Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1911-11-30
pure Food" for Thought, as Well.

| "Fure r 600" tor lhought, as well.
One effect of the pure food and drug
act on which the people of Americ
should congratulate themselves Is tina
it has been made possible for homes
| dealers to conduct a business withou
the ruinous competition of aduIterator
and debasers. This fact was brough
out sharply by Harvey w. Wiley, chic
! chemist of the Department of Agricu1
| ture, in an address before the Ameri
can Academy of Political and Soca
| science, at Philadelphia, Pa, Thursday
| night.
DR.. Wiley described In detail how the
special interests got together and
| blocked the enactment of the bill
sometimes in one house of Congress,
| and sometimes in the other, and he
pointed out that friends of the Iegis-
lation had to await the education of
public opinion and a demand for such
law so strong as to be impossible of
obstruction by private interests. He
told how the fight went on for more
than a quarter of a century, and then
epitomized the result that the pure
food and drugs act has had on the
business world.
That DR.. Diley has won and retains
the respect and gratitude of the Am
erican people is made more manifest
every day, when we consider the wave
of public opinion which overwhelmed
the strength of a great department of
the government, backed by the finan-
cial power of untold millions. The eff
feets have not only been a new code
of ethics in the trade of foods, but has
permeated all branches of correlated
business interests. Already the news
papers of the country feel an impetus
Of the strong public sentiment which
is bound to result in pure food laws
for all sorts of merchandise, and it
may not be too far to go to picture it's
entry into civic affairs of every COM
munity in the land, where not only
theatrical productions but organs of
public expression will feel the weight
of the pure food law upon that food for
thought thus expressed.
AS much as we denounce combina-
tons and uphold the principle of COM
petition, we have learned, at great
cost, that keen competition has led
men to debase the wares which they
hope to sell at the price of the genuine
article. Pure articles of commerce
could not compete with them, and al
| branches of trade were obliged to ae
cept that brand of goods in whiel
| there was the most profit, until sucl
time as the spurious article was PLACED
on a level in price and demand will
that which it initiated "Dr. Wiley
said: IF they did not debase the gen.
uine article, they made an initiation
of it which they offered under the
did neither. they misrepresented the
qualities of the article, ascribing to il
virtues of all kinds which it did not
possess.
1.-THE conscience of the people," he
declared, twas scared as with 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 getting money under false
pretenses and was as much a thief as
if he had gone upon the highway in
the good old-fashioned Robin Hood
manner. These then We're the evils to
be corrected.
1.-THE fight for pure food was a fight
against the communism of greed All
the interests stood together They felt
that if one was sacrificed all might 60
hence every movement which was
made to correct this condition of af-
ldlFS ny leBlSldllO1l WAS met WIFI S<le
united and thoroughly controlled lobby
representing the interests of every de-
scription which We're thriving on the
sale of adulterated and misbranded
foods and drugs. These interests did
not fight in the open except on rare oc-
casions. They tried to conceal their
identity and their purpose. and usu-
ally appeared as friends of pure food
and drug legislation and thus urged
certain amendments or verbiage, which
if adopted would have let out the Of
tenders one and all.
IF they could not succeed in this
they brought substitute bills with a
show of honesty and yet full of flaws
favorable to corrupt practices. They
never for a moment ceased their ac-
tive opposition and to the legislator
who did not look under the surface
their arguments seemed somewhat
plausible and were for many years eff
fectiye."
Sunnosa fba Governor Read III