The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1912-01-20
Judge Pollock Holds N. D.
Lard Law Is Constitutional

ltAYOlVeu, ana likewise 1or their equal
" specific claims as to the facts made
in behalf of their respective clients.
Counsel for the state insists that the
specific reason for the law is to in
sure and compel the sale Of a COM
modify of such universal daily con-
sumption as lard by the net weight,
for the reason that 1t has become a
universal and extensive practice to
pack lard for sale in pals or con-
tainers Of convenient size for meeting
the requirements OF the ordinary
householder buying lard; that these
pals have acquired by usage the des-
ignation of three pound pals" ''five-
pound pails,' ten-pound pals" but
that the actual net amount of tho lard
they contain depends upon the whlm
OF the manufacturer. That in the
minds of. the average buyer, however,
the pail contains the number of pounds
of lard which it's name implies. That
in the absence of any law requiring
the net weight of the commodity 10
be disclosed. the manufactures or the
merchant has the opportunity to actu-
ally deceive as to the actual contents
of the package, and unless the con-
tainer is opened and the contents
weighed the u must depend
upon the representations of the maker
or merchant as to the real amount of
lard he is getting, and in actual prac-
tice the representations of the maker
or merchant are accepted and acted
/ upon by the general run Of consem-
ers. That the popular conception as
to the quantity of lard is the concep-
ton accepted and acted upon by the
ordinary buyer, and the opportunity
is present for the maker and the mer-
chant to merely tacitly adopt the pop
ular conception and profit accordingly
at the expense of the buying public;
in short, they take advantage Of the
popular conception as to the quantity
of lard, and thereby they will, with
out the buyers actual knowledge, get
the same price for the weight of the
package as they get for the contents,
and that the s~urreptitious profit thus
possible is only limited by the extent
to which the weight of the package
may be increased and the contents de-
creased without attracting notice.
That as a result of this practice, the
buying public not only may, but actu-
ally has been wasting enormous sums
in the aggregate for tin and packing
which they would not have wasted has
their attention been specifically di-
rected to what they were doing. That
the object Of this net weight law OF
measure is and from time immemorial
has been to supervent the opportunity
for the practice of imposition upon
buyers, which is always possible in
sales in ready-maSe packages; and
that the effective method of accom-
plishing this result is to require that
the net weight of the contents Of q
ready-made package shall actually be
what the popular designation of the
package implies that it is. That la.
bells disclosing the net weight are no
effective in actual practice, because
the popular designation of the pack.
age and contents would prevail ir
spite of the labels; that labels ar,
oftentimes, n in fact generally I'm.
needed; the ignorant heed them no
because they do not understand them.
the busy housewife, as a rule, doe!
not notice them. Then also, label:
are easily removed or displaced, either
by intention or design, Inc that on the
pail in question introduced in evi,
dence the label is out of sight, on tn,
side of the pail, and two and one.
!, quarter inches from the Autographed
brand. That the only safeguard to in.
sure the effectiveness of such a Law
is to "standardize the PACKAGE tina.
is, to make the net contents CORES
pond with the popular designation O.
the package. Thus a one-pound pal
will mean a pail containing one full
pound Of lard. That the reason fol
not permitting fractions of a pound
Is that If such were permitted tn,
difference between the size and appear.
ance of two pals of different weight,
would not be readily ~discoverable, anC
hence deception and misrepresenta,
ton would be greatly facilitated; fol
example, 1t would be difficult, withou.
careful examination. to see the differ.
ence between a two n one-half.
pound pail and a three-pound pail.
Upon the other hand, counsel 70.
the defendant CLAM that it is shown
by the evidence that the business Il
an established one, having been bull
up to the present standard Of eficienc,
by thirty years of experience; tina
there is invested in the business o
Armour & Co, directly c~onnectet
with this industry, a large amount o
money which has been placed in Sc
curing rights in a legitimate business
the same being true of all other pack
i ers and dealers in lard. That tn,
business of selling lard was origin
ally wholly in bulk, by selling in fierce
j of from 900 to $50 pounds each. an,
the development and growth of sellinl
in tins and pals has been not onl,
i for the convenience of the seller, bu
/ for the benefit OF the consumer. The,
/. further claim that the conduct of tn
business in the shown in TIL
) testimony, and seriously affected b,
this law, is a conduct which has bee
l acquired by experience and has bee
, shaped to meet the demands and need
of the business; that the business /
necessarily conducted on a small per
centage of profit because Of actiy
{ competition, and whatever affects tn
defendant in its business affects al
packers, large or small, N directl;
affects the whole great industry, a
all manufacturers must ~necessaril
conduct their business in the way ties
| tilted to in this case to make tn
same succeed. That a demand noy
exists among the people for this pro
duct in pals or cans Of a small size
and while the purchaser always ha
a choice Of buying in pals or in bulk
} the present method furnishes the PEG
pie with q fresher, more wholesom
. product under the highest sanitar,
conditions, as ard kept either in bull
or pals will not keep fresh and whole
some but a short period. That til
weight has always been upon a gross
. weight basis. the same as other mack