The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-06-26
PURE FOOD BILL IN HOUSE
Package Amendment Cause Of
Much Discussion
PASSED By VOTE OF e4s TO IL
Amendment Offered by Mr.. sherman
straight Whiskey Routed by
Friends of the RectiRers-House>
Treated to an Exhaustive Debate on
the Merits of Wif-4,ey

| Washington. June 23.-After an hour
spent IN the consideration Of privileged
reports the house today resumed fur
| ther consideration Of the pure food
| bill. Everything was smooth sailing
| until the so-called packing amend
ment' was reached and then squalls
sprang up, and the legislative sea be-
came exceedingly choppy.
! Mr.. Mann, of Illinois, in charge Of
| the bill, offered the committee amend
| ment heretofore printed that the time
the package was put up must be on
| the container together with the weight
| or measure on the outside of the pack
| age
A dozen members were on their feet
| Immediately after the reading of the
| amendment
Mr.. Sherman, of New York, offered
an amendment in substance striking
| out the time provision. Mr. Sherman
| said that under the penalty provided,
| the weight and measure if stated must
be correctly stated, which he argued
was very difficult He said that this
was a most serious question involving
as it did vast interests and it should
! not be hastily considered.
Mr.. Mann responded to this and 9TH
| er speeches opposing the committee
| amendment, giving the house another
demonstration from behind his grocery
| counter Of the ways of packers and
| Gamers.
| The Sherman amendment was voted
| down.
Then the friends Of straight whis.
! key were routed by the friends of the
! rectlfiers by vote of 81 to rs defeat
ing an amendment by Mr.. Richardson,
| OF Alabama, in behalf of the makers of
| "straight' whiskey
Not in long time has the house
] been treated to SO exhaustive and III
! structive a debate on an article of COM
merce as it was treated to by the rep
| resentatives from Southern States in
whose district whiskey is made and
| rectifed
Mr.. Richardson told how straight
Whlskey was made, its color being Sc
cured from the charred oak barrel into
which it is put and after remaining
there a number of years is bottled in
bond, the green stamp of the govern
ment being the pledge of it's purity,
Mr.. Clark, of Missouri, wanted it dis
| tinctly understood that he was in favor
of a liquor that had both a coloring, a
sweetening material in it, not only be-
cause of its palatability but because
there must necessarily be diminution
0 fthe amount of whiskey that would
| go into the stomach.
| Mr.. Sherley, of Kentucky, in benalf
of the rectifers held the attention of
| the house as he explained the conten-
! ton of the two whiskey camps, the
distiHers and the retcifers. Among
/! other things he said:
| Nov, what makes the purity OF
whiskey, and how is it made? Whis-
key may be made out Of corn, rye, bar
ley, or various other grains It's quail
| it depends upon the quality of the
grain, the quality Of the yeast, the
| cleanliness of the mash tubs, and rhe
proper distillation. There is not one
line Of internal revenue law that looks
to an inspection of the grain to see
whether it is pure grain or a musty
grain. There is not line to say that
| when the whiskey is distilled it is
properly distilled, so as to get rid OF
the first run Or the last run over which
contains the worst elements in whis-
key"
Tbs speech of Mr.. Sherley brought
| Mr.. Stanley, of Kentucky, into the
| arena in front Of the speakers desk to
demonstrate how the blends makes
blended" whiskey. He said he had no
objection to any body blending two
kinds of whiskey, but he did object TO
| making whiskey while you wait. Then
| taking bottle from the table he pour
ed it into graduate and said
Here is quart of alcohol, one hum
dred proof strong 1t will eat the in
testines out of coyote. It will make
| bowling dervish out of an anchorite.
| It will make a rabbit spit in a bull
| dogs face 1t is pure alcohol and un-
! der the skill of the rectiier he will
put in little coloring water and then
a little bead oil (illustrating). | drop
/ that in it. Then I get little essence
| of Bourbon whiskey and there is no
connoisseur in this house who can tell
| that helIish business from the genuine
| article, and that is what denounce.
| fAppiause.) I say that the coioring
| matter is not harmful, I say that the
caramels are not harmful, but | say
that the body stock Of the whiskey l
made is rank alcohol and when Ii gets
| into man it is pure he'll" (Applause.) J
The vote was then on the amend
ment of Mr.. Richardson and it was de-
| feated A number of other amendments
| were offered but in the main were de-
feated, the amendments adopted being
| merely changes in verbiage.
The committee then rose and the dill
was passed by vote of 242 to IL.
TAr ,r1 1FrC NJ A NeT Toau IF nr.