The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1897-11-21
Our ButIer-EngIish Prejudice.

To protect native pride and preJudice a
few years ago a. Law was passed by the
British parliament known as The .-mer-
ehardsse market act Il provides that
every foreign article exposed for sale shall
bear label or some other marx 70 in
diccte IT. origin. ana therefore when you
90 into shop you see boxes and the wrap
pers Of packages marked. Made In Ger
many" Made in France" etc. Al the tine
the act was passed there was so much
discussion on this subject that topical
songs were sung at the thea,ers AID
play was produced entitled Made In Ger
man" Inspectors who are experts in their
Enes, are employed TO see that the law =
enforced. and the newspapers nearly ev-
cry DAY contain reports Of proceedings
In the police courts against merchants who
have ''unlawfully applied false trade de-
scription TO certain good
This law applies TO American beef. NUT
ton, pork. butter and every othe< form
Of product but, Notwithstanding the Wig
lance Of The authorities and the enormous
imports OF food from this country, II Is
almost impossible to find pound OF Amer
lean beef or butter IN a British butcher
shop. While W. E. Curtis, OF Chicago.
was In England last summer. he says he
made L particular practice whenever ne
passed butcher shop 10 inquire for Amer
lean beef. Nine times out OF ten the
butcher told me that he never handled
IT. when I have no doubt every carcess
thai hung from his hooks had crossed the
Atlantic. Occasionally L ran across an
honest and a candid man, who would ex-
plain that he never inquired where has beef
came FROM He bought II OF the wholesale
dealers at so much a pound. and no ques-
tons asked He presumed it was British
he L. =
eft Of the doubt, ard sold it as such. He
was seldom questioned by his customers,
bu, when he was he admitted frankly that
he told them he handled nothing bu;
Scotch or English prime"
The wholesale dealers know. OF course
but the retailers never ask any questions.
DR.. ". II. Wray. the very efficient inspec-
tor OF the agricultural department in Lon
don, 20 whose vigilance much of the profit
of our trade in fod products is due. told
me that he had placed with the army and
navy cooperative stores one OF the eXpe-
rimental invoices OF butter which Secretary
Wilson has been shipping TO England by
almost every steamer of the American line
since last spring. l happened 10 be passing
that great establishment the next day. |
dropped into the grocery department and
asked for a pound OF American butter
Ht NAct Aothtu dS dS Il AtEt a
luDatic. and there was a sheer upon his
lips when he told me that they never kept
such a thing; l told him that 1 happened
10 know that l,20 pounds of American
butter had been delivered at that estab-
ishment on the previous day. and II I
had not ali been sold / should like a pound
of it. The clerk left the counter ana he'll
brief conversation with a gentleman VINO
turned out 10 oe the superintendent OF that
branch OF tae establishment The latter
came over and explained TO me very polite
~ that | evidently had been mistaken. for
they never handled foreign goods. Never
tholess, DIR. Wray subsequently received a
report upon that very invoice OF butter.
which showed that it had been acceptable
10 the customers: that no complaint had
been made of its quality or condition. II
is possible that the superintendent OF the
department and II 5 probable that the
clerk were not aware of the transaction.
and that they were honest in making their
eXpiana tons"