The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1911-08-17
WILEY IS SH0RN
OF HIS POWER TO
SAFEGUARD FOOD
Found that Other Of
ficials Override
His Decisions
McCABE is BUSY
Develops Hatred of Chemist
and is Trying to Dis
lodge Him

oASS lliIIi
Washington, ID. C="Wiley. Har-
vey W., chief. bureau of chemistry"
That is one of the pleasant fictions
OF the official list Of government mi
ployecs as printed in the CONGRESSMAN
al directory. The House, committee
on expenditures in the Agricultural
Department, which is investigating
the effort to Dust Doctor Wiley, has
brought out that the pure food ex-
pert may at one time have been head
of the department.. Such is not the
case now. Doctor Wiley is onl. N of
three. His decisions may be over
ruled at will by George p. McCabe,
solicitor of the Department of Agri-
culture. DIR. f. L.. Dunlap, listed as
associate chemist, has testified that
V ""s neither under nor owe Doctor
Wiley.
.'Gnsilcr Il st We are OF an
furt.Ma,' Dc,tul Dunlap tcsti-
fed. faxxl
Two designations Suggested.
There was a time when Doctor
Wiley. whom the country looks upon
as the guardian angel of the Pure
Food Law. had some authority. That
vas before the stan of George T. Nc
Cabe gained it's ~ascendency. McCabe
a bristly haired, hard headed, square
jawcd man. appears to have the De-
partment of Agriculture we'll in
hand. Revelations brought out
Of tbo boor;nu 1,nvo o,,coj %ho
New York Times to call upon Sec
resign on the ground that McCabc
rotary. e.
A Washington paper following Nc
Cabe's admission that he changed
a court record in a Missouri cause by
striking out Benzoic acid and substi-
tuting caffein so that the public
might not hear anything in. dispar-
agemcnt Of benzoate Of soda, de-
mands thai McCabe be discharged at
once
Every day he remains in his pres
ent position the paper says, The is
an Indictment of the sincerity, the
common honesty, not only of the de-
partment, not only the Food Law adj
ministration, but of tho national ad-
ministration."
The Farce Of Benzoatc.
And, now the real basis for
the fight on DR.. Wiley. That is ben
zoate of soda. Benzoate of soda is a
p%rescrvative. Doctor Wiley held
that its use in food was injurious. 1t
permitted decayed fruit to be put in
such shape that il could be sold to
an u%nsuspccting public, he held.
Many persons disagreed with Doc
tor Wiley. To settle the dispute the
Remsen, or referee, board was form
ed. Doctor Remsen. president OF
Johns Hopkins University is head of
the board. Its other members are
equally able and reputable. The
benzoate of soda matter vas put up
to them, but not in the form that
Doctor Wiley would have put it. The
members of the board were asked
merely If benzoate of soda used in
food in small quantities was injuri-
Gus. The board said not. 1t was not
asked to decide if decayed fruit, af-
ter being treated with benzoate of
soda, could be sold as pure food.
Twas Dunlap and M'Cabe's Secret.
Many things Doctor Wiley's enc
mics would, have preferred to have
kept secret have come to light since
the discovery that a plot was under
way to Dust Doctor Wiley from the
bureau of chemistry. In the first
place, it has developed that the charg-
es against him were made in secret,
Doctor Wiley not being Informed
that accusation was to be made
against him. His associate. Doctor
Dunlap, went to McCabe's Office and
there they compiled their charges.
Then picking a day when Doctor Wi
ley was out of the city, the charges
we're filed with Secretary Wilson.
Doctor Wiley was in Washington the
day before the charges were filed and
the day after.
Meade Could Abate Cases.
The investigation had not progress
ed far before evidence began to COL
lect of the way the power of George
P. McCabe, solicitor of the depart
ment. had been growing. Entering
the government service in a minor
capacity, he studied law, was grad
uated and became solicitor of the De-
partment of Agriculture. All his
Las practice has been in the depart
ment. Soon there developed H.
tween McCabe and Doctor Wiley a
bitter eninity.
Letters have been produced 4 I'M
evidence showing that McCaby app
parently tried to humiliate thypure
food expert. Soon McCabe' began to
grow. y Finally he obtained TIE, pro-
mitigation of an order that gave him
the absolute power to say whether
or not violators of the Psre Food
Law should be prosecuted. McCabe
had the power to abate Gases and he
frequently exercised that power.
The investigation has only fairly
started. Among the witnesses yet to
testify r Doctor Wiley and Secre-
tary Wilson.
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