The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-08-04

I enactment, after q terrific struggie. of the Federal pure food law. The business of the association of food con- trol officers now is to secure legisla- ton to strengthen weak places in the present laws, to extend them where necessary. to obtain uniformity between the laws of the several states and the Federal government, and to secure rigid enforcement.
 When the Federal pure food act was being assailed in Congress the State Food and Dairy Commissioners Or ganization sent It's executive commit tee to Washington. It presented the adequately enforce their laws in the absence of Federal regulation. as the | states could not reach the manufac- ture and sale of impure Of adulterated goods shipped in interstate commerce.. This committee had much to do In bringing about the passage of the Federal Food and Drugs Act of June 30. 1906. for which service President Roosevelt paid its members handsome tribute in his message to Congress the following December.
 ln that long fight and in the work now in hand. the association of food control officers has back of 1t not only the authority of the state and Federal Governments, but also the powerful
 
 organized agencies of the National Consumers League. the General Federa- ton of Women's Clubs, and associations Of physicians, nurses, chemists, retail grocers, labor unions and such of the food manufacturers who have favored pure food regulation.
 | Actual work looking toward the qualification of the food supply of the country was begun when Congress enacted Senator Justin A. Horrili's bill establishing government experiment stations In each of the states. At each or these stations was a staff of chemists employed solely by the government and beyond the infiuence of private interests. They worked with pr. H. W. Wiley the Chief Chemist of the De. paFtraent of Agriculture, in a system. attic study of the adulterations of varf- nus foods. The government chemists have an association of their own. but many or them are also members of the organization which meets today at
 The pure food movement fin the states Is the outgrowth of popular protest against impure and aduiterated nilE Onio' Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota ana connecticut were among the first fo establish state dairy connnisaiona Inese commissions were equipped with Iaporatories and the chemists rraduallv oranched out and began to examine into osner tnings than milk butter and itself and the state laws wsra a,s,anT- ca from time to time so as to ineludS practically all kinds of food ntnfSs drugs and beverhRse
 m some states the authority of en. Iorcing the food laws has been io6vs6 specially appointed or elected Fooo ena Dairy Commissioner. m otner states this authority fla vestaa in the Board of Health. in atbers ~ ..a =. state experiment stations, and in others m the State Board of A1rIcuit,,ra some pr these departments have bear st work for twenty years. otbers arS Just beginning. The important fbInS now IS that they are practicaIIv aii wVrking Tn harmony and co-operation. cnemists of the pure food army. taAen altogether, have anaivxnd ,,.ore than half million samples of foods ana drugs. They have sueoeaaf,,Ifs, prosecuted over 700,00 suits in ths courts. They have turned their hal. teries upon the aduIterators and have succeeded In stopping. to a great ex. .ent, tne use of formaldehydo in milk. o sal,n, acio m meat, aniline dyes and saucyhc acid in jellies and soda wafer syrups' ground rock fin flour and baIrins tpoWder' ground peanut shells and olive seeds In pepper and spices. and v,ooA alcohol in whiskies. drugs and flavor. ing extracts They have fought againet the fraudulent labelling of inaitation foods, drugs and beverages. If has oeen an untiring campaign aRaInst tpolson, filth and counterfettinR.
 our grAndfathers did not need Pure rood laws They ate meat and veRe- taoles raised on the home pIace OF brought Into town by neIghborinK ,rar. mers. The coffee, tea and spices and the sugar they used came from over seas In slow sailing vessels and were Idistrinuted to consumers without being disturbed. There were, of course. oc- lcasional adulterations, else Connecticut would never have found sale for its ancient wooden nutmegs. But on the whole, our grandfathers knew what they were eating.
 The changes of the age of steam and electricity have affected the food sup ply more than anything else. We eat bread made from flour grown thous. ands of miles away. the village butcher shop has passed away before the man. moth abattoirs of the great meat pack. ing combines, and practically every. thing on the family dinner table has passed through e factory before it reached the kitchen. If one would know the pedigree and history of the things he eats, he must do his part to uphold the hands of those who are trying to enforce the pure food laws of the country.
 kins.)
 Tomorrow-The Public Health.