The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-03-24
A|NED At USEFUL ARTICLE
LENE OUT OF THE
STATE
NOT AN IMITATION OF LARD
Dairy and Food commissioners
Have Endorsed Cottolene in
Three Separate BIen-
Mai Reports.

There is now pending In the state SEN
ate. before the committee on public
health. dairy and food, a bill whose pur-
pose Is to prevent the manufacture and
sale of cottolene. 1t Is House Bill No.
4O2 and was introduced by Mr.. Bush and
passed the house without debate. the at
tention of the members not being called
to the merits of the measure In any way
whatever -
In 1893 the following amendment was
passed, excepting cottolene from the pen
alties, provided for the sale of imitation
lard by the law of 1891:
Provided. however. that the provisions
or this act shall not apply to cottolene
a compound consisting Of a mixture of
beef stearine and refined cotton seed oil,
where the fierce, barrel, tub. pail or
package containing the same shall be dis
tlnctly and legibly branded or labeled in
letters not less than one-half inch in
length. with the word "Cottolene" and
inc name and location Of the person or
firm manufacturing the same; and PRO-
Vided further, that said cottolene shall
not be manufactured in imitation Of lard
and shall not contain any substance dele
IsteriouS to health.
E The Bush,s bill, H. r. z02, seeks to re-
peal the amendment Of 1893 No expIana-
tion has yet been made why the law OF
1888 should be repealed. Cottolene has
been 1ndorsed by the dairy and food
commissioner in three separate biennial
reports. According to the fifth dS95)
Cottolene "has become recognized COM
modify on the markets Of our state In
the eyes Of the law and from our OBJ
servation seems to be growing In favor
The sixth biennial report, that Is the
year 1897, page II, the food commission
er says: ''Cottolene, lard substitute.
composed Of beef suet and cottonseHd
Oil, is by provision In our law exempt
a. ROY EI4
lard substitutes, in that it is not required
to be branded as a lard substitute but
may be sold under it's name, "Cottolene."
rms product has become very popular
as substitute and has q very large
sale"
Cottolene is again Endorsed by the food
department In the seventh biennial re-
port, issued in 1882
! 1t Is hard then to see why there should
| be any war at this time on this article of
FOOD and what good can be accomplished
| by the passage of this measure It is
not competitive product with lard, as
II commands a. price from to cents
| more than lard. There has never been
a case of fraud In either the manufac-
ture or sale of Cottolene, while the food
| department shows that more than 100
| samples of bogus lard have been anaIy-
| zed by the chemists In the past two or
.,
| which In shape and size are foreign to
| any package that lard has ever been
sold in by any packer. The pail has
straight sides instead of being tapered
! and the sizes are small, medium and
| large. Weighing respectively 2 lbs,
lbs. and 10 lbs The. regulation sizes of
| lard pals are 3 lbs, lbs and 10 lbs.
Lard is sold on a fierce basis and also
| by the pound, while Cottolene has
straight case Drice 81 his fa Tho
| Cottolene is delivered In two-case lots.
freight prepaid, at every railroad sta
ton. and is marketed as a. proprietary
article in every sense, of this word Hsxs
cry package Is plainly branded with the
word "Cottolenep and with the tradeE
mark and the description Of the con-
tents of the package on the back of the
pail In the reading matter, under the
head Of Directions" -
If the object of the Bush bill "a to
compel the manufacturers to comply
| with the law Of 1891 and brand Cotto-
lene as 'adulterated lard" then its pass
| age Will simply result in driving Cot
| tolene from the state, as It is a proprie9
| tary article and sold on It's own descrIpE
! tive trade mark. Thousands of dollars
| are annually spent with the press adyer-
| Using Its merits. If 1t was a fraudulent
/ article 1t would not seek such publicity
The statesman who banishes legitimate
| product Of food from the state will not
| increase his popularity with the reopIe
ne represents or the press in general