People's voice., 1900-10-04

tainly no one has a particle of objec-
tion to the manufacture and sale OF
oleomargarine as such. But let il
stand or fall on its own merits. When
we eat at restaurant or hotel in a
large city we nearly always have, or
think we have, oleomargarine passed
as butter, and in fact we had rather
have it white and know what we are
fed on than to constantly harbor the
suspicion, and there are others.
But Mr.. Long, the champion Of
good trusts, and the enemy Of trades
and labor unions, thinks that the in.
terests of the oleomargarine manu-
facturers deserve more consideration
at his hands than does the butter
maker. He boldly declares that he
shall favor counterfeit as against a
genuine article; thing Stunned and
tabooed by respectable society, wear
ing the mask of purity and innocence
cheat and fraud standing up in the
market places and crowding out hon,
est goods; cheap shoddy palmed of
as honest wool. Mr.. Long is a protec'
zionist. He believes in protecting
oleomargarine manufacturers at the
expense Of the butter maker.
OF course there is the packing house
side to this question, and that is the
side represented by the congressman
He sets up the plea that the cattle
raisers get 81 more per head for theil
fat steers than they would if they
were not permitted 10 color the oleo-
margarine, and cites the price Of olic
oil as proof of the assertion. He
might as well cite the price of shoes
to prove what the farmer and cattle
man receives for hides, or the price oi
iron ore and coal at the mines to de.
termine what the trust shall choose tc
demand for barbwire There is not a
stockman in the district silly enough
to suppose that he receives 10 cents a
pound for the caul fat in the steer any
more than he gets the market price
for the glue in the hoofs. Cattle were
just as high before the packers com.
menced to manufacture oleomarga.
rine as they have been since. The
fact is the packers pay no more for
cattle than they can tempt people to
raise them for. They know within a
few hundred head just how many cat
tie there are in each state and terrific.
ry. They know how many will be on
the market, and they know how much
beef they will need to supply the de.
mand. With these facts before them
they are enabled to fix a range OF
prices. We don't believe that the val.
ue of the bi-products cuts much of a
figure in fixing the price of cattle.
Beef is the thing Of value. and not gut
fat. II you doubt it watch the mar
ket and see the difference in the price
per pound of the shorthorn which pro-
duces porter house steaks and the
scrub which produces oleo oil and 9th.
er bi-products, and but little oeef.
Another defense Mr.. Long makes in
behalf Of the manufacturers Of colored
oleomargarine is that the creameries
and some dairies color their product.
and that the oleomargarine manufac-
turers should not be deprived of the
same privilege. In this Mr.. Long begs
the question. Are not the butter makers
who are trying to deceive the public c
with their product, but the oleomar-
garine manufacturer when he colors
his compound of tallow and lard to
represent butter. Butter naturally
varies in color with the feed and breed
of the cows The butter maker uses a