The record-union., 1897-04-07
A PURE FOOD CONGRESS CALLED.

A call has been issued for pure
food congress to be held in San Fran
cisco on the Both inst. 1t is announced
that the movement has been in con-,
temptation for more than a year by
the Manufacturers and Producers As
ISOLATION. The action of the San Fran
cisco Board of Health against dealers
in adulterated food has ripened the
subject and made the time opportune
for the general consultation which is
to be held under the call issued by a
committee Of the Manufacturers and
Producers Association and Council Of
Associated Industries, the latter en-
i. bracing eleven commercial and indus
trial organizations.
The committee, consisting of j. A.
Filcher and j. w. Kerr and A. Sbar-
boro, sets forth that investigation thus
far made is surprising in its disclosure
of the extent to which impure food is
thrown upon the California market
from the East. The campaign against
impure food in San Francisco is having
the effect, we are assured, of driving
the rejected goods back into the inte
rior of the State for disposal and hence
it has been deemed necessary to make
the movement against impure food as
broad as is the State. 1t is proposed to
ask the Governor to name fifty dele
gates at large, the Supervisors of each
county ten delegates and the Mayors of
cities to appoint delegates in proper
ton to population, and Boards of Trade
and similar organizations to send dele
gates also.
The committee says it is DESTROYS Of
making this convention the most note
worthy and one of the largest ever held
in the State, in order to give notice to
dealers in adulterated food, initiated
and spurious food articles that they
cannot ply their vocation with safety
to their peace and profit to their purse
within the confines of California
We cannot see that any harm will
come of such a convocation as is pro-
posed, and therefore trust that the
Board of Supervisors at their session
this week will name the delegates
called for. We can understand how a
great deal of good may come out Of the
consultation. Indeed. the more non-po-
Htical gatherings there are held in the
interests of all the people. and that will
bring the citizens of the State together
to counsel with each other concerning
the welfare of the State and its inhab-
itants the better for us all. Such con-
vacations tend to make us better ac-
quainted with each other, with the
needs of the several sections and the
best methods of conserving remedies
and betterments. In this case the prop
osition reaches to the health and the
very life of the people.
The Federal reports of scientific ex-
aminations into the adulteration and
imitation of food prepared for sale
such Investigations being made under
an Act of Congress-reveal a percent
age of adulteration and imitation that
is indeed startling. These official inves-
LEGATIONS are still going on, and more
and more disclose the dangerous char
acter and the alarming growth of
these frauds.
When there is a public evil of this
character to be combatted ii must be
done Systematically and with union of
purpose and effort. 1t cannot be safely
left to a few communities to act indie
pendently. II the laws of this State.
and they are ample and stringent. are
to be enforced against those who. to
coin money, poison our food and cheat
us by the delivery of spurious food ar
ticles when we pay for pure goods. they
must be applied in all sections alike.
We assume it to be true as the COM
mittee asserts, that the warfare against
impure food sales in San Francisco is
driving the bad goods into the inte-
rior towns and cities for disposal. That
fact is sufficient in itself to justify the
call for the convention. There are
some things to be done and to be
guarded against when the convention