Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1911-08-24
VITAL WASHINGTON NEWS.

dare to carry out the plot to drive DR..
Harvey Wiley from the government
service.
i This was the thought that suggested
itself time and again to the minds of
the men and women who crowded the
Moss investigating committee rooms
and heard Dr. Wiley lay bare the.
story of the systematic fight which
I has been waged against him because
he insisted the food manufacturers
keep their products pure.
! At times, as DR. Wiley told of the
! fierce persecution he had endured, his
voice almost broke, and he could pro-
coed only with difficulty At times
! also the committee members, utterly
dumbfounded by the doctors state
ments, were at loss as to what
questions to ask him next.
Not only was it shown that DR..
| Wiley's efforts to serve the public
and protect it from injurious and poi
sonous substances in food prepare
tions had been absolutely blocked by
the conspirators in the administration
headed by Secretary of Agriculture
! Wilson and his controlling influence,
Solicitor McCabe, but that the latest
effort to force DR.. Wiley out of Office
was based upon letter which he
never received and knew nothing
about.
Not boastfully or eagerly, but in
response to questions by members of
the committee, DR.. Wiley recited the
universities at which he had studied,
the great scientific societies at home
and abroad which have honored him
in various ways, and the recital went
long way in revealing to the COM
mittee the great public spirit and sym
pathy of this man who possessed
courage in public duty which neither
| threats from official sources nor OPP
position by the powers of evil had been
able to break down.
While the whole hearing was a sue
cession of revelations that left the
| committee and spectators thunder
struck, the most astonishing testi-
mony came when Dr. Wiley told of his
| efforts to prevent the use of alum,
and again when he recited the story
OF how three cabinet members, Cor
| telyou, Straus and Wilson, to please
the $S0,000,000 Corn Products Com
pany, abrogated the application of the
pure food law to product of that
concern.
Alum, used in foods" said DR..
Wiley, especially in baking powder,
is responsible for the large amount
of constipation that is prevalent
throughout the country. l considered
its use a serious danger to public
health, and wanted it stopped pending
investigation Dat ~ 9TH
members of the reviewing board over
ruled me, as they invariably did, and
the use of alum is still permitted.
Another case involved the use of
sulphur dioxide. Dunlap and McCabe
recommended that we discontinue the
rule requiring the presence of this
drug be indicated on the label. AS the
rule had been adopted after a most
exhaustive investigation I was con-
WINGED that to do away with it would
be grave mistake. Dunlap and Nc
Cabe revoked the rule, however, dur
ing my absence, and when returned
wrote a deter to Secretary Wilson.
asking for a hearing. But Secretary
Wilson did not even. reply to my
letter"
Administration Stenographers.
Here is a story of two Taft admini-
stration stenographers which shows
how hard it is to work for the govern
ment these days and remain honest.
r. NJ. Kerby, stenographer to the
late Secretary of the Interior Ballin-I
ger, exploded the whole Ballinger de-
Tense by bringing to light the "Lawler
, nd >,
memorandum, and knew, therefore,
that President Taft's letter exonerat-
ing Ballinger was ante dated and
frame-up to clear the Secretary. And
because he revealed information which
came to him in his confidential capa-
city as stenographer, Ballinger called
him unworthy" and discharged him.
Now contrast this with the case of
Miss Carriee M. Davis, stenographer
to DR.. L. F. Kebler, of the bureau of
chemistry. In his campaign to GUST
DR.. Wiley, Solicitor McCabe locked
Miss Davis in room, and "sweated"
her for three hours because she re-
fused to divulge confidential informa-
ton which McCabe thought he could
use against Wiley.
kerby broke confidence, because
he placed loyalty to the people above
loyalty to Ballinger, and was dis
charged. Miss Davis refused to break
confidence, and for that she was
cruelty chastised by. a subordinate in
an administration, the high officials
of which frequently pirate about ethics.
A Four Ply Monopoly.
One of the first facts deyalonad hv
the Stanley steel Investigating com
mittee was that the directors Of the
steel trust actually dominated the
board of directors or nearly all the
important railroads of the country.
Then it came to light that the same
ruling spirits of the steel trust CO.
operated with and practically dominat-
ed Standard Oil. And now it develops
that four of the six directors of the
harvester trust are also directors Of