Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1896-01-14

escape using them in some measure.
The only way to do, / think, is to trust
that we will be saved from such risks,
just as we do in the case of risks of
travel and the other misfortunes which
are likely to befall us all.
The small farmers and dairymen of
the western states, even under existing
laws, complain to their senators and
representatives that the artificial but
ter is sold in small packages by retail
dealers in country stores at such low
prices that they have almost no mar
ket for their little surplus of genuine
butter which formerly afforded rev
enue upon which they had long depend
ed as part of the annual incomes of
their farms and retail business ven
lures. In order to give these citizens
some protection Senator. Henderson,
of Nebraska, in the last congress intro
duced and urged the passage of bill
which provided that "all oleomargarine
shall be packed by the manufacturer in
firkins, tubs or other packages of wood
or tin, each containing not less than
one pound, marked, stamped and
branded as the commissioner of inter
nal revenue shall prescribe; and all
sales shall be in original stamped
packages" The bill also provided for
tax of two cents per pound on all cleo
margarine manufactured and offered
for sale.
The bill was designed to raise revenue
for the government from the enormous
sales of oleomargarine, and also to
make it apparent to every purchaser
of an original package of one pound of
the compound that he was buying
oleomargarine, and not pure butter. 1t
was expected that this measure would
prevent the sale of ten-pound pack
ages of oleomargarine and the subse-
quent retail OF tine compound in small
err packages without disclosing the
character of the compound to the pur-
chaser. In this way the retail dealer
would be circumscribed in his efforts
to sell the manufactured product under
false pretenses, and thereby the small
dealer in pure butter would have an
opportunity to get better price for his
product. The bill did not become a law,
but a similar bill will be introduced in
the next congress, and pressed for pas
sage. Senators and representatives are
receiving letters from farmers and
small dairymen urging the enactment
of such law; and something may rea-
sonably be expected from the next con-
gress.
OF course those farmers and small
| dairymen who have access to the large
markets need no protection of this ma
ture. Their pure butter commands a
good price, and there is great demand
for it. But the farmer who only has
butter for sale once month knows
nothing of the speculative character of
the market, or else his product is SO
small annually that he cannot afford
to reach out for the metropolitan mar
kets, and consequently he is brought
into ruinous competition with the man
ufacturers of the article which is pat
ented, and which is produced SO
cheaply.
The tax of two cents per pound would
necessarily require the retailer of cleo
margarine 20 raise the price of his
PAOdNSUB anu OiiebO pe'i y VI IiC Dili IhCSOo
with the objection that it compels poor
people to pay more for what they are
willing to buy and use instead of pure
butter. Of course it would raise rev.
enue for the government, but all of it
would come out of the pockets of the
poorer people. There is no objection,
however, to the requirement that small
packages shall be stamped and branded
SO that the purchasers may know ex-
actly what they are getting. Under
existing law, dealers can buy oleomar-
garine, properly branded, in ten-pound
packages, and retail pounds and half
pounds without informing customers
that 1t is not pure butter. The large
manufacturers of oleomargarine, how
ever, are likely to employ expert lob
byists to prevent the passage of the bill
if they can do so.
~ SMITH ID. Fry.