The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-02-06

To the Editor Of the indianapolis Journal:
l notice in the papers extracts of a bill
introduced in the Legislature by Mr.. May,
supposed to be in the interest Of pure-food
legislation. 1t is a bill that has been pre-
scented in nearly all the Eastern States, but
never became a law and never should, and
its introduction only shows the absurd ideas
on pure foods or the nature of laws wisely
constructed for that interest. One of the most
harmful features of the bill, and one that
strikes at one of the important industries
of the StatA is that portion requiring can
ners of fruits and vegetables to have print
ed on the label the year in which the goods
were packed, as the introducer of the bill
says, so that his constituency can have pure
and fresh food. Any one knowing anything
about canned goods knows that goods prop
erly put up and in proper packages are just
as fresh and just as good five years after
being canned as they are in five weeks.
What the dating of the label has to do with
the purity of the goods is a question the
Gamers would like for the intrOducer Of the
bill to answer. Professor Greedy, after car
rying canned fruits and vegetables Tor three
years on his Arctic expedition, testihes that
after passing through a temperature OF -
degrees below zero and thawing out each
summer they were as fresh and good at the
end Of the voyage as at the first. General
Wolseley. in his expedition in the Nile coul-
try, ~testifes that in that hot region, subject
to the most intense tropical heat, canned
goods were fresh and good. A friend once
told me hat III going over an old bankrupt
stock in Baltimore he found some canned
vegetables and fruits that. as near as he
could judge (knowing the stock) had been
canned twelve years, and were as good as
when first put up Yet we are told that,
to save our constituency" from stale and
impure food, all Gamers must date their Ia
bells. Taking the value of such legislation
as being in the interest OF pure or fresh
food strikes me as not only most absurd,
but vicious. and that the dear constituent
cy' is more in danger OF impure leglsIa-
ton than impure food. A law that re-
quired every packer to put his name and
place of packing upon his label would have
some remedial features, but to date the
label only brings a burden and loss upon
one of the leading industries of the State,
while it remedies no evil. Every packer mas
TO anticipate his label allowance. and IN
case Of a failure of crops he finds himself
loaded up with dated labels, which viii be
q total loss, and from year to year they VIII
cumulate until he finds thousands Of dol
lars in dead material. Then, again, the fact
of such legislation taboos all p~ast-date goods
should the packer or merchant CAS- they al
ways do) have goods that they nave carried
over. as he win find himself forced to stand
a loss. as the trade always axe advantage
of such things to benefit or influence thelr
purchase. For the interest Of one of the
leading Industries Of the state this bill, on
the dating feature, should be stricken out.
To pass IL would work hardship on the can
ming industry. Merchants OF ADJOINING
States would shun our goods, ana our own
merchants would purchase from packers IL