The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1911-11-24
WILEY GOES AFTER
ADUL TERATORS
OF FOOD
Largely Attended Lecture Given
at Philadelphia
SCORED ESPECIAL INTEREST"
I old How Legislation in Congress had
Been Blocked for a Quarter
Century

Philadelphia, Nov 24.-Methods
adopted by food adulterators were ex-
posed and the workings of the pure
food and drug act were explained to
a large audience here last night by
Or. Harvey w. Wiley, chief chemist
OF the department of agriculture, and
other speakers who have wide repu-
tations in the crusade for pure foods.
The large hall of the American acade-
my of political and social science was
completely filled by fashionable au-
dience.
The theme OF DIR. Wiley'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
killed in the other. Friends OF the
legislation, he declared, had waited
for the education of 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 30, 1906" DR.. Wiley opitomized
the result that the pure food and
drugs act has had on the business
world. The unethical spirit OF com
merce in foods and drugs, he asserted
had been wholly reformed and the
character of foods and drugs offered
for consumption had been immensely
improved. These effects have eX-
tended not only to foods and drugs"
he averred. but to correlated bust
ness interests and now the people
are crying for enactment of pure
food laws for all forms OF merchan-
disc. 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"
DIR. Wiley opened his address with
the assertion that the primary cause
of the pure food law was the cupid
ty of commerce THE keen compe-
tition OF trade" lac said, lied men to
debase the wares which they hoped
to sell at the price of the genuine ar
ticle. II they did not debase the
genuine article they made an imita-
ton of 1t which they offered under
the name of the genuine article. II
they did neither they misrepresented
the qualities Of the, article, ascribing
to II virtues OF all kinds which il did
not possess"
A symposium of methods which
were used by these adulterators was
then given by Dr. Wiley. He said the
makers of these goods were not pre-
JUDGED 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 bold
ly conducted by men who would have
spurned any imputation of dishonesty
or crooked dealing and yet every one
OF them was getting money under
false pretenses and was as much a
thief as If he had gone upon the high
way in the good odfashioned Robin
Hood manner. These then were the
evils to be corrected
THE fight for pure food was a
fight against the communism Of
greed. All the interests stood togeth-
er. They felt that If one was sacri-
feed all might go, hence every move
ment which was made to correct this
condition Of affairs by legislation was
met with the united and thoroughly
controlled lobby representing the in
terests Of every description which
were thriving on the sale OF adulter-
ated and misbranded food and drugs.
These interests did not fight in the
open except on rare occasions. They
tried to conceal their identity and
their purpose. and usually appeared
as friends OF pure food and drug leg
islation and thus urged certain
amendments or verbiage, which II
adopted would have let out the Of
tenders one and all. II they could
not succeed in this they brought sub.
stitute bills with q show Of honesty
and yet full OF flaws favorable to cor.
rupt practices. They never for
moment ceased their active opposi.
ton and to the legislators who did
not look under the surface OF their
arguments seemed somewhat plaus.
ible and were for many years effec-
tive. a bill is pending for a pure
food law for paint" said DIR. Wiley
In concluding. "and so Ii extends
from one realm OF commerca IN nm.