The Washington herald., 1909-11-03

DR.. Hsrvey w. Wiley, chief chemist OF
the Department of Agriculture. speaking
last night before the Mems Club Of
Trinity Episcopal Church, in Trinity
pure food and drugs act" declared that
this piece Of legislation had done more
for the regeneration OF the commercial
life Of the country than any other one
thing in it's history
Common business honesty he said,
should be sufficient to keep commerce
clean, and would have done so had It
not been for the dishonest practices of a
few INSCRIPTIONS manufacturers, who
forced hundreds Of honorable men TO re-
sort 10 imitation TO compete until the
whole vast traffic in food products has
become based on deception.
"As an example Of the wholesale de-
ception pracuced upon tho consumer. take
maple syrup: The vast bulk Of this com
modify sold IN the United States contains
no more OF the sap Of the maple tree
than so much well water. 1t passes for
maple syrup, and the consumer is under
the impression he is using pure maple
sap. and IN many cases he pays a price
that should procure for him the pure
article 1t is seldom. however, that he
gets It: indeed. I may say the real taste
of pure maple sap is practically IN
known.
Rights Of the Consumers.
In these days the rights Of the con
surner are usually disregarded. and bust
ness institutions have come TO be founded
on the love Of the almighty dollar. In
portant questions under discussion In the
country have nothing to 90 with the
moral uplift Of tho race, but are OF
purely commercial things. Nations will
even go TO war and shed the blood Of
their people 20 get a little trade.
Tn spite Of the opinion which seems
TO prevail among the vast majority Of
our citizens that money is the main
spring Of human existence, It is my opin-
ion. and am convinced that if the peo-
pie continue To worship ar the shrine OF
gold the dollar will eventually bring
about the ruin OF the nation
''Our boast is far too much OF our com
mercial achievements. our vast crops and
Of commercialism. little is heard Of our
universities and art galleries.
The great danger 20 this country IS
from too much wealth. I am perfectly
we'll aware It is now too late to convert
the men Of the nation 20 the idea that
money Is not all powerful. So we should
turn our attention 10 the younger gen.
Grafton and endeavor 90 teach our chill
Jren that life IS not merely the amass-
ing of a fortune. We must teach our
boys and girls 20 help humanity. and
show them there is a spiritual existence
separate from the material.
Churches OF the country are dolne
q great work. and men are learning in
them TO be better citizens and tc become
moro considerate Of the rights OF his
ueighbors. I would sec more OF this
these excellent teaching IN our public
schools.
we should have a law like the one IN
England, which extends the principle OF
the pure food and drugs act to all kinds
OF merchandise. Should such law a.
this be passed, I have no doubt we would
find conditions In other branches Of man.
ufacture much the same as we did in the
food industry after the passage OF thC
pure food law.
The modern department store manager
IS quite as guilty OF fraud when he Offers
an article for sale marked down from
S99 10 90 cents. as Is the manufacturer
who sells a mixture OF apple cores anC
peach skins for strawberry Jam.
Take for example NeufchRtel cheese
Few persons know there IS not a pound
Of that particular commodity now i'm
ported into he United States. yet Neuf,
chatel cheese can be bought almost any
where IN the country
A Natural Tendency.
Restrictive legislation along the lines
I have mentioned is absolutely neces
sary. for while you cannot make p mar
moral by legislation. you can make hin
afraid. which in many cases amounts t
the same thing. There viii always be
tendency in man toward immortality. anC
the close observer will find that this ten
dency extends all through nature
"One result Of the success of the pur,
food is the preparation Of bills. similar Z
the pure food and drugs act. covering
other lines OF manufacture. which will b
introduced into the next session OF Con
gress. Chief among these Is a pure pain
law. The average man has small idei
of the amount Of deception practiced Il
the manufacture and sale Of paints.
THE pure food and drugs act wa
passed not merely 70 prevent crime. bu
70 uplift business and put 1t on the higI
plane il formerly held, and there ha
been infused into American business nf
through the enactment Of this measur
a spirit which, Il carefully nurtured. VII
make ours the greatest country on earth
According TO the last bulletin Of III
Public Health and Marine Hospital Service A6
eases Of smallpox were rcrr-tsd in tho Unite