Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-09-23
THE PURE FOOD LAW
Result of the Hearings in New
York.
DR., WILEY TALKS OF THEM
Crowds of Interested People Attended
Them.
REGULATIONS TO BE DRAFTED
But It Will Probably Be the First
of Next Month Before They
Are Ready.
)R. WILEY TALKS OF THEM
REGULATIONS TO BE DRAFTED

DIR. II. w. Wiley of the Department Of
Agriculture returned to Washington last
night and expressed himself very well
satisfied with the attitude that the food
manufacturers finally assumed at the hear
ings just over in New York the result
of which the regulations will be drafted for
the enforcement of the pure food law.
DR.. Wiley said that the hearings were at
tended by a remarkable crowd of manu-
facturers. The room in which they were
to be held proved entirely inadequate and
the commission, consisting of the represent
tatives of the Treasury, the Agricultural
Department and the Department of Com
MERGE and Labor. had to finally adjourn to
the big court room In the new Post Office
building. This was packed throughout the
hearings, there being sometimes as many
as 400 people present and never time
when all of the seating capacity was not
taken up and a good many people standing.
The Manufacturers Idea
The manufacturers came first with the
idea that the commission was in deadly OPP
position to them and that they were nat
urally it's deadly enemies. Toward the end
of the hearings this feeling was allayed
and the manufacturers finally came to the
conclusion that the law was going to be
enforced and decided to give their best aid
to the commissioners in literally ard ra-
tionally interpreting it,
The result is that the commissioners have
come back to Washington with about ten
days work ahead of them. They will have
to have all of the oral testimony reduced
to writing and there are number of briefs
from manufacturers who were not heard
witnesses After these are all gone over
enforcement
law can be drafted, and they will be unless
the secretaries Of the three departments de-
eide to reopen the matter and have further
hearings So far can now be seen the
regulations may be ready about October /,
but it may be longer than that before they
are finally approved and issued.
In speaking of the hearings DIR. Wiley
was asked what the general attitude of the
manufacturers was. He smiled and said:
They all had three general propositions
to advance. First. the law did not apply to
the particular product they were manufac-
turing. If it did and the law was enforced.
then they were ruined and would have to go
out of business. Thirdly, II they we're doing
anything that was contrary to law 1t was
because the consumers wanted their goods
prepared that way and would not be salts
fled with anything else"
Analine Dye.
How about analine dye?" he was asked
Most probably it will die" he replied SOL
EMMY.
LAS a matter of fact that is what proba-
! bly, will happen to 1t as a coOring matter
for food. There was a strong fight made
to save it on the part of the manufacturers,
but without result
lone of the witnesses told me- said DR..
Wiley, that it would kill the whole candy
business If the use of analine dye was pro-
hibited. 1 told him that was queer. since
the prohibition against this coloring agent
was drawn in the original pure-foCd bill by
the Candy Manufacturers Association
themselves. Then he explained that this
was done back in 1898. when the of
analine dyes was very limited. / asked him
if that was the case, and We certainly had
very well-colored candy before 1898. why
we could not return to the status of that
time and still do business in the candy
line. He saw that he had made mistake
and there was nothing more to say.
"One of the manufacturers was very anx-
ious to allow the use of boric acid in ketch-
ups He was not interested in anything
else because he did not manufacture any
thing but ketchup. He did not want to
come out and say that the law ought to
allow the use of any sort of preservative In
any sort of food product. But he got
tangled up in his replies and that was what
he finally did say. Many of the manufac-
turers did not want to commit any OF their
propositions to writing, did not even want
to say what they really wanted. But the
commission finally convinced them that the
Jaw had to be enforced and that We were
willing to take any reasonable suggestions
they had to give so that the session as
whole was very satisfactory