Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-06-08
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT IS DOING

! the work of the various bureaus goes
| over a much wider range than the aver
| age person would suppose. Three pu.
reaus of the department-the steamboat
| inspection service. the bureau OF naVlsa-
| ton and the bureau Of Hghthouses-are
| concerned with matters of safety OF tra.ei
! at sea. the fisheries and fur seanng III
vestiRa tons come under another bureau
| the coasts are mapped by the coast ano
| geodetc survey. the bureau of foreign
| and domestic commerce gathers lnlorHa
| ton bearing on every detail of the ma
! tions commerce and the bureau OF the
| census handles the statistics on the ma
| tons growth in population. Industry ana
wealth.
| With careful selection of subjects and
skillful operating of the moving picture
cameras, Secretary Redfield believes tnat
a series of films can be produced whicn,
when exhibited in various parts or the
country will give an idea of the depart
ment's work to many people who would
never be reached through the medium Of
government publications.
The longest advance step which mas
ever been taken in the operation OF the
food and drugs act
To Guarantee Of 1906 since its en-
- actment will be the
meat PRODUCTS. use of this law to
| guard against the impurity or misorahd-
| ing of meats and meat products This
action TO protect further the heaith OF
I the people of the country Will soon be
| taken by Secretary David r Houston
| of the Department of Agriculture VINO Is
| backed by a decision of Attorney Gen
| eral McReynolds on the point that there
| is nothing in the food and drugs act
which prevents it's application to meats
! and meat products.
That the pure food Law has not been
used to prevent the adulteration or sale
| of unfit meats in the past will be news
! to many people, in fact. to some of the
most earnest advocates of the pure food
movement When the departmental reg
ulations which govern the administration
| Of the pure food law were adopted. q
paragraph was included which provided
! that the law should not apply to domestic
meats and meat products. The reason
perhaps was that the meat inspection
| laws. which operate where the stock is
slaughtered for market. were thought to
give sufficient protection to insure pure
meat supply. This law does not cover
| the purity of meats on the market how
| ever as the pure food law applies to
other products.
Secretary Houston made a number OF
Inquiries Why's the pure food law should
| not apply to meats, and finding that no
, one in the department had good answer.
he went to the governments highest legal
authority. and Attorney General Nc
Reynolds says that there is no reason
| why the law should not operate against
meats. With the meat inspection law
operating at the packing houses and the
pure food law covering meats and meat
products after they have passed into
interstate commerce. the people OF the
country have better insurance of pure
food. nerhaDS. than other nation IN
the world.
There are a number of important points
on which the pure food law will help the
consumer and protect him in purchases
Of meats and meat products One of the
most important benefits will come in the
application of the new amendment OF the
pure food law which makes necessary
the marking Of all foods sold In package
| numerical count. Thus prepared meat
products hereafter will be purchased by
weight, the same as are steaks or chops.
The application Of the adulteration and
msbranding clauses of the pure food laws
to meats and meat products will guaran-
. tee purity and insure against misleading
branding. The right of the government
to seize impure meats has not been exer-
cised heretofore, but In the future the ex-
tension of the pure food law will mean
that meats. like other products, found
| unfit for food purposes will be seized
and prosecutions started If 1t is found
that they consist in whole or in part
of filthy. decomposed or putrid animal
substance" Friends of the pure food
movement think that there is nothing
which Secretary Houston could have done
to inspire the confidence of the people of
the country more important and vital
than the application Of the pure food law
to meats and meat products, which form
such a large part Of the nations food
supply.
group Of experts representing three
departments of the government. Agr:cul-
ture. Treasury and
Conference on Commerce. will meet
Food Marking. r ro%o,F0 OF the fn seere :
tary Of the Treasury. in the customhouse
at New York. to begin the first series of
important hearings which have been
called for the discussion of the new
amendment to the pure food law which
provides for the marking of the weight,
measure or numerical count on the out
side OF all packages in which food Is sold.
The interests of the consumer will come
in for thorough consideration, for it was
to insure the consumer a square deal in
all purchases of food products that Con-
gress passed the weights and measures
amendment during the closing hours of
the last administration. The amendment
allows for reasonable variations of
weights and measures. and the amount of
these "tolerances, as they are called.
which the government will permit must
be decided by the committee representing
the Agricultural, Treasury and Commerce
departments as provided by law.
The committee which will receive the
briefs and hear the arguments of manu-
facturers and their representatives will
consist of DR.. Carl l.. Alsberg chief of
the bureau of chemistry: l.. 4. Fisher.
i'm charge of the division Of weights and
measures of the bureau of standards and
r. NJ. Halstead. chief of the customs di-
vision of the Treasury Department.
To decide the amount OF variations TO
be allowed in the weights and measures
of packages will offer one Of the hardest
problems which have grown out of the
administration of the pure food law
Some foods dry out and shrink after
they are packed. causing considerable
variations in weight or measure at times
Just how much of tolerance should be
allowed has long been "A source of con-
tention among the people who favored
the amendment to the pure food law.
Dr. Harvey w. Wiley. for thirty years
chief of the bureau OF chemistry. has
always insisted that no tolerance should
be allowed, unless the product was found
on examination of samples to be as often
over weight or in excess measure as it
was under weight or short measure DIR.
Wiley does not believe in the allowance
Of any variation when the varia ton will
always be under the amount marked on
the package
Another important point to he decided
by the committee on tolerances is just
how much variation to allow in packages
or other containers of food. Many man
ufacturers find 1t impossible to get bot