Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-12-15
AS In line Y with making the needed

speech
trusts. Mr.. Parsons Of st. Louis spoke es
pecially Of the combination increasing the
price of nails And slid that this and SINH
lar aggregatiops resulted in the robbery
OF the people land as consequence pub,
lie attention was being called more and
more to this subject. He spoke of the de.
partment stores which, he said. were now
doing all sorts of business, and the ten
deney. he said. wasito drive out the, small
dealers. He did not know that there was
any remedy flor the latter. but where
trusts received a charter from the pub
lie their control and regulation was
proper.
The resolution was referred to a spe-
cial committee, with instructions to re-
port at the session tomorrow. The COM
mittee is composed of Messrs. Parsons,
Lawrence Haipin, G. w. Smith and Wheel
right.
Mixed Flour.
A resolution urging legislation to impose
tax upon and to regulate the manufac-
ture, sale, importation and expectation of
mixed flour, presented by the Chicago
board of trade, was taken up
During the discussion Mr.. Eckert of Chi
cago said that this proposed legislation fol-
lowed that of the oleomargarine law, and
that it was the only way to accomplish the
desired result. He said that an adultera-
ton of 10 or 12 per cent could not be de-
was effected by mixing corn flour with
wheat flour.
-Ex-Gov Stannard of st. Louis said that
this method of adulteration of wheat flour
with corn meal would either drive the
makers of flour out of the business or into
this nefarious business.
Mr.. William Waterfall of Philadelphia
said that he was interested In the manu-
facture of paint, and if the proposed pro-
lection was given to the flour grinders he
would want protection for the paint BUS
mess, as there was little mixing In that
He thought that the proposed measure
smaeked of paternaHsm. and ne did not
believe that such a body as the national
board OF trade or Congress had anything
to do with such matters.
Mr.. G. Waldo Smith of New York said
that the adulteration of -four ought to be
prohibited by law. as it was criminal. But
he did not think Congress ought to pass
tax as proposed. For this reason he did
not believe in the oleomarsarine law, al
thought that law was an advantage to him
in his business. He believed in making 1t
criminal to ,adul.erate any article of food.
He denounced legislation of the character
indicated by the proposed bill. and said
that large percentage had been declared
illegal by the courts, and the rest no doubt
would have met a similar fate if they had
been brought to the attention Of the courts.
A better way. in the opinion OF Mr..
Hitchcock of Philadelphia, was that which
was followed in Pennsylvania, where men
detected in adulterating food were brought
up and fined. In other words, the state
regulated the entire matter.
A motion to refer the subject to COM
mittee to report hereafter was adopted,
a rising vote being necessary to determine
the VIII of the meeting. The vote was 30
to %.
The Waterways.
A report on the internal waterways was
presented by Mr.. Vance of Cincinnati on
behalf Of a committee to which this SUBJ
ject had been referred.
What the Bill Provides.
The proposed bill provides among other
things that tax OF $500 shall be imposed
on the manufacturers Of mixed fiours, and
that such flour shall be plainly marked
mixed -four" n
During the discussion the question was
raised whether the proposed law would be
constitutional, and Mr.. Eckert of Chicago
said that in drafting the bill the oleo-
margarine lawIhad been closely followed
1t was suggested by MIR. Lawrence of Pitts
burg that the proper method to prevent
such adulteration was through legal ac-
ton for fraud wherever purchaser found
that the article he had bought was not
what he supposed it to be- The consumer
by education could SO. learn to detect such
frauds. He believed ip the simplest method
and he thought the proposed law was I'M
American in so far as 1t was an effort to
do for themselves. RI -
Ex-Gov.' StaDard pointed out that the
board was not asked to, approve. any
specific measure, but simply the principle
that Congress impose a tax on the manu-
facture. sale Importation and expectation
of mixed flour. -
The report recommended that the action
of the last CoHgress in recognizing the
principle of contracts for continuing i'm
provements as may have received the rec
concentration Of the Secretary of War, and
the appreciation of Congress, be approved,
and that the present Congress be asked to
carry forward the wise methods fnaugu-
rated by the last Congress; that the action
of last Congress in freeing commerce on
the Monongahela from tolls be commended
and that Congress be asked to provide for
deepening the Mississippi river, so as to
maintain a depth of six feet from the
mouth at Cairo; that an appropriation be
made for the completion of the survey of
the Ohio river to its mouth at Cairo with
the construction Of locks and dams; for the
deepening of the channel of the MssiS-
sippi to depth of six feet from the mouth
of the Missouri river southwark: to con-
tinue the construction of the jetties in the
south pass after the expiration of the
Eads contract, two years hence, until,
depth of thrty-two feet is secured In the
channel; also to improve the jetty system
in the southwest pass in the gulf, and to
irdorse the action of the last Congress in
inaugurating the continuous contract sys-
tenn.
question was raised as to why the i'm
provement of the great lakes was not in
Guided in the report and 1t was stated that
no recommendations had been made on the
subject
The report was then adopted.
A report from the special committee on
postal matters was made. which recon-
mended the adoption Of one-cent postage,
as urged in the report presented earlier n
the session. A recess was then taken for
lunch.
Reform in the Consular Service.
At the afternoon session yesterday one of
the most important reports presented and
adopted was that of Jonathan A. Lane of
Boston on the reform of the consular SER
vice. The report advocated the extension
of the civil service rules to cover the con-
sular service to the end of securing prac-
teal business men in the service, rather
than purely political appointees. Another
important recommendation was that here
after importers be compelled to attest
their invoice tefore magistrate of the
country from which the goods are shipped
in addition to their oath before the United
States consul. In this connection 1t Is al
legged that several million dollars are lost
to the government annually by undervalu-
alton in goods paying an ad valorem duty,
the oath before q United States consul NOT