Evening star., 1914-11-15

food law will face heavier penalties
than have ever
Penalties for Food been inflicted in
To- v;o1,4;. the past, includ-
ing fines or i'm
prisonment. or both, if they persist
along certain lines of violation of the
law, and providing conspiracy can be
shown between two or more persons
In the violation. Jail sentences and
heavy fines are something which vio-
lators OF the pure food and drugs law
have little feared up to the present
time
In the past, even the most serious
violations of the law have resulted in
fines of from $40 to 800, the law set
ting the maximum at 5000 in the states
and $500 in the District of Columbia
number of manufacturers of mis-
branded and adulterated products have
continued In unlawful business. and
have taken flyer" when large prof
its were in sight, and have felt safe
in the knowledge that if caught by
the government inspectors of the
United States bureau of chemistry a
small fine would be the only penalty if
the case went against them in court.
10 the surprise of men who have
been engaged in the practice of violat-
ing the pure food law, an old federal
statute has been called into play re-
Gently and a new era in the prosecu-
ton OF unscrupulous manufacturers is
promised. There is on the federal stat
ute books law which makes it an Of
fense for any person to conspire with
another to violate any existing laws OF
the United States. This statute has
been brought in to apply to persona
who have conspired to violate the pure
food law, and already it has resulted
in fines of $4,000 each on two violators
of the pure food and drugs act of 1906
and fine of $4,000 on another. The
case against a co-offender with the
man who was fined $4,000 is still pend
ing.
The pure food and drugs act applies
only to articles entering into interstate
traffic and which are adulterated or
misbranded within the meaning of the
law The prosecution takes two forms,
either the seizure of the goods by the
government officers and their de-
struction or resale, under proper
labels, or criminal prosecution in
or $500 in the District of Columbia.
Up to the present time few of the fines
nave reached the maximum, and gem
orally they have ranged from SO to
500.
The restriction of the amount of the
fine under the pure food law, it is said,
has almost had the effect of encourag-
ing the violation of the act. Unless an
amendment to the law is made this
objection will continue. 1t is claimed,
so far as the prosecution of violators
who are not guilty of conspiracy is
concerned. Conspiracy, however, be-
tween two or more persons frequently
enters in, especially in misbranding or
substitution of products, and in the
past these people have escaped easily
with small fines when convicted of vio-
lation of the law.
The federal ahti-conspiracy act. un-
like the pure food law, makes it pos
sible not only to impose heavy fines.
but also to inflict Jail sentences at
the same time, and in future cases of
violation of the pure food law in which
conspiracy is shown the offenders will
be prosecuted under the anti-conspir-
acy law.
The most sensational instance in
which the governments officers
brought in the federal anti-conspiracy
law in the prosecution of men guilty
of misbranding was in the recently de-
cided case of two New York liquor
of brandies and rum into various New
England cities Barrels marked i'm
ported brandy, with customs stamps
thereon, were sent to various New
dealers for from s6 to SO per gallon.
Investigation by the government ex-
perts disclosed the fact that the bran
dy was of a domestic variety and was
worth only about S1.90 per gallon.
What purported to be imported rum
was also found to be Of domestic man.
ufacture.
The second case won recently by
the government also originated in New
York. A Milwaukee house ordered a
shipment of BoEota coffee. and two cof-
fee merchants of Manhattan made up
the order by substituting washed Car
acas coffee shipped in Bogota coffee
sacks. Both men were found guilty of
conspiring to defeat the provisions of
the pure food law against misbranding
and were fined $4,000 each.