The San Francisco call., 1897-03-07
THE WAR UPON
IMPURE FOOD
Associated Industries De-
eide Upon a Course
of Action.
Determined to Put a Stop to
the Sac of Adulterated
Predicts.
Will Find H W Far the Law Can Be-
Employed to Accomplish the
Desired Resu IS.

A meeting OF the Council OF Associated
Industries was held yesterday, at which
Julian Sonntag presided. The bodies rep-
resented were the State Board of Horticul-
ture, E. F. Adams and B. w. Rawley !;
State Board of Trade, J. S. Emery and ].
A. Filcher; Mechanics Institute, e. A.
Denicke; San Francisco Fruit Exchange.
Isidor Jacobs; Chamber of Commerce,
Charles r. Allen and l.. +. Latresto; ;
Manufacturers and Producers Associa-
ton, ]. w. Kerr, M. ]. Keller and Oscar
Lewis.
The latter, who is a member OF the pure
food committee, stated that he had met
District Attorney w. s. Barnes relative to
prosecuting those who are dealing in adul-
terated food products. Mr.. Barnes letter
upon the subject was read. In this he
stated that if every wholesale and retail
dealer in San Francisco who carries or
handles adulterateu food prod ucts should
be arrested, hundreds of respectable mer-
chants would be put to this disgrace and
the courts would be clogged for a long time
to come.
Mr.. Barnes advise was that the COM
mittee should select one strong case and
that the offender s..uuld be prosecuted
through all of the courts, for such a case
would surely be appealed. In this way all
of the legal technicalities could be brought
out and argued and the prosecution could
at last secure final and adequate decision
by court of com petent jurisdiction that
would show the scope and effect of the
act and the powers OF the prosecu ton.
MIR. Barnes also suggested that retail
grocer should be selected and arrested for
oil oir Ia nj oil non n
con fusion he said:
easiest way always being the BEST the ipure-
food committee will, in my judgment attain
the best results with the least cost and the
smallest amount of individual hardship by
proceeding upon the lines that have Indi-
Gated; especially, as l understand, that the
object of this movement is not so much to
pul ish dealers who may, innocently, have
sold or handled az liberated food products as
1t is to stop this traffic, drive bad goods out OF
our home market and protect the people from
the results of their own Ignorance of the sani-
tary conditions of the iood they take
J. A. Flcher said that it would be we'll
to proceed upon the lines suggested by
the District Attorney.
Isidor Jacobs was of the opinion that
an aggressive campaign against all who
violate the law would be productive of
the best results. He stated that the
efforts of the Board of Health in causing
many arrests have already caused several
of the local manufacturers of adulterated
food products to 20 out of that line of
business.
r. Allen and J. w. Kerr suggested
that many innocent retail dealers would
be made to suffer by pursuing severe
couse.
E. F. Adams spoke in favor OF making
test case.
Mr.. Kerr stated that the Council has
- xviA nnn - To hat
only pure goods are sold, and the other is
to preserve the reputation OF California
goods. Many an Eastern firm is putting
up adulterated goods and marking the
packages with California stamps. This
does California industries great I'M US
tice.
B. N. Rowley stated that the wholesale
dealers do not desire to handle impure
goods but are compelled to do so by the
demand for cheap articles. Wholesale
dealers will gladly cooperate with the
Board of Health in suppressing the sale
of adulterated and injurious foods.
After much discussion and several
amendments the council adopted the fol-
lowing resolutions, presented by q. F.
Adams, as the policy upon which the
council will operate hereafter:
WHEREAS, 1t is well known that there is an
extensive trade in imported adulterated food
products which has grown up from desire to
supply cheap goods to those demanding them;
and whereas, it is of the utmost Importance
that the community should be protected from
the use of adulterated food products deleteri-
Gus to the public health, q duty which espe-
cially devolves upon the Board of Health and,
whereas, it is OF equal Importance to the pro-
ducors and manufacturers of this State that
California should become known to the world
as State where it is not possible to buy adul-
terated food products, whether de]eterious to
health or not, except as the adultera tion may
be stated therefore,
Resolped That it shall be announced that II
is the policy of this council, by which we will
abide in the future, that will oppose by
all lawful means in our power the selling Of
any adulterated food products whatever
whether deleterious to health or not, except
under a name which shall disclose its true
composition. That to this end we will aid in
the prosecution Of any party or parties under
arrest for the violation of any pure food or
health law, whether resulting in any injury
to the public health or not. That we affirm
as the principle by which we will be guided in
causing prosecutions that the consumer has
the right TO receive that product which he
orders and pays for, and that the person who
sells it should be held responsible for that de-
livery, and that therefore we will, as represent
Ing consumers, direct our attacks to the re-
tailers who supply them and to leave to them
the duty of prosecuting the jobbers and man
ufacturers from whom they may purchase
such goods.
The council decided to CO. operate with
the Manufacturers and Producers Asso-
citation in holding State pure-food con-
gress in the near future. the object of
which is 10 make arrangements ali over
the State for enforcing the laws reIa-
tive TO aduiteraied foods. The date for
holding the congress is OF vet set It
also decided TO inhoyse the legislative bill
to appropriate $1,000 TO defray the expenses
of forwarding and installing fine exhibit
OF California products at the Hamburg
Exposition.
Pure Food Crusade.
The cases of Henry Rathjen William