Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1906-07-16
EVEN THOUGH NO APPROPRIA-
TON WAS MADE.
DUTY OF SHORT SESSION
II Will be to Provide the Means
Experts Essential in the Work
Old Stored Meats in Danger-Big
Stocks May be Sacrificed-Cold
Storage Eggs Investigated.

but that omission, which was the re-
suit of an oversight, is not important
since the law will not go into effect
until the LIST of January, 1907. BY that
time the short session OF congress
will have been under way for almost
a month, and The necessary sum Will
| probably have been provided in an
emergency appropriation bill which
it is always customary and necessary
to pass in the early weeks of the
session.
Meanwhile, the secretary of ag-
riculture, the secretary of commerce
and labor and the secretary OF The
treasury, who are charged with the
administration of the law, are to put
their heads together for the working
| OUT of proper administrative regula-
tions. The Importance of this work
cannot be over-estimated. Upon the
wisdom displayed by the men who
superintend it will depend entirely
the working effect of the new law.
The work cannot be hurried,
In the very nature of the case,
4 weeks and months of careful, pains
| taking labor must precede any sys-
tematic attempt to put the law into
effect 1t was knowledge of this fact
which caused congress to name the
first of the year as the time when the
law should be operative.
The three secretaries named will
have the benefit Of all the experts in
their respective departments, and it
| is believed that The result of their Ia
bors will be entirely satisfactory,
! The president is to pass judgmen- on
the regulations as finally dr"fted,
and reserve the right to amend hem.
And after these regulations have
been approved by himself they will
be passed on to the attorney general
for an opinion as to their workability
from a legal point of view. This
will be an important part of the in
curry, for it is obvious that there will
be numerous suits before the law is
generally accepted, and the president
will want TO know in advance of suits
being brought, either by the govern
ment or against it, that the regula-
lions will stand the test of the courts.
1t is an interesting fact that the
pure-food law is almost identical in
form with the bill on the same sub
iect which passed the senate eighteen
years ago, when the agitation first
| began But that was long before the
| days of the muckraker and of the
| crystallization of public opinion
against the senate for its too conser-
| yative and somewhat retroactive
| policy. The senate bill of that day
was defeated in the house, as the
| present law would have been but for
| the pressure of the country as
whole, a pressure which the house
| did not dare resist too long. The
new law is also said TO be almost
verbatim copy of the existing law of
England, and where there are depart
ures from that law it is claimed that
| the American law is the better of the
| two.
Officers of the government do not
expect that there will be much diff
ficulty in the enforcement of the law.
| Not to exceed per cent of the manu-
facturers and dealers, it is said, will
try to eyade it. The others will
comply with it of their own accord.
While the three secretaries are
busying themselves with the working
out of proper regulations the chem
istry bureau of the Department of
agriculture is to make a careful test
of the effect of cold storage on poul-
try, fish, game and eggs. This test
will last for almost six months, and
the results of it will be announced
in time to permit Of the regulations
being changed to conform to it be-
fore going into effect. The cold
storage test for fruits has already
been made Fruit can be kept in
storage for three or four months and
improved. After fruit becomes
thoroughly ripe, however, it deterior-
ates, even in storage. The regula-
lions will take note of this fact
Indications point to about a year
as The limit of time for stored meats,
and if the tests bear out these indi-
! cations, something will happen to the
business of commission men in cities
like Chicago, who corner the market
for fowls, game or certain other kinds
Of meat supply after holding their
! goods for a year and perhaps for two
years or more. The storage egg is
/ also to be condemned, unless all the
| signs fail. 1t has been discovered
| that at times eggs are in storage for
several years before going on the
market. The housewife who can
pick out the storage egg by its musty
smell will be glad to know that this
same smell is being investigated by
DR.. Wiley. government chemist, and
that it is to be done away with in the
regulations for the enforcement of
the new law; that is, if the present