The Indianapolis journal., 1903-04-28
PURE-FOoD LEGISLATION.

The baking powder scandal in missouri
has shown how the Legislature of State
may be corrupted and the State itself dis
graced by the manufacturers of an impure
article of food. The incident emphasizes
the necessity of legislation on the subject.
Every State should have a pure food law,
and these should be supplemented by ma
tional law, under the interstate-commerce
clause of the Constitution. prohibiting the
shipment of adulterated foods from one
State to another. Congress has already
taken an important step by legislating
against the Importation of aduterated
foods from other countries. The Agricul-
tural appropriation bill passed last winter
contains the following provision:
The Secretary of Agriculture, whenever
he has reason to believe that articles are
being imported from foreign countries,
dangerous to the health of the people of
the United States or which are forbidden
to be sold or restricted In sale In the coun-
tries in which they are made, or from
which they are exported, or which shall be
falsely labeled in any respect i'm regard to
the place of manufacture the contents
of package, shall make request upon the
Secretary of the Treasury for samples from
original packages of such articles for anal
ysis and inspection, and the Secretary Oh
the Treasury Is hereby authorized to open
mems to the Secretary of Agriculture for
the purpose mentioned, giving notice to the
owner consignee of such articles, who
may be present and have the right to in
troduce testimony, and the Secretary of the
Treasury shall refuse delivery to the con-
signee of any such goods which the Secre-
tary of Agriculture reports to him have
been inspected and analyzed and found to
be dangerous to health, or which are for
hidden to be sold or restricted in sale in
the countries In which they are made or
shall be falsely labeled in any respect In
regard to the place Of manufacture or the
contents of the package.
Careful reading of this section will show
that 1t gives the government power to pro-
tect the people against imitation or adulter-
ated foods imported from abroad. and also
to retaliate in kind against foreign govern
ments which impose restrictive measures
of inspection or analysis upon American
goods. This is the first law Of the kind
enacted by Congress, and it is a very COM
prehensive one, applying to wines and liq-
uors of all kinds as well as to foods. Pre-
liminary to the enforcement Of the law the
Secretary of Agriculture has appointed a
committee consisting of the following chem
ical experts: DR.. William Freer, of the
State Agricultural College, of Pennsyl-
vania; DIR. e. H. Jenkins, of the Agricul-
tural Experiment Station, Of Connecticut;
Prof. H. A. Weaver. of the Uni
versity of Ohio; Prof. NJ. a. Sco-
veil, director of the Agricultural Ex-
pertinent Stations of Kentucky, and
DR.. Harvey w. Wiley, chief chemist
of the Agricultural Department. This COM
mittee will meet In Washington, May 10,
to formulate rules and agree on a method
of proceeding. Under the broad terms Of
the section above quoted, any article of
foreign manufacture, in the way of food or
drink, which has come under the ban of
the law In the country where 1t is made or
which is declared injurious by the national
health board above named. may be conhs-
Gated by the government and its further
importation prohibited. The law also gives
the national board authority to establish
a standard of purity for articles of domes-
tic manufacture, and to decide whether
they are fI to be exported or not This is
the most important step yet taken toward
a national pure food law An unfavorable
report by the national board on any article
ing powder, for instance, would kill it.