New-York tribune., 1902-12-22
pvRE FOOD LEGISLATION.

Tho preat merit Of a national law relative to
nure food and drugs, such as has just passed
| tho House is that it insures uniformity Of prac-
tice all over the country. Nearly every State
| in the Union has some sort Of statute on this
| subject already. But these differ much. both
in their terms and in the vigor with which they
are enforced Authorizations and limitations are
tolerated in one place which are forbidden in
another Manufacturers If pressed too closely
| by the law, will migrate to locality in which
they can enjoy immunity, such change of base
sometimes taking them only short distance
| The beauty of federal enactment is that 1t
renders such tactics useless, unless the offender
| removes altogether from the United States 1t
| certainly ought to be more effective than State
| legislation.
Possibly the founders Of the republic believed
that the States alone should regulate such mat
ters as sanitation and quarantine. Theoret-
icalIy, at least it may seem like departure
from the spirit of the constitutional provision
relative to commerce to prescribe the charac-
ter of any commodity in which people deal
However. Congress has the undoubted power,
technically to regulate commerce between
States, and the law in question has been Worded
so as 10 take advantage Of that provision. 1t
prohibits the transportation of certain articles
from one State to another. Until the Supreme
Court detects some flaw In the enactment there
is no occasion for worry this score. The
desirability of a measure of the kind being
obvious. it is gratifying to know that consttu-
tional sanction could he found for it.
The aim of the national law is twofold. 1t
seeks to prohibit the sale Of food in which there
are distinctly pernicious substances like clay
in candy poisonous preservat1yes In frult,
meat and vegetables. 1t also undertakes to
check substitution and imitation, even where
the article offered for sale is harmless. Under
this prohibition It will not he lawful 10 sell
cornmeal for mustard grated turnip for horse
radish, cottonseed oil for olive oil, or oleo-
margarine for butter without so labelling the
merchandise that the buyer cannot be deceived.
Domestic wines or fish must not be so marked
as to suggest that they have been imported.
The first of these provisiops-that which tends
to protect health-is of much greater fmpor-
tance than the endeavor to inform purchaser
as 10 the exact nature of what he gets. Both
requirements though, sadly needed.
The value of pure food legislation depends
mainly of course upon the energy and vigil
ance with which prosecutions under 1t are
pushed. These are Of more account than the
nature of the penalty which in this case is
confscation of goods stopped in transportation
or the precise limits Of the prohibition. There
are still a number Of minor questions, as 10 the
harmlessness of certain preservatives, on which
equally expert chemists disagree. These, too
are subordinate considerations. The law which
the House has Just sanctioned creates n COM
mission whose judgment such points shall
be final. It will then remain to be seen how
promptly and forcibly the main provisions of
the law are carried into effect. Only few
conspicuous examples will be needed to show
packers and manufacturers what they may ex-
pect- DR.. II. ". Wiley, chief chemist OF the
Department of Agriculture, and other experts
who have studied this bill with care. express
confidence in its virtues May their faith be
fully justified!