The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1912-07-22


Under the general pure food law
you have the authority to have ex
aminations and inspections made o.
citrus fruits for the purpose OF as
pertaining whether there is any mis-
branded or arthcially cOlored fruit
Constructing the immature fruit Law
and the general pure food law to
gether, il is my opinion that your de
par;mcnt is authorized to make in
speclon of alleged green fruits and
make such reports thereon TO the
proper police and law officers as may
be required by law. Under the i'm
mature fruit law however, the &C
ton of your department would. per
haps. for reasons herein stated, be
entitled to no more consideration
than a complaint made by any citi-
zen of the state who may complain
and allege violation of said stat
ute"
\ lengthy correspondence ensued
between the officials Of the Florida
Citrus Exchange and the commission
er OF agriculture, the latter taking
the position that the immature fruit
Law vas general law, that it did
not dcyolve upon him to enforce it,
nor to participate in enforcing it, and
refused absolutely to have anything
10 do with it. The Florida Citrus
Exchange based its action upon the
opinion rendered by the attorney gen
,ral, as quoted above. insisting that
I the commissioner of agriculture per.
/ fern the duty dcvolving upon his of.
flee. The EXCHANGE sent personal
I / epr, AT tatiNc TO Tallahassee. EN-
p.estd counsel there other than the
i attorney l,neral, and together they
4 i'll nicWel The commissioner of az.
/ ric4,Ura. at which interview State
Ceui~i H. T.. Rose was present, ana
IN which H. participated. The IN
c'ssu x" representative, With its at
lpldyy. con- rred With the attorney
neral. Nho reaslrmed his opinion
/ that The Two Laws should be construed
/ to@eth,r. the sen raj pure food law
and the immature fruit law and
| that, under this construction. it was
| the duty Of the pure food department
ui the state - make inspections
where complaints We're filed and to
secure samples ana 10 hold these
F, samples subiret to inspection by the
proper officials Of III law. The Flor,
ida citrus ENehau:,p requested and
urged the commissioner Of agricul.
lurc To appoint inspectors TO do this
work, OFFERING 10 drlray the expense
! If there WAS 10 fund available from
the state for this purpose The whole
linr OF correspondence developed thc
fact that neither the commissioner
ui agriculture nur the state chemist
desired To on had any tention ul
lending their moral support to The on
forccmcnt of that law, nor to dis.
charge the duty dcyolving upon them
under the opinion rendered to the
commissioner of agriculture by the
attorney general Of The state, whose
duty il is TO advise the agricultural
commissioner and pure food depart
mcnt rs TO their duties in such mat,
tiers. On October c, 1911, Commits,
sioncr Mclin addressed letter to
Mr.. W. c. Temple, general manager
Of the Florida citrus Exchange, Tam
pa, Fla, in which he says:
Il have referred to the attorney
general the proposition as to wheth-
er | would be authorized to take any
legal steps as an official under the
immature fruit statute. Should the
attorney general hold that | am mis-
taken in my views as to want of
authority under the provision of the
said immature fruit statute, | shall
conform to bis opinion on the sub
ject, as he is my legal adviser on
such matters. Having submitted the
question TO the attorney general, |
will transmit to you a copy of his
OpinlOn Oh the SUBJECT
1t will be seen from the commits.
sloncr's statement in this letter that
he had submitted the proposition To
the attorney general and that he
would abide by the attorney generals
decision. However, after this decis.
ION was rendered, the commissioner
OF agriculture did not change his
views. We were again advised nv him
That the immature fruit law was a
general law, that it could be enforc.
ed only by the usual process for en-
forcing general laws, that some citi.
zen should complain to the proper
officers in his county, that this off.
Ger should take the usual routine.
ana That the fruit should be brought
before court which would determine
on examination whether or not the
irult was immature within the mean.
ing OF the law There appeared to
DC no course open TO the growers of
FLORIDA except through their organi- !
zation, the Florida Citrus Exchange.
The Florida Citrus Exchange was.
therefore, forced into an attitude of
in an effort to have this
Jaw enforced, giving the growers OF l
ms state IN" protection they were 1
entitled TO III restraining persons
rom VIOLATING this law, thereby de-
the markets for their prod
ict A number OF arrests were made
n this stat. far fsfaiafipn of tbf, l.