Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1902-02-14

against crimes or wrongs of more SER
ious character. and this protection may
be given without violating any right Sc
cured by the national constitution and
without infringing the right of the gem
eral government state enactment
forbidding the sale of deceitful imta-
tons of articles of food in general use
among the people does not abridge any
privilege secured to citizens of the United
States, nor in any just sense interfere
with the freedom of commerce among
| the several states
In the case of the Capital city Dairy
| COMPANY V. The State of Ohio, Justice
| White, who delivered the opinion of the
court, says:
"In the Plumley case, the power of
| the state, in legislating for the proven
ton of deception i'm the manufacture
| and sale of imitation butter, was held
| to extend to the prohibition of the sale
of oleomargarinc artihcially colored so
as to look like yellow butter, although
| brought into Massachusetts from an
| other state"
We can not overlook the principle de-
cided in the well-considered case of
1eisy V. Hardin Obs L. S, 1000. known
as the original package case, In which
it was held that intoxicating liquors
| shipped from the State of Illinois into
| the State of Iowa might be lawfully sold
| age in which it was exported or brought
| within the State. Notwithstanding the
| statute of Iowa forbidding the sale This
! Iowa statute was therefore held to he
! in derogation of the term commerce
among the States, and an unlawful in
reference with the right of interstate
| commerce.
1t is now claimed by the friends of
| oleomargarine that the Plumley case, or
| the decision i'm that case. so far as 1t
| related to the question of interstate com
MERGE was expressly oVerrulcd by the
! majority of the court in the more re-
| cent case of Schollcnberger V. Penn
| sylVania. In the opinion handed down
we find the following language with
reference to the Importation Of a pro-
| duct of another state into the State Of
| Pennsylvania:
I'VE hold that in the absence of Con-
| gressional permission to do so, the state
| had no power to interfere by seizure or
any action in prohibition of importation
| and sale by the foreign or nonresident i'm
| porter"
1t is i'm consequence of this apparent,
| though to my mind unreal, conflict in
| the decisions of our highest judicial
| tribunal that has led up to good deal
| of conflict of opinion with lawyers and
courts in the administration of our state
| oleomargarne laws.
|
down in the Iowa original package case
| the friends of prohibition came to Con-
| gress, and the result was the passage
| of the law known as the Wilson Act
| (26 Stat. L.. %lH. which provided that
| intoxicating liquors shipped from one
| state into another state should be sub
| icct to the laws of the latter State up
| on their arrival therein. whether in the
| original package or otherwise.
| And it is now that. by reason of this
| conflict of opinion among lawyers and
this apparent conflict of decisions 10y
| the courts and the difficulty eXperien-
| ced in enforcing the state laws i'm GER
| tain given cases especially in those cases
| where the principle OF Interstate com
merce is involved. that the friends of
| honest food-thosc who believe that
| the manufacture and sale of an imita-
| ton product or article Of food is cheat
| and a fraud and, in the language of
| Justice Harlan in the Plumely case lis
an offence against socictN'-haNe come
to Congress. and invoke its aid for the
| suppression of the article of food known
| as oleomargarinc. when Colored in such
| a manner that it looks like butter. and
| by that means deceive and cheat the
| general public into purchasing that
| which they may not intend to buy.
| And this is all the friends and support
| ers of the bill reported by the majority
|
| now ask
| Mr.. Chairman. | do not wish to bo
| misunderstood when | say that the
| friends and supporters of the bill re
| ported by the majority of the committee
| are not here opposing the manufacture
| and sale of oleOmargarine as such. From
| the evidence given before the committee
| concede its manufacture to be leg
| itimate industry, as the Congress. by its
| past legislation. has held the manufac-
| ture of whisky and lager beer to be a
| legitimate industry subject 10 its re-
| guation and taxing power. am ready
| to concede that il is hcalthful and nu-
trtious as is the oil Of the fish of the
olive, the fat of the beef, and all other
| oils and fats when properly prepared
| and made free Of all impurities and adj
| alterations The friends of this mca-
| sure have no purpose or desire to crush
out the oleomargarine industry wher
| prosecuted along legitimate lines.
The friends of the dairyng interests
| of the country and those engaged in thC
| manufacture and sale of butter mad,
from pure and unadulterated milk ol
cream have nothing to fear from the
production of oleomargarine when pu'
upon the market in its natural state
| 1t is the artificial coloration that is EiNel
to it that causes it to look like butter
and by means of which coloration the
manufacturers and dealers are enabled
to put it upon the market as butter, ant
do put it upon the market as butter; ad
Vertise and sell it for pure creamery
butter" pure dairy butter" pure grass
butter" and pure Elgin creamery" but
ter. as is shown by the Photographic re
production of a representative Chicago
retail oleOmargarne store which | hol,
in my hand. And what is true of this
store is also true of hundreds of other
in this country, especially in our large
cities. This is sold to the unsuspectini
purchaser at prices ranging from l
cents to - cents per pound as appeare'
| in evidence before your committee, tn
purchaser believing he was buying AM
receiving genuine butter made of pur
milk or cream, but instead thereof wa
paying, al a fabulous profit, for nothing
else but colored oleomargarine made t
resemble butter
Are not such operations fraudulent ant
an offense against society, to say nothing
of the injury it works to the produce
of honest butter? And will the repre-
sentatives of States which have, through
their legislatures, pronounced agains
oleomargarine colored in imitation q
butter refuse to stamp out this frauo
this deceit, and a lie, by emitting I
enact such Federal legislation as is al
solutely necessary to enable the State
to safeguard their citizens? The ma
jority bill will accomplish this result
the minority bill does not nor will no
TAT this point Mr.. Haskins explained tn
noSition Of II Adams pIre food CON