Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-06-10
ACTION BETTER THAN TALK
Il 10 Now Time for Agricultural De.
partment to Do Som sthino.

.SThe hour has come when halt is
going to be called in South Carolina
as far as I am able to Go 1t, under.
state and Federal law, and / don't hes
itate to say that no matter who the
man is or how big the arm or corpora
ton is, If can get the evidence tnat
will convict him of furnishing dam
gerous products leading to the de-
struction of life, / propossa TO use ey-
cry means In my power TO land him
eilher In q state or Federal prison
This emphatic statement was made
yesterday by Commissioners. Watson In
| Idiscussing the pure food and drug act,
I the enforcement Of which has been
placed under the direction Of the
state department Of agriculture. one
Inspector has been appointed and 10
actively engaged In enforcing the law.
A laboratory has been establisned In
connection with the feed stuns iapor-
lat0ry, tlss Sc
Lets look at another phase Of this
situation" continued the commissions
er, brought about by the fact that
South Carolina has so many years
been q dumping ground for impure
and unsound foods, and in doing So
remember this, that our people buy
nearly everything that they eat from
manufacturers in distant states. For
hog products alone we probably spend
at least s16,000,000 q yesr; for dairy
products we spend $20,o0O,000; for
western meats and canned goods,
sum I dare not mention; for Hour
alone, $20.000,000 annually and Tor
ketchup. soda crackers, syrups ana
candles and indeed everything almost
| that we eat, sums that range into the
millions. I know Of one grocery es-
| tablishment alone that sells 5000
cases Of canned goods every year and
fully two-thirds Of these are cans OF
vegetables. A low average value per
case would represent In this one store
an annual expenditure Of about $12,-
| 900.
att is a great work that Is being
done by the state board Of health,
said the commissioners, 'fn matters OF
sanitation, in educating the people as
to the common rules OF health, In the
handling of epidemics, In the battling
with deadly diseases, and II is a great
work that the medical practitioner OF
the state is doing. am proud Of the,
work In those fields Of endeayor, fields
ever broadening, leading 10 the fullest.
conservation Of the human resources
Of the state; hut nearly all OF that
work, as valuable as II IL, deals with
| the human being already! assailed BY
disease, with conditions that can be
seen with the. eye and ara Of, common
repute. 49,, !.
'The enforcement or tie pure food
and drug laws Of the state, to- my
| mind, Is Of far deeper consequences
and that enforcement Of all these
agencies should lend the fullest and
most complete co-opers tom. e These
laws strike at the cause OF most or the
diseases; they strike at the cause of
most of the epidemfcs. Man cannot
live without eating and when he takes
poison into his system through a the
course OF his daily diat-a poison
which he has no means OF knowing
is there-he cannot be blamed for de-
veloping the disease that often sends
him to the medical man too late for
anything to be done, or at least In
time only to survive after a hard bat
tie. What we have learned of corn
meal Is illustrative Of the slow alb.
man system. When the time comes
when the medical practitioner must
be called In, he writes his prescrfp-
| ton, for the suffering infant for in
stance, and II is taken to the drug
store and there, instead Of paragorfc
which that physician intends that the
child shall have and knows that the
child needs, the purchaser ID given
an adulterated product and the pur-
pose Of the physician is defeated. The
suffering child suffers on and has
been deprived Of need i,f the hour
and then, comes death. do not know
how many deaths of infants may have
been caused by the use Of condensed
SKINNED milk, but I do know this
| that this product was aent into the
markets Of the state IL perfect
flood; that in all the mill villages 1t
appeared in packages Of the same size
and general appearance as to labels
with good condensed milk. 1t was sold
at half the price and thousands OF
people bought It and fed It to infants.
say do not know II, but do be-
lieve that this use Of this product.
based on ignorance Of i;s food COM
| tent, has probably caused as many
deaths Of infants in this state as all
the cases Of infantile paralysis that
the state has ever had"-Columbia
II