The Washington herald., 1913-09-13
DIR. WILEY finds (
JOKER" in BILL
Denounces Provision in Tariff
Measure Relating to
Wines.
ADULTERATION FEARED
Paragraph Admits Free Products in
Which Twenty Per Cent of Water,
Sugar, or Grape Must Is Used.

DR.. Harvey W. Wiley is up in arms
against a Joker which was slipped into
the tariff bill Just before IL was passed
in the Senate. and which. he claims, is
another case of shooting holes in the
pure food law.
The Joker applies to the manufacture
Of wines, and provides that wines in
which 20 per cent of water. sugar, or
grape must is used, may go without tax,
although the tariff bill imposes a tax Of
S1.IO a gallon on wines made solely from
the juice of the grape. DR.. Wiley says:
From time to time, as occasion pre-
sents. some one takes advantage OF an
ambush to shoot the food laws full OF
holes The last attempt is of such
particularly dangerous character as to
warrant a notice and a protest. In the
proceedings of the Senate. first session,
Congressional record, psye 1874, when the
new tariff bill was under consideration,
Senator Stone offered an amendment
which was adopted, TO a certain pUoviso
in the bill. which, as amended, reads as
follows:
" Provided: That the tax herein inn
Tused shall not he held TO apply to pure
wine made exclusively from fresh grapes,
berries, or other fruits, 10 which has
! cen added, before. during, or after, fer
ImentatiOn. sugar, pure, boiled. or con-
Gensed, grape must. or water not eN-
Ceeding in either case 20 per cent of the
weight Of such wine
Called TravrSty on Language.
What a trhvestv on language it IS
tu call such q cOnCOCTiOn pure wine
Iiut il the Congress OF the United States
thus defines pure wine. it will of ne
cessity overrule any provision of the eX-
listing law relating to wine.
There is only one kind Of pure wine
L.
ClgSively of the juice of sound, ripe
grapes. All other wines by common cor
sent must he LrehXed with the name OF
the fruit from which they are made.
Think for moment what a riot Of adul-
teTation the above definition would per-
nit, The total addition of ~ Ter Ceut
Of the weight of the wine may be made
before. during. ar after fermentation. No
one can ascertain how much adulterating
matter was used. because it is impossi-
ble to tell how n-Jch the weight of the
finished wine would he 1t is evident IL
would be much larger than the original
weight Of the expressed grape juice.
Hence there would he no standard hy
means Of which it would he possible 10
revent an excessive addition Of the
adulteratinE ingredients.
For iNustTa tiOn. il will he sufficient to
take the case Of sugar alone. Assuming
that the wine would weigh leo pounds. il
might. under this provision. contain
twenty pounds Of added sugar. II this
sugar be added before or during fcrmcn-
tation. it will be converted into alcohol
and make ten pounds Of absolute alco-
hol Ten pounds Of absolute alcohol
would make 100 pounds of an alcoholic
liquor containing u per cent by volume
OF alcohol. Pure wines rarely contain so
much. Thus. all the alcohol. and more
than the wine should contain. might be
derived from the added sugar.
Asks that Protest BE Made.
Let the people who are interested in |
the purity of products Immediately pro-
test against this outrageous attempt TO
debauch the wines of this country. Some |
of them. e pecially those made in Mis- J
souri,, already have so bad a reputation |
that they have brought discredit Upon /
7Ilc whole country. All of them under !
the above provision may legally be moth |
Ing more nor less than a disguised rum. !
for rum is the name of the alceliolic !
fermented sugar. It is quite as much !
rum before distillatioR as after. |
The saddest pages OF legislation of /
this country have been those relating to
wines. Authorizations Of the worst char
acter have been permitted. Brandy (
which was unfit for consumption has |
heen allowed to he withdrawn free Of tax
for fortifying purposes, and the Consum-
crs of wines have been subjected to the |
worst of all poisons. bad alcohol, which ,
ought not to have been in the product at
all -.-.... 90