The Clarksburg telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1874-1926, 1911-11-30
WILEY IS PLEASED
WITH THE SUCCESS
OF the Pure Food and Drugs
Act as Passed by
Congress.

chemist OF the department OF agri-
culture, principal advocate of that
measure in an address before the
American Academy of Political So
ci6i Science here last night.
4 Not only has it inspired a new
code of ethics in the trade of pure
foods" continued Or. Wiley, "but it
has made 1t possible for honest
dealers 10 conduct a business with
out the ruinous competition of adul-
tera'ors and debasers.'
The theme of DR.. lWiley's address
was the pure food and drugs act
which he strived for many years to
have enacted by Congress. He told
of how the special interests" got
together and blocked the enactment
of the bill, which sometimes passed
one house of Congress only to be
blocked in the other. Friends OF
the legislation, he declared, had
waited for the education of a public
opinion which would emphasize so
strongly the necessity for its passage
that even its opponents could no
longer obstruct.
This great fight" he said, went
on for more than a quarter of a
century before the passage of the
act of June 80. 1906"
Dr., Wiley epitomized the result
that the pure food and drugs act
has had on the business world. The
unethical spirit of commerce in
foods and drugs, he asserted, had
been wholly reformed and the char
acter OF foods and drugs offered
for consumption had been immense
iy improved.
These effects have extended not
only to foods and drugs. he averred,
but to correlated business inter
ests and now the people are crying
for enactment of pure food laws for
all kinds of merchandise. The hope
is not idle that ere many years all
forms of business will be controlled
by the ethical spirit which animates
the food and drugs act"
Dr. Wiley opened his address
with the assertion that the primary
cause of the pure food law was the
cnniditv ~ cnrmarce
The keen competitor of trade
he said. lied men to debate the
wares which they hoped to sell at
the price of the genuine article. If
they did not debase the genuine
article they made an imitation OF Il
which they offered under the name
of the genuine article. If they did
neither they misrepresented the
qualities of the article, ascribing to
it virtues of all kinds which it did
not possess"
a symposium of methods which
were used by these authorizations
was then given by DR.. Wiley. He
said the makers of these goods were
not prejudiced against humanity.
or bore any enmity to man as an
animal.
THE Conscience of the people"
he declared. was scared as with a
hot iron and these practices were
boldly conducted by men who
would have spurned any imputation
of dishonesty or. crooked dealing,
and yet every one of them was get
ting money under false pretenses
and was as much a thief as If he
had gone upon the highway in the
good old-fashioned Robert Hood
manner These then were the evils
to be corrected.
The fight for pure food was 8
fight against the communism OF
greed. All the interests stood to.
gether They felt that IL one was
sacrificed all might go, hence every
movement which was made to cor.
rect this condition of affairs by leg,
islation was met with the united and
thoroughly controlled lobby repre-.
senting the interests of every descrip.
tion which were thriving on the sale
of adulterated and misbranded
foods and drugs. These interests
did not fight in the open except Oh
rare occasions. They tried to con.
ceai their identity and their pur.
pose, and usually appeared a,
friends of pure food and drug legis
lation and thus urged certatr
: amendments or verbiage, which i
adopted, would have let out the of
tenders one and all.
"If they could not succeed in THU
way they brought substitute bill
with show of honesty, and yet full
: of flaws favorable to corrupt prac
tees. They never for a momen
ceased their active opposition an,
to the legislator who did not lool