The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1911-06-22
TAFT URGES AN
AMENDMENTTO !
PUREFOODLAW
THE PRESIDENT scAThINGLY AR
RAIGNs WHAT HE DENoUNcEs
AS DANGEROUS DRUG FRAUDS"
AND WANTS CONGRESS TO PASS
LAWS AT THIS SESSION THAT
WILL STRENGTHEN THE PURE
FOOD AND DRUG ACT.
BY Associated Press.

Washington, June 21.-In a message
prepared In New York and transmitted
through the Wits House today to
congress-, President Taft scathing ar
raigned the manufacturers of what he
denounced as dangerous drug frauds"
and urged congress to amend at this
session the pure food and drug law to
strengthen that act in vital points Of
weakness recently pointed out by de-
cisions of the United States supreme
court.
President Taft believes that unless
the law Is amended forthwith the
country will again be flooded by in
which were common before the pure
food law was enacted.
The message was transmitted both
to the senate and house and it was
said today that the latter body proba
bly, would take up the matter at an
early date. Representative Sherley Of
Kentucky already had introduced a bill
bearing on the subject The message
is as follows:
ITO the Senate and House Of Repre-
sentatiVes:
your attention is respectfully called
to the necessity of passing at this ses
sion an amendment to the food and
drugs act of June 80, 1906, which will
supplement existing laws and prevent
commerce and the manufacture and
sale within the territories and the Dis
trict Of Columbia of worthless nos
trums labelled with rnisstatements of
fact as to their physiological action
misstatements and misleading even in
the knowledge of those who make
them.
LONG AGITATED.
"On June 80, 1906, after an agitation
of twenty years, the food and drugs act
passed by the fifty ninth congress re-
ceived the approval of the president
and became law. The purpose of the
measure was twofold, first to prevent
the adulteration of foods and drugs
within the Jurisdiction of tha federal
government and second to prevent any
false Labelling of foods and drugs that
will deceive the people into the belief
that they are securing other than that
for which they ask and which they
have the right to get.
The law was received with general
satisfa ction and has been vigorously
enforced. More than 10000 cases have
been prepared for criminal prosecution
against the shippers of adulterated or
misbranded foods and drugs and seiZ-
ures have been made of more than TOO
shipments of such articles. More than
| two thirds of these cases have been
begun since March 4, 1909. OF the
criminal cases more than 500 have ter
minated favorably to the government
| and of the shipments seized more than
| 45O have been condemned and either
| relabeled or destroyed. In every case
| in which the foods seized were deleter-
| ious to health, 1t was destroyed. A
| large number Of cases are now pend
/ ing.
The supreme court has held in a
recent decision Omitted States VS.. O.
A. Johnson, opinion, May 29. 1911), that
| the food and drugs act does not cover
| the knowingly false labelling Of nos
| trums as to curative effect of physio-
! logical action and that inquiry under
| this salutary statute does not by its
| terms extend in any case to the inef-
| ficiency of medicines to work the cures
| claimed for them on the labels. It fol-
lows that without fear of punishment
under the law, unscrupulous persons
| knowing the medicines to have nc
| curative or remedial value for the dts
eases for which they indicate them
| may ship in interstate commerce medi-
| cine composed OF substances possess
! ing any slight physiological action and
labeled as cures for diseases which in
| the present state of science are recog-
nized as incurable.
| AN evil which menaces the genera
| health Of the people strikes at the life
| Of the nation. In my opinion the sale
| of dangerously adulterate drugs or the
sale Of drugs under knowingly false
| claims as to their effect on disease
| constructs such an evil and warrant!
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