The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-03-15
TIE LARD TAX BILL.
The Eject the Passage Of the 81
Would Have IN the South

The Eject the Passage Of the Bill
Would Have IN the South
The proposition pending in congress TO fix
a revenue tax upon vegetable lard at ,
mills to the pound it is not thought among
those who deal IN the compound will become
| a law. and it is conceded that if such law
should be passed it would seriously affect
/ the cotton planters who now fnd a profit
/ able market for their cotton seed, from
which the oil that enters into the compost
| ton of the lard compound Is extracted
A weIl-posted merche mt on the Bay, in
| discussing the subject yesterday, said that
/ the suggestion to put q tax upon vegetable
oil originated with Squires & Co, leaf lard
manufacturers Of Boston, and a very few
/ lesser firms, but that the opposition of such
heavier firms as Armour & Co. of Chicago,
/ the Armour Packing Company of Kansas
/ City, the Armour-Cudahay Company of
/ Omaha. Fairbanks of Chicago, Swift g. Co.
of Chicago. the Silver Horn Packing Com
pany of Omaha, and the American Pro-
/ vision Company Of Chicago, ami the entire
southern influence viii be able 70 defeat
any such legislation. Ali the firms above
mentioned manufacture the pure leaf lard
as well as the vegetable compound.
The vegetable lard is principally made
| from refined cotton seed oil, in most in
stances mixed with hog lard, to give it
hardness, although some manufacturers.
knowing the popular favor with which the
vegetable compound is held, take the pains
to advertise that no hog lard is contained
in IT,
NIne-tenths of the lard used in this sec
ton Is the vegetable lard, which is not only
from IL to ~ cents cheaper per pound
than the leaf lard, but is considered more
wholesome and healthful than the animal
lard. TO place a tax upon it, it is held,
would be detrimental to an industry that
has sprung up in the south and west, and
which tax Is not asked for by the people of
any section.
The opposition is especially true of the cot
ton growing states, where the cotton sect is
as much of a staple as the fiber Of the cotton
plant. Before the value Of the cotton seed
as an oil producer was known the seed was
considered by many planters as valueless,
and was either hauled off 70 an out of the
way place on the plantation or burned. In
time the planters began 70 use it as fertil-
izer, and in more recent years the seed has
been sold at prices which almost pay the ex-
pense OF cuitivating the crop. Mills, such
as the Southern cotton oil mill in this city,
have been established at many places in the
south, where the oil is extracted, and the
residue is manufactured into fertilizers.
The oil is shipped TO northern and western
cities, and great deal of it is exported.
The oil is refined and manufactured into
vegetable lard, and by the process of refine
ment much Of it is used as a substitute for
olive oil, and is said to be equal TO the pure
olive oil for the table
Any specific revenue tax placed upon the
vegetable lard, it is believed, viii tend to
cripple the industry in the south and depre-
clate the value of cotton seed as a CONNER
cial article, and correspondingly increase
the price of leaf lard, which cannot COM
pete with the vegetable compound in the
market.
The trade here does not believe that Con-
gress will look with favor upon any such a
law, and the merchants argue that the rea-
sons which were assigned for putting a
special tax on oleomargarine, and requiring
it to be stamped as oleomargarine, will not
apply in the case of the vegetable lard, as in
the case of oleomargarine- it is an
adulterated article the component parts of
which were unknown, and yet is was being
sold as butter, whereas there has been no
effort to conceal from consumers of what
the vegetable lard is composed, and the
popular demand for the vegetable com
pound is due to the fact that the people
know what it is made of and prefer it to
the purely animal compound.