The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1907-10-08

! THE best example of a self-enforcing
| law ever enacted by Congress" is the
way officials in the Department of Agri-
culture characterize the pure food and
drugs act, all the provisions of which
went into force on October I.
| Solicitor McCabe, for the Department
/ Of Agriculture, said yesterday that SO
far there has not been a single necessity
/ for pushing q suit for the enforcement
| Of the law.
Other officials in the department say
the needIessness Of a suit is because Of
/ a desire on the part Of all manufacturers
and dealers TO comply with the law for
ethical reasons, but admit there is some
chance that the reason for the lack of
litigation is IA desire on the part of the
manufacturers 10 steer clear Of any of
the kind Of advertising they would get
| should they be hailed into court on a
| charge Of disposing of adulterated or i'm
pure goods
Most OF the manufacturers have en-
| tirely dispensed with the old labels. and
/ In cases where the garden variety OF
staples are made Of something entirely
foreign to the country home cook book.
the fact is carefully stated on the labels
All Clearly Defined.
Thus, harmless looking catsup is brand
ed with its due quota Of cochineaI and
other things. SO that he who prefers
color TO purity may pay his money and
take his choiN Maple strip that is
compound Of corn cobs. hickory bark.
and brown sugar. is also carefully de-
fined on the bottle.
All manufacturers We're given until Oc-
tober ! in which 10 have labels honest
in every respect-not only as 10 the con
tents of the bottle. but where the same
company produced six different brands
OF the same kind Of tomatoes, sailing
under the names Of divers imaginary
firms. that fact is now stated, in many
cases in labels that have been repaired
by means OF a rubber stamp. so that
there Is now absolutely nothing untrue
In the way Of branding
The one matter that is not yet cleared
and which viii probably be decided only
after a long legal struggle, Is the matter
Of whisky,
Under the decision OF the Attorney
General some time ago only that product
coming straight from the still is whisky.
and that which is a mixture of the orig
inal product and neutral spirits Is not
whisky.
Test Case Under Way.
Through an arrangement with President
Hough, Of the Rectiders' Association.
which viii practically be forced out OF
business in case the courts decide against
them, a test case is now being prepared.
so there viii be no difficulty, such as an
arrest or seizure of goods
The rectihers claim that their business
is specifically provided for in the internal
revenue acts, and cite the fact that fo~
200 years whisky has never been called
whisky properly until after the mo-e
poisonous alcOhOls. the by-products of
distillation, had been extracted by rec.lf-
cation
They insist, therefore. the distllers have
no grounds for being permitted the sole
use Of the word whisky. under the
ruling OF the Attorney General which
says a blend must be OF two similar sub
stances, and that an admixture OF dis
TILED whisky and so-calied neutral spirits
not Of similar substances, cannot be used
10 denote what is held 10 be a compound.