Middletown transcript., 1907-11-09
FIGHT FOR PURE wHIsKEY
Attorney-General Preparing to Proceed
Against Some Big Concerns

Iht6OtMCys0GHcEdt Preparing ~ htV6SCt
Against Some Big Concerns
WASHINGTON, October Goth. Attorney,
General Bonaparte's announcement,
made several days ago, that be will pro,
coed against certain big whiskey concerns
without further delay, for alleged viola
tions Of the Pure Food law has caused a
bit of a furry. This is regarded as a
somewhat belated seconding Of the stand
taken by the President few months ago.
At that time, Mr.. Roosevelt defined
awhiskey, !, blended whiskey,n = "com-
pound whiskeyn and Imitation whiskey"
to the satisfaction and great delight Of ex
perts and to the horror Of the W. G. T. U.
That was weeks before he ever heard of
or tasted a Fairbanks cocktail
The Presidents learned order, addressed
to the Secretary Of Agriculture, was as fol.
lows:
Straight whiskey will be labelled as
such. A mixture of two or more straight
whiskeys will be labelled blended whis-
key, or .whiskeys.' A mixture of straight
whiskey and ethyl alcohol. provided THAT
there is a sufficient amount of straight
whiskey to make it itgenuinely mixture,
will be labelled compound Of or com.
pounded with pure grain distillate. Inn
itation whiskey will be labelled as such. 2
The Pure Food law was enacted sixteen
months ago, and though close watch has
been kept on the various manufacturers
of foods and liquors by DR.. FL. w. Wiley,
chief chemist Of the Department of Agri-
culture, and his assistants, there has not
been single action against alleged offen-
ders. 1t is now said that DR.. Wiley has
what he believes to be conclusive evidence
with which to convict more than hum
dred SO called distillers.
One OF the largest of these has recently
sent out circular announcing that in fu-
ture il intends to obey the law. Its lead
ing brand is tremendous seller, and up
to the present time has been .'com.
pound whiskey aud not straight"
whiskey, as has been claimed for it. In
future it will be "blend'a and the fact
will be duly recorded on the label.
Advocates of the Pure Food law regard
this as most important bloodIess VIC
tory, and they expect many more alleged
Offenders to run to cover when Attor-
ney- General Bonaparte once gets into nc.
tion, for he is to order the seizure of all
goods not properly labelled found on bars
or elsewhere.
Some have thought the delay on the
part Of the Attorney General was due tc
indifference, but his friends say this il an
injustice. Negotiations have been on for
some time looking to an agreement on .
test case, but these negotiations have
fallen through, and the Attorney-General
will now bring an action against one
or several alleged violators of the law.
Other prosecutions will depend upon
the outcome of the initial cases.
The Department of Justice considers il
a curious fact that the whiskey men are
the only offenders SO far discovered.
All other manufactures Of foods and liq.
nors apparently have decided that the
law is constitutional and that they must
obey ii. This is accounted for in part by
the discovery that the whiskey men
have been acting practically on the advice
of one lawyer, whose opinion is widely at
variance with that of the Attorney-Gen-
eral and OF the counsel for others whose
products come under the provisions Of the
Pure Food law.