New-York tribune., 1903-07-06
FOREIGN FOODS.
recent Legislative Safeguards
4goinst Their Adulterdtion.
frRoM TIE TRIBUNE BUREAU. !

ir1rT anQ nllSDIdLQeu AoOus lS 1OUnO IN
earss of opinions which Attorney General
Lr,ox has just transmitted 10 Secretary Wilson
- Attorney General was asked TO construe
,ovrs one is a paragraph contained in the
,..,,,+,,ra1 Appropriation bill for the current
r,hicb gives the department authority TO
as~ate any food products imported into this
- from foreign country should they be
r,s roisbrandec or not in conformity with
- laws of the country from which they were
t.-sd The other law which was submitted
re Attorney General in this connection was
- sherman act Of last year. which provides
.-,a-e nenalty against falsely labelling to
.,scs anv dairy or food products sold in this
country.
:, the first place. Secretary Wilson wanted
% know his exact jurisdiction over foreign
food rroducts particularly whether there was
nav nv which the department could keep
,,s control over such products if an attempt
ebouI5 be made TO make importations in bulk
- certain foods or drinks with the intention
- mixing. adulterating or misbrandng them for
,te market after they had arrived in this
-o,,-trv The Attorney General. although in
-1fra5 n make a liberal Interpretation Of the
lay 5rst mentioned saw authority under it
for jurisdiction over shipments Of food or drink
PRODUCTS after they had left the custom
houses Of this country.
r is al this point that the Attorney General
brings in the Sherman law with telling effect.
The provisions Of this law are that person
eban introduce into any State or Territory Of
the United States, from any other State or Ter
ritorv. or sell any dairy or food products which
shall be falsely Labelled or branded as to the
state or Territory in which they were made
produced or grown. There is minimum pen
altv Of $500 fire and a maximum of $1,000 for
aro1
discusses this law in detail. 1t is important to
notice he says that the prohibition extends to
falsely labelled articles introduced or brought
from another State or Territory, and is not
confined TO articles which are the product of
some other State or Territory of the United
states He says il makes no difference whether
such articles are of domestic or foreign origin;
the law clearly forbids their introduction from
one State or Territory to another State or Terri
tory if they are falsely labelled or branded as
10 the place Of origin.
Attention is called by the Attorney General
hat there may be one instance where products
may be misbranded as TO place without COM
ing within the scope Of the law. An illustration
would be the putting UP Of French product
in France and labelling il a German product
importing il into New-York and then introduc-
ing il into New-Jersey. There would be nothing
N Lne sherman law TO lOuCR illS case, lOI tue
Attorney General holds that jurisdiction under
II does not cover false branding as to two for
eiga countries On the other a~a,. he says,
If foreign articles imported into New-York are
introduced into another State or Territory with
a label or brand showing them TO be of New
York origin. such articles would be falsely
labelled OF branded. Also if an article were put
up IN Newly and labelled as the product of
foreign country ana sold in another State,
the offence would clearly come within the Sher-
man law L must be necessary in all of these
cases that the article in question should be-
come the subject Of interstate trade, as Con-
gress has 10 Jurisdiction unless the article
pssses from ore State to another.
In summing UP on this point the Attorney
General concludes that statutes should be con
strEed in aid Of their manifest purpose and OBJ
]ect, that when il is considered that the sole
purpose Of this act is 10 prevent the of false
labels or brands Of dairy or food products, when
articles Of interstate commerce. it is manifest
that construction which would limit the pro-
hibiron 10 domestic articles would defeat rather
than aid the purpose Of the act
Indeed the Attorney General concludes
the greater and more prevalent evil, in this
respect. is not in falsely stating q particular
State or Territory as the origin of domestic
article bur is the labelling OF a foreign article
as the product Of some particular State or Terri
tory, or vice versa. This is the more serious
and prevalent evil. and in my opinion is as GER
tainly forbidden by the act referred to as is the
labelling Of an article Of one State or Territory
as being the product Of another. I am there
fore Of The opinion that the act of July / 1902
applies not only 10 domestic articles, but also
10 those imported from foreign countries which
are labelled as being of domestic origin
With this interpretato:. the department feels
that lis hands have been materially strength
ened in carrying out the authority granted over
foreign food products. This law went into effect
July J. While II is left for the Secretary of
Agriculture 10 take the Initiative in the matter
Of its enforcement. the details of this work have
been left almost entirely in the hands Of Dr.
d ". Wiley. chief Of the bureau of chemistry
Of the department The last step in the plans
for the enforcement of the law has been the
preparation and transmission to United States
consuls Of elaborate instructions as to Just
now 10 proceed in invoicing goods to this coun-
Try which might come within the terms of this
Jaw. There was delay in getting these instruc-
'ioAs II shape for mailing to cOnsuls, owing to
me nlsplacing Of a letter in the State Depart
-reAt where the Instructions We're prepared.
me instructions have all been mailed now, how
80 80. ahc Dr. Wiley announces that action
VIII De taken under them until time enough has
e-apsec Tor them to have reached the various
Cyl-su-s For instance goods from England,
france and Germany viii not be made subject
10 ne new law until about the middle of July.
No9ls from countries more remote will not come
L-Cer The ban of the law until the last of the
month
Dr. Wiley declares that the department knows
eAacliE what class OF goods TO look out for as
careful analyses Of foreign food products have
oeen gong on in his bureau for the last three
" 1our years He declares that there is TO be
80 80 attempt made 10 work hardship foreign
exporters OF food
me duty Of consuls in the matter will simply
ue 10 require shippers TO furnish an extra in