St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-12-09
Commissioner Ives, OF the
Dairy Commission, Issues
a Report
Showing the Work OF His De-
partment for the Last !
Two Years.
What Has Been Accomplished
in Purifying Foods and
DpinkableS.
Interesting Statistics Relat-
ing to Cow Keeping and :
Dairying.


dairy commissioner, addressed to the
governor and legislature of the state of
Minnesota. vas issued yesterday. Com
missioner Ives dwells upon the good re-
suits attained i'll the passage and en-
forcement of laws to prevent the adul-
teration of milk, butter and cheese.
Though great opposition has been man
lfeSted by the large firms manufacture
ing oieOmargarne, the result of the
rigid enforcement of the amended laws
of 1889 has benefited both producer and
consumer of daily products in this
state. The hostility shown by the
manufacturers of baking powder con-
tanning alum to the law of 1889, CON-
polling them to label all packages sold,
This Baking Powder Contains Alum"
resulted in long litigation, which finally
was ended by the supreme court up
holding the validity of the law. The
full reports of the case have been pub
lished from time to time in the GLOBE.
The commissioner comments on the fact
that during the past four years adulter-
alton of milk has decreased from 60 per
cent to per cent. The manu-
facturerS of vinegar have during
the past year waged war on
Commissioner Ives and his deputies,
who were determined to stamp out the
sale of adulterated yinegarS. Before
the passage of the food laws by the last
legislature lit was impossible to buy
genuine apple cider vinegar or true
malt vinegar" says the commissioner.
The markets and towns were flooded
with spurious vinegarS sold for few
cents less per gallon than true vinegar
cider. War was declared Oh the dairy
commission by a number OF firms IN
Chicago and the East who manu-
featured the spurious vinegarS. and to
quote from the report, "for real down.
right cussedness they took the cake"
These firms accused the chemists of the
dairy commission OF hungling in their
analysis. Commissioner Ives, however,
upheld the competency OF his officers.
TRADE newspapers took sides pro and
con in the warfare. expert chemists i'll
the East were called upon by both sides,
Threats of Lawsuits
were made by number of the
firms. But Commissioned Ives kept on
his course, and the result is that deal
out OF the market.
On the adulteration of lard the com
missioner also dwellS at some length.
Beef Stearine and cottonSeed oil mixed
with Lard ana called .'refined lard'' has
been sold in enormous quantities in the
state to tue profit of the manufacturers,
but to the detrment OF the consumer
and loss to the farmer who makes the
genuine articies;- but Commissioner
Ives is proud of, having opened the
eyes of the public to the details of the
case, and to-nay pure lard is the rule in
Minnesota. In concluding his report
the commissioner says that the most
speedy and effective way by which
the present widespread adultera-
ton of foods can be checked and
controlled is to enlighten the
people of the state as to the character
of the goods.
Assistant Commissioner Lawrence,
in his report to Commissioner Ives, pre-
sents some elaborate figures as to the
inspection he made of the various dali
rieS in the city, and tests of all milk
shipped by rail. The results showed
that the milk supply of the city was I'M
usually good, uoiie of the samples fall
ing below the average OF butter fats re-
quired 10y law.
Nearly three hundred pages of the re-
port are taken up with columns of sta
tlstics showing the result of analysis
made of ali samples of food collected 10y
the inspectors, which, while of interest
to the officials. is entirely unnecessary
i'll the report. and costly proceeding
which should be stopped in the pubIlca-
ton of reports. One page of statistics,
showing the dairy products and the dali
ry cows in Minnesota during the past
four years, is very Interesting, and is as
follows: