St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-03-25
THE oLEoMaRGARrNE LAW.
Reasons Suggested by Writer
in the Indiana Farmer for Lack
nf EPfciauov

oedSouS suggested Dy q Writer
in the Indiana Farmer for Lack
of Efficiency.
The United States oieOmargarine
statute has been failure in one partic-
ular-that 1T does not reach and restrain
the retailer of oleomargarine. Its op-
erations are much as those of statute
for suppressing counterfeit of the cur
rency would be, if it only punished the
maker of bogus money and let the
''shover of the aueer'' 90 scOt-free. One
reason for this has been the lack of
funds. The law demands that every re-
tail package shall be of wood or paper
not containing over ten pounds of oleo-
margarine, and that it shall be duly let
tered or labeled, as the commissioner of
internal revenue may direct. He has
decided that every package must have
branded OF printed OH it the word
''OleOmargarine," i'll letters not less
than quarter of an inch square.
But little or no attention is
paid to the commissioners de-
cision by the retailers of the
bogus stuff, and the statute goes unen-
forced, for the reason that sufficient
funds were not appropriated for this
purpose to enable the commissioner to
employ the requisite force to execute
the law. Not only detectives and law
yers are needed, but chemists and mi
croScOpiStS are required to aid these Off
Gals. Yet the revenue resulting from
the Oleomargarine tax amounts to
over three-quarterS of million dollars
annually-a sum more than sufficient
for all practical purposes, were it made
available for the execution of the stat
ute. But the commissioner is restricted
to the small and insufficient amount APP
propriated for that purpose, in the face
Or all overlooking treasury and an
avowed desire to reduce the national in
come.
Every dairyman should write to his
congressman and United States senator
at once, to see that sufficient money is
appropriated for efficient enforcement
Of the OleOmargarine statute. The New
York mercantile exchange, at the sug-
gestiOn of Assistant State Dairy Com
missioner Van Valkenburgh. has al
ready taken action OH the subject, and
should he followed by every Organiza-
ton in the country that has an interest
dn the dairy, land in honesty and fair play
in trade. 1t earnestly requests con-
egreSS to appropriate liberal and suffi-
Gent amount to enforce the regulations
made by the internal revenue depart
iment as required by the oleOmargarine
law, and in accordance with the intents
and purposes of the same" This is but
"a reasonable demand which ought not
ito have been necessitated by the neglect
Iof congress. To enact law and then
not provide for its execution is an
insult to justice and common
sense, and to every individual whom
the law was designed to benefit. Let
congress do its full duty in the prem
nJnC IN tot tl,o
only the state can make for the suppress
sion of the sale of the stuff. and it will
not be long before it will disappear
from the counters of retailers, or stand
there with the brand of sham in plain
sight. Then if people want to buy it in
preference to genuine butter. it will be
their privilege, and no one will have the
right to complain. Il. ID. G..