Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1910-07-07
FLOUR
ADULTERATED
SAYS JURY
GOVERNMENT TRIUMPHS
IN BLEACHEG OUR CASE
Declared Verdict Means Loss
of Millions TO Farmers in|
Prairie StateSi Decision Will
Be at Once Appealed.
lBy Morning journal snecial Isasea wirel

lBy Morning journal speciaI Lsasea wireI
Kansas City, No. July I've the
jury find that the flour seized was
adulterated"
we, the jury find that the flour
seized was msbranded"
These tw verdicts were returned
in the federal court here today by
the jury that for more than five
weeks had listened to testimony for
and against the charge of the gov
ernment that 625 sacks of flour
bleached and sold by the Lexington
Mil and Elevator company, of Lex
ington, Nep., and seized by the gov
ernment while in the possession of
the purchaser, 4 grocer at Castle, Mo-,
We're adulterated and misbranded
The verdict, returned after seven
hours of deliberation, was complete
victory for the government which
prosecuted the suit under the nation
al pure food and drugs act.
The government charged that the
flour was adulterated in that it was
bleaehed by the Alsop process, which
makes use of nitrogen peroxide in
bleaching flour. Misbranding was
charged in that the flour seized
was labeled q fancy patent, which, the
government contended, it was not, be-
cause it was not made from a first
gtade hard winter wheat.
Bruce Elliott. chief counsel for the
millers, made the following statement
after the jury had reported:
This case was not one that should
have been tried by jury. | called
upon President Taft and assured him
all the millers desired was a fair Test
case.
The president assured me the mill
'ers would not be harried and that a
fair test would be had. Immediately
thereafter, under orders of .he ~
torney general, these seizures began
in different parts Of the country. We
started ont to defend the cases "a the
assumption that the government
would permit them to be tried before !
referee.
President Roosevelt appointed a
board of scientific men for just such |
purposes and the board has solved !
many cases that came up under the
pure food law, such, for instance, as
the benzoate of soda case But wnen |
this case came to trial the attorney |
general refused to let this board act |
and insisted upon a jury trial"
Attorneys for the millers will file
a motion for new trial within the |
twenty days. Arguments on it will be
heard by Judge Mcpherson about Sep
tember /. II the motion is overruled,
the case will be carried at once to
the circuit court of appeals and prob
ably will be heard in December.
Millers say that the bleached flour
decision will handicap the farmers OF
the southwest to the extent of from
$4,000, 900 to $1S,0000O0 year
They say the old differential of SC
a bushel in vogue in Chicago and st.
Louis markets win soon reappear.
The further say that the farmers of
Missouri, Kansas Oklahoma and
Nebraska will lose cents a bushel
on their present crop and that hard
winter wheat soon will be selling at
% cents a bushel less than at present.
Already millers are considering the es-
Of bleaching stations in
states where the use of bleached flour
is not prohibited. Thus they say
they may avoid the interstate COM
merce law. Big mills whose pro-
duet is turned ont in states where
flour is Illegal may ship their
flour unbleached into the states
where the sale of it is permitted,
unload it at these bleaching stations,
bleach il and distribute it in the state.