The Washington herald., 1908-08-05

Pure food legislation has had hard
road TO travel through State legislatures
and. through the national Congress; but
despite obstacles and opposition. the
cause has triuuphed and there IS now
enough legislation If adequately en-
forced. 10 stamp out all the Erosser forms
OF food adulteration and fraud. .Opposi-
ton 70 legislation Of this kind IS rarely
open. and is therefore the more difficult
10 fight. The great battles were fought
n the State legislatures and when the
States had succeeded in educating pub
lie sentiment 70 a point where II could
force members of Congress 10 act IA
vorably. the Federal bureau OF chemistry
was enabled TO DO its work.
Representative James r. Mann. OF I'LL
u0is. was the champion Of the food and
drugs act which was passed two years
ego. He was not content 10 base his
argument upon chemists reports and
theories. for he relied upon simple OBJ
5ect lessons. For weeks his committee
room presented the appearance Of the in
terror OF a fancy grocery store When
he made his gredt speech favOTinE the
bill his desk and the desks Of several Of
his colleagues were covered with cans.
pots. glasses. and bottles He held up
for the inspection of Congress jars OF
raspberry Jam which were as innocent
OF raspber-ies as they were guilty Of TIM
Othy seed. He showed his feIlow-legis-
ators three-p0und cans OF peaches which
contained little more than TWO pounds
Of fruit He showed how coal tar dyes
could turn simple glucose into almost any
kind Of fruit preserve.
The biu became a law. The agitation
following the publication OF Upton Sin
cIair's novel. The Jungle caused a
somewhat unwilling Congress 70 enact
legislation compelling the great packing
houses TO clean up The pure-food ad-
vocates did not get all they asked for ii
either case They are sIU fighting for
laws which viii compel packers 10 print
on the label the time Of packing and the
exact weight OF the contents OF the pack
age. These things will come in time
perhaps but The main question Just now
is 20 obtain enforcement OF the laws al
ready enacted
Since The passage Of the Federal law
however. many States have hastened 10
make their laws conform with the Fed
eraI statutes. so that the distinction be
tween Interstate and intrascate commerce
may be wiped out OF the new laws, the
one passed bv The last session Of the leg
is-srUre OF Kentucky is held 10 be a model
one by many pu-e food advocates II
: interesting 70 note that this law gives
the state food control authorities Qleuary
power 10 enforce the Dure-f00d require
uents IN the manufacture Of whisky
kentucky's most famous product. Until
This time the Kentucky pure-fo1d laws
have not touched the matter OF beverages
One Of the hardest fights made on the
construction Of the national food and
drugs act has been that on the question
What is WHISKY The Department OF
Justice decided that the word whisky
should be used only for distilled
straight whisky, and that whisky made
OF neutral spirits must be labelled as q
compound or imitation. As only a small
percentage OF the whisky made and sod
in the country Is '-sr-aiEht.' the fight
has been a bitter one The ruling OF the
Department Of Justice has been followed
iu decisions Of the courts involving trade
mark rights. and finally the Treasury De-
partuent directed the branding Of whisky
by internal revenue Authorities IN accord
ance with the pure food regulations. This
order IS being resisted in the courts and
q long fight IS ahead before the question
wiu be settled finally
IN Kentucky the pure-food advocates
have been working ten years. P N
-A4e- anu lA a. Soy lla- nave Derrl
helm 1Ir- Allen is the secretary Of The
food control officers association which
is now holding the Pure Food Congress
ac Mackinac Island He has resigned
his position in Kentucky and IS now an
assistant attorney general OF the United
States under Mr.. Bouaparte. with especial
charge of prosecutions Of the food laws.
M Allen IS responsible for the Ken
lucky theory. which may be described
as the plain label policy" II the label
tells the truth. then the consumer is at
liberty TO buy injurious things Il he de-
sires bUt he must be protected from
frauds and counterfeits-
The Kentucky policy Of the plain
label Influenced the large fruit and vege-
table packers TO begin experiments 10 DO
away with be1z0iC acid and other pre-
se-vatlv5s- Years before the national
meat inspection law was passed the PACK
ers put up a distinct meat product for
sale in Kentucky. They had u conform
20 the plain label law and there were
some things about which the truth might
not have been savory or appetizing
North Dakota IS another State which
IS in the van OF the pUre-food fight Prof.
Z F Ladd who is president Of the
Pure Food Congress at Mackinac. IS a
believer In publicity as a corrective and
deterrent agent He has obtained the
passage Of a state law authorizing the
publication Of his analyses Of food pro
ducts in the newspapers Of the State. the
counties paying the bills Of publication.
His power over manufacturers OF doubt
ful or questionable products has thus
been greatly increased. for they are vii
ling 90 conform 20 the strict letter Of the
law rather than 20 risk a general expose
Of their questionable methods.
Ny Ladd is also leading a fight against
b-eached -four, a subject which is dear 10
the heart OF Dr. Wiley of the Federal
pure food forces. He declares that even
Il bleaching does not injure the -four that
IN the interest Of trade honesty. the label
ought 10 say that II is bleached Dr
James H Shepard OF North Dakota. is
another crusader He declares that the
Two greatest instruments Of food fraud
are initiative colors and favors. which
are used TO make initiative and inferior
articles resemble the genuine and su-
perior. He IS particularly opposed 20 the
use OF poisonous aliIiae dyes
In Michigan. Commissions Bird has
been making a strong dghts against the
use Of potato starch in sausage. He has
figured Il out that Michigan pavs g. COO s50
q year for sausage BY using potato
starch the uanufa ctafers are enabled to
add . 10 so per cent OF water in weight
and bulk 20 the product Thus Mr.. Bird
declares that the AIchiganders. par. $40
90 year for water in s7r1sarlz held