Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1903-03-04
The 0[[O SITUATION
While Number of Dealers Seems
Increased, Statistics Show
Decrease In Sales
FORCED TO SHOW TRUE coLoRs
Since the Law. Passed Against oleo
margarine, Manufacturers of the Ar.
ticIe Can No Longer Make it Look
Like Real Butter Without Violating
the Law-seekins New Scheme.

Washington. March A rather Curl
Gus state of affairs has developed in
the dairy states since the Oleomargarlne
law went into effect. In spite of the
fact that the sale of cleo, taking the
country as whole, decreased SO Id per
cent for the six lnontns ending last
Dec. 81, the first six months of the
operation of the new law, the number
OF dealers has radically increased. and
the average buttermaker, therefore, has
been Inclined to look askance at the
llaw, thinking that, after all, 1t has not
worked to his advantage. In certain
dairy districts. Il good n.;,ry OF them IN
the middle west and the northwest, TINS
feeling of dissatisfaction has become
lrather acute. for 1t is 'ifflcult to eX-
lplain away the evidence of the sense
OF sight. Under the old system no oieo
dealers, or a very few at most, We're
lin sight; under the new system these
dealers blossom forth at every cross
|roads, and at present in nearly all OF
luke cities and towns. and apparently
are doing good business. The eye Of
| the individual observer does not see
lheyond the local horizon. and when ne
lcontrasts the comparative immunity
| from this invasion, which he enjoyed
before the new legislation went into
effect, with the condition at present ne
lis inclined to think that he has been
handed a gold brick. This feeling is
intensified when, as Is usually the case,
he has had no word from the collector
of internal revenue regarding the sig
nificant falling off in the sale of bogus
butter.
Charles Y. knight. secretary of the
National Dairy Association. who had
much to do with the securing of tn
new legislation, passed thru Washing
ton a few days ago on his way to Eu-
rome, where he will speni two or three
months inspecting European dairy
methods for the purpose of finding out
if there is anything in them which
ought 10 be called to the attention of
dairymen in the Unitel States. He
was asked here about the situation out
lined in the foregoing paragraph. and
after admitting that it existed, he said:
II think that this feeling of suspicion
among the dairy people will entirely
disappear when they come to under
tand that there has actually been de-
crease of one third in the amount of
cleo manufactured since the new law
went into eeffct, and that decrease has
more than held its own during January,
and thus for in February. Under the
old system much oleo was sold in coun-
,f,.tr cty.iI. in,
the heart of the dairy country, for pure
butter, and there was no easy way of
detecting the fraud This bogus butter
dealer is a thing of the past, and when
cleo is sold at all, it is sold for what it
really is. 1t is advertised. storekeepers
who handle 1T put up signs announcing
that fact. and the business is carried on
openly and above board. There has been
an apparent increase in the number of
dealers, but in reality there has been a
heavy decrease, for the new law renders
substitution practically impossible.
Dealers who handle oleo have been
compelled to show themselves to the
public. and are now known. Previously
they masqueraded dealers in butter,
and on the surface were a part of the
dairy forces of the country; now they
stand on their own bottoms.
I'VE have number of interesting ex-
periences with local butter makers who
have insisted that the oleo business had
increased in their several localities as
the result of the new law. Much cor
respondence resulted, and ait times we
We're unable to convince them that they
We're in the wrong. The annual report
of the collector of internal revenue,
public since the first of the year was
needed to clinch our point and as that
report reaches the butter districts, the
complaints are less frequent"
Mr.. Knight calls attention to the
important fact that all oleo on the mar
ket now is either white, the natural
color. or very pale yellow. 1t is i'm
possible at present to give it q butter
yellow tinge without violating the law.
All discriminating buyers therefore,
will be able at a glance to determine
whether they are being imposed upon.
The manufacturers of cleo are spend
ing large sums experimenting with col
oring matter. They are anxious to
discover a vegetable coloring which will
enable them to make their product re-
semble butter and at the same time
keep within the law. Thus far, they
have not been successful, altho they
hope to succeed with palm oil as
base. But the best they 60 at pres
ent, as stated, is to give cleo a pale,
yellow tinge.
In the opinion of Mr.. Knight the
present law should be strengthened,
by the addition of a clause giving the
federal authorities the right to in
spect the manufacture of oleo, to this
end visiting the factories and ascertain
ing what ingredients are being used for
coloring purposes AT present no such
right is given them. ?They inspect the
product after manufacture, outside the
factory. An effort at securing this
additional legislation will be made,
probably, in the next congress. and, if
successful the possibility of fraud will
be permanently removed.
Since the passage of the new law the
price of butter has increased about
cents per pound, on the average.
Immediately following the enactment
there was big jump in price, due at
the time, it was generally understood,
to the legislation, and fears prevailed
that butter was to be much higher
in price for all future time. The sud-
den increase, however, it has been seen,
was due to failure of pastureage. The
butter makers will probably continue
to make an additional profit of about
15 per cent. but nothing beyond that,
according to Mr.. Knight