The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1911-01-31
KENNEDY'S BILLS
ARE IMPORTANT

Bismarck, N D., Jan. 31.-Aside
from the congressional apportionment
bills in the senate and house yesterday,
the most important measures of the
day in the upper branch of the legis-
lature were the bills Of Senator Ken
nedy Of Cass county. Both will re-
ceive much consideration and are for
the good Of the general public.
One of the Kennedy bills is for the
legal weights OF food products and
beverages and for the weight of lard
and lard substitutes for bread. Sec
tion l of the bill is redrafted from the
present food, drug and beverage laws
so as TO harmonic them and put the
laws in harmony with the bills being
introduced in other states permitting
the sale of products either by weight,
measure or count and permitting the
establishing of a certain range of var
iation in weight or measure due to
climatic conditions.
Section of the bill has to do with
the establishing of legal weight for
lard, compound or lard substitutes.
At the present time dealers are in
the habit of selling lard in containers,
which are four ounces TO three pounds
short in weight. A pail Of lard billed
and sold for five pounds seldom weighs
more than four and fourth pounds,
yet the purchaser is charged for the
full FIVE pounds. Again those parties
who are willing to give full weight
are soon driven from the market by
some of the packers who furnish short
weight containers.
T~ Gle I,,N
cred from other parts Of the hog than
that which is recognized as producing
high grade lard, must be labeled so as
TO show the class of lard which they
are offering. 1t also requires that
those dealers in substitutes or COM
pounds for lard shall show Of what
their products are composed.
Bread Question.
At the present time, if enforced, the
North Dakota law would require every
baker and dealer in the state to label
for actual net weight. This law Is in
harmony with the Kansas statutes,
which have been sustained in the
courts
The Kennedy bill puts in the modi-
fication Of the Milwaukee city ordi-
nance, permitting the sale of bread Of
other than legal weight providing the
same is labeled, in Incorporating the
Kansas law. This leaves the matter
in the hands of the baker who
may sell legal weight bread and
not label It, or he may sell bread
of any weight providing he puts the
weight on each lot.
Drug and Beverage Bill.
The second Kennedy measure intro
duced yesterday relates to the food,
drug, beverage and sanitary laws. At
the present time there is no provision
which permits the use of the funds
appropriated, for the enforcement of
the food, drug and other laws for the
enforcement of the sanitary inspection
law. Neither is it legally permissible
TO use the funds from registrations
under the beverage law for the en-
forcement of the sanitary inspection
law.
The Kennedy bill authorizes in a
sense the use of those funds from the
annual appropriation for the enforce
ment of the food and drug laws and
the funds available under the beverage
law for use in connection with the
enforcement of the sanitary inspec-
ton laws.
Neither is there any provision made
for the publishing of bulletins which
would cover the work under the sani-
tary law. 1t is also difficult, since the
regular bulletin as published by the
pure food commission, deals with both
food, drug and beverage matters, to de-
termine to just what extent the charge
should be made to each of these funds
This bill, If enacted, will permit the
paying of the bulletin so long as Il
gives the results of Investigations car
ried out under these laws or worh
done in connection Herewith.
Owing to the extraordinary expendi-
lures of funds any one of the two ac-
counts may run short, and If the funds
can be so combined as to permit theil
use for the enforcement of all these
laws for the making of Investigations
publishing results, etc, it is felt thai
q greater amount of good could be &C.
complished and this without any add.
tional expense to the state.