The Washington herald., 1906-12-31
new LAWS JANUARY
Anti-Pass Act, Pure Food,
and Free Alcohol.
MEAT AND WHISKY DISPUTES
Wide scope of Pure-fOOd Law and
PaInstaISing Administration Under
Secretary WilsOB-FOFeisn Meats
and Foods Not to Have Any Adj
Yantage-Free Alcohol.


years has approached the Importance /
Of that which will dawn tomorrow. It /
marks the beginning of the life Of several I
new laws. one of which. the pure-food /
act, touches the well-being of every nome !
in the land
OF the legislative work Of the first ses- I
sion Of the Fifty ninth Congress, which /
was in many respects remarkable, five /
acts were set to 60 into effect on January 1
/, 1907. These are the free-aicohOl law, /
the pure-foOd law, the anti-pass section
of the interstate commerce act, the modi- /
fcation of the navigation laws to sim /
pify enrollments and licenses, and the i
law with reference to the licensing OF .
druggists in the District Of Columbia.
In the execution Of such a piece Of legis- 4
Iatlon as the pure-food law, which ap- I
plies to many thousands Of staple articles /
of food used by every household from one
end Of the country to the other, 1t was /
reasonable to expect much difficulty. For /
three months past the Secretary of Agri- /
culture has been besieged with delega- /
tons Of manufacturers, iObbers. and meT, /
chants. seeking every advantage they
might secure IN the formulation Of regu,
lations for the enforcement Of the new
law The sanction for the new law lies
in the interstate principle OF the Consu-
tuition Of the United States. Foods that
are Injurious to health are TO be barred
/ from interstate commerce. The basis %
/ this principle is simply that one State
may not ship across its borders into an
| other State those things that viii be in
/ furious 70 the people Of the latter State
+ The pure-food law is designed 70 pre-
vent the manufacture. sale, or transPor-
I tation OF adulterated or misbranded or
/ poisonous or deleterious foods, drugs
medicines. and liquors. and 10 regulate
+ the traffic in these articles.
Tentative Standards.
/ Thus far Secretary Wilson has sue
/ ceeded in framing regulations under
which beginning may be made in apply
| ing the law. As a matter Of fact so
/ vast is the scope Of the new law, hardly
more than the mere scratching Of the sur
/ face of the evils attempted 10 be reached
can be made. In the last appropriation
| for the Department OF Agriculture pro
vision was made for a commission 20 be
appointed by the Secretary TO determine
standards Of purity in connection with
and for the enforcement Of the pure-food
1 law. This commission has made tentative
standards for meats, liquors, and dairy
products. and from time 20 time, as
/ cases arise in the administration OF the
/ law, decisions viii be made by the Score
tary with advice OF This commission,
which will gradually make clear 10 the
( manufacturers and merchants OF the
country Just what foods and other staples
/ for human consumption can be admitted
to the traffic between the States
/ There having been an apprehension
that the law could not be pat into effect
/ all at once. and the report having spread
that certain parts of it would not be en-
/ forced al once. 1t is in order to state that
this is not at all the case Secretary
Wilson saws that the whole law goes into
/ effect tomorrow The only suspension
+ that could be called such appears in regu-
lation 80 which declares that the regu-
lations OF the department for the execu-
ton of the pure-food law shall not APP
/ ply 20 domestic meat and food products
/ These are taken care Of under the meat
/ inspection law which was approved by
/ the President the same day that he affixed
/ his signature 10 the pure-food law The
/ former being the more specific act, 1t has
been held that ii takes jurisdiction rather
than the other in the case of meat
] products.
The packing-house interests have
raised the question whether the enforce
ment OF the pure-food law as 20 foreign
meat products would not work "a serious
| disadvantage to American producers of
these products. For instance. Germany
may ship in her meat products, like sau-
/ sage, and under our puTe-foOd law we can
| only examine the meats thus offered for
/ import TO see If they contain anything
! injurious to human health. II they do we
can bar them from entry. If they DO not
| they must be admitted.
Sanitary Conditions.
This examination cannot 20 into the
question whether such meats were pro-
duced in a factory where the operatives
were free from any contagious disease OF
whether the animals used were free from
disease. These subjects of inquiry under
our meat inspection law are gone into
thoroughly. Thus the foreign meats
would be required to pass a much easier
examination than the domestic products.
But the pure-food law empowers the
Secretary Of Agriculture to require
from the importers a certificate from
the health authorities in the country
where the meats originated that they
were produced under conditions of abso-
Iutely safe sanitation. Secretary Wilson
states that he proposes 10 enforce this re-
quirement. but it is not easy to see how.
II this is done, American packing-hOuse
interests viii suffer. The same regula-
lions may be made to apply to wines,
fruits. and practically every food com
modify imported.
The new law viii compel manufacturers
to put a label on every package of food
product-a label showing IN plain terms
what it may consist of. This requirement
will be enforced to the letter. How thor
oughly it will be applied may be learned
from the regulation that is TO be applied
to the Louisiana and Texas millers of
rice They will have to put labels on their
rice bags stating that not to exceed one
thousandth part of glucose and one
three-thousandth part of talcum have
been used in polishing their rice.
The Law rs to Whiskey Blends.
one of the most stoutly contested
points in the enforcement of the new law
has arisen in the question whether blends
of whisky might be allowed. DistIllers
want to put neutral spirits in their
whisky. The argument is made in reply
that whisky, besides containing alcohol
has many other ingredients-some nine
teen-which in time coalesce and unite to
form the aroma and flavor OF the liquor
they make the fluid what it is. Itwould not
be whisky without them. Neutral spirits
are alcohol from the start, although made