |
tactics are to DELAY and drag the suit as long as
possible, but they have hard Jury now to |
either buy or browbeat."