The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1907-05-02

result of these, and many more, speeche
and demonstrations was that the liquor
clause was included in the Pure Food
act.
President Roosevelt, in indorsing At
torney-General Bonaparte 8 construction
of the Pure Food law, says that straight
whisky, distilled as whisky and of one
age should be labelled whisky, that
mixtures of two or more straight whis
hies of different ages should be labelled
as 'tblend, - that neutral spirits mixed
with whisky, when there is enough real
whisky to make difference in the ma
turc of the mixture, should be labelled
as compound, ~ and, finally. that imi-
tation whisky should be labelled as
such. This means that neutral spirits
cannot now be sold as whisky unless
1t is plainly labelled compound or
an "imitation. A "blend'' must not
applied to rum, gin, brandy and other
liquors as well as to whisky.
! What is this neutral spirit. or ethyl
! alcoholic 1t originated with one Adam
not he of the Garden of Eden and
original sin, but an obscure citizen of
Niemes, who first conceived the idea of
fractional distillation. It was an Irish
man S wit that perfected the process,
it trade was Aneas Coffee of Dublin.
English, German and American talent
has long since opened the food gates
for this liquor. In reporting upon It's
character, a congressional committee
said fourteen years ago: "Ncutral or
cologne spirits possessing the same al
cohollc strength as whisky, and being
susceptible to the most delicate flavor
and color, can easily, and with little ex-
pense, be given the odor and appearance
Of aged whisky. With this alcoholic
basis. bourbon and rye whiskies, cognac
brandy, jamaica rum, gin, cordials, etc.
are produced from the same tank, by
the use of oils, essences and colorlng
mixtures.
When Senator Burrows of Michigan
was a member of the House he sue
ccedcd in getting through a resolution
TO investigate the whisky trust. Mr..
Bynum of Indiana was chairman of
the committee. The investigation
scarcely opened up before the commit,
tee attention was directed TO the
startling testimony concerning the
adulteration of liquors The committee
was greatly entertained and instructed
by a witness who demonstrated by
actual experiments how the neutral
spirits made by the whisky trust
~ DIS usCu III duulLcIdIlOu dIIu SuDSllJu-
ton. This witness took large demi-
john of the neutral spirits and asked
the Congressman about the table:
"What IS yours7' If the statesman
preferred rye, rye came from the demi~
John, when a few drops of essence
had been added, So with Bourbon
cognac, rum or sherry This committee
absolved the whisky trust from the
charge of violating the Sherman anti.
trust law. and devoted most of its re-
port to the adulterations, saying: "In
has the power. these frauds upon
the public should be stopped. :" 1t also
recommended that revenue stamp, at
testing the purity of the whisky and
its age in bond. should be placed over
the corks Of bottles containing straight
whisky.
During Mr.. Cleveland S last admins
tration, Senator Blackburn of Ken
lucky led the fight in Congress
against whisky adulteration. He urged
that the Federal Government should
provide some means for the protection
of the public, and should authorize an
Identification of genuine whisky. lie
succeeded in securing the passage of
the bottling-i bond law, which per
mits a distiIler TO bottle whisky in bond
after it has remained for four years
under the care of the Federal revenue
officials. Over the corks of bottles
thus filed is placed the green stamp,
which shows the whisky is not mix
turo or a blend, and which discloscs
how long the whisky was stored in
bond. This bill was one of the last |
signed by Mr., Cleveland, as it was
on the night Of March 3, |
1897, the day before Mckinley was
inaugurated,
The Pure Food movement, with es-
pecial regard to liquors and wines, is |
not new, nor Is ii confined TO the United |
States. At the time the Pure Food bill |
was defeated IN the United States Sen.
ate in 1905, a great congress was being |
held at Liege. where Belgian scientists |
were joining with those from other
countries III an appeal to the legislative |
bodies of Europe to enact laws requir
ing truthful labels for wines and |
liquors. For the past four years the
state chemists and food commissioners
Of various states of the Union have
met together in annual conventions and |
have condemned the enormous aduItera-
ton of whisky. These conventions were
made up of scientific men, however. and
not publlciSts, so that the country
knew little of what they were doing.
North and South Dakota legislatures
have passed laws which empower the
state chemist 10 stop the traffic in adul-
terated or misbranded liquors in inter
state commerce, That is beyond the
power of the federal authority, and for
complete enforcement of such regula-
5ions, all the states will have to follow
the examples of the two Dakotas
The state food commissioner Of Penn
,ylvania is responsible for a report TO
.he governor i'll which he declares that
nearly all of the so-called ''pure ryes'
are merely concoctlons Of raw ethyl
alcohol, flavorings and coloring matter.
4 similar report has been made bv the
state chemist of Minnesota.
The makers and sellers of ''recti
led - and blended - whiskies are Ger.
tam to fight ag@inst the ruling of the
and the case Drob.
ably will go to the highest courts.
Some few of them have already nm.
that they will accept the new
regulations and conform TO them with.
out resistance They argue that ueu.