Evening star., 1897-01-14
URE FOOD EST S
Secretary Morton Whites to the Senate Dis
trict Committee.
He Thinks the District Com mi mixsiOn-
ers Should Establish the stand
ards to Be Followed.

Secretary Morton of the Department of
Agriculture has written to Mr.. Mcmillan.
chairman of the Senate committee on the
District of Columbia, I'm reference to Senate
bill BASS, relative to the adulteration of
food and drugs in the District of Columbia.
Mr.. Morton says he takes liberty TO submit
few comments on certain portions of this
bill which. 1t seems to him. would he bene-
fitted by further consideration.
In the definition of aduiteration of drugs,
he says, II should be stated that only in
cases in which they profess to be in har-
mcny with the United States pharma-
copoeia should they comply with its re-
Quiremerts is. He says 1t would probably be
very difficult to pass any bill with the pro-
vision relatiag to patent medicines as pro-
vtded in the measure under consideration
on account of the active opposition of man.
ufacturers and dealers in patent medicines
to such provision. He says the whole
bill would probably be defeated with this
clause left In.
Mr.. Morton says 1t seems to him 1t would
be far better instead of trying to define
standards by statute, to simply state that
all the articles of food should conform 10
standards to be established by the Com
missioners of the District of Columbia and
to be approved by the Secretary of Agri-
culture. The legal fixing of standards, ne
says. is attended with many difficulties,
and is not a proper subject of legislation
In case these standards are fixed, how
ever by Congress the description of one
for cream should be inserted. There is
probably more fraud practiced In the Dis
trict of Columbia he says In the selling OF
cream than in any one article.
If the standards to be used ir the bill are
TO be retained, that for cream, he says,
should certainly be inserted. and the butter
fat therein should not be less than - per
cent. He says the whole description of
-four m the bill is of such nature as to
cause all samples of buckN heat. rye flour,
Indian corn flour and rice flour to be re-
garded as adulterated. He says no attempt
should be made in describing -four to fix
the limit of protein matters as the cereal
from which the -four is made may contain
from to IL per cent of such material
He says the provision that the analysis
should be done in the presence of the owner
or his agent Is wholly unnecessary, mas
much as the presence of strangers in
laboratory where analysis is going On can
only impede the work, End such persoas
not being professionals can have no idea
of the processes which are used. 1t is pre-
sur.ed, Mr.. Morton says, that the District
Commissioners will have their analyses
made by competent experts and need not
be watched by persons Who are utterly
ignorant of what they are doing.
Mr. Morton says that the provision found
in line 90 of the bill will tend to invalidate
the efficiency Of the law. 1t is not suffi
cient, he says. that the seller make known
orally to the purchaser the character of
the goods. The character of the goods
sold should appear plainly written or print
ed upon the package, otherwise there would
be endless confusion between what the pur-
chaser said was said and what the seller
said was said in all such cases. Mr.. Nor
ton concludes that the whole bill appears
to be rather loosely drawn and without an
adequate conception of the purpose for
which such bill should be enacted He
says the provision which repeals all other
laws on the same subject might aft .ct very
seriously the standing of the oleomarsarine
and the filled cheese acts, especially in
regard to color. when II is considered that
under the present bill the coloring of but
ter Is rot permitted.