Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1921-03-16

You viii unAsrstand that il goods
held II MassachQsstkss Nav Hamp-
slhife o. CanaAA havo passed beyond
the time 1fnRSe allowed for cold
storage the only thing the owner can
do - 10 soip them info Maine and
dnnp thaum q tie Mains market.
Now DO not maintain that a
period Of cold storage longer than a
year 10 necessarily injurious, but you
will note IT once that q period Of
storage longee than q year, with a
possible extsnnEan Of four months.
provides IN opnoxtunity for manipu
lation Of prices. 4 year. or a year
and four nnoaths, = SUFFICIENT to pre-
serve food1 from seasonal fluctua-
tons and should be a sufficient
period to keep goods in storage.
have been consulting a number
of authoritative works ON the sub
ject ana flnd that certain kinds Of
food are subject 10 change by rea
son Of the fact Of their having been
cold stored. This same authority
REMARKS on the fact that whiskey
which has been froxen changes its
fi2vor and character. but I never
have had an opportunity to demon
strate that proposition In a practical
manner. Some of you no doubt are
familiar with this fact in so far as it
may relate to cold storage chickens
and turkeys. Nov an article Of food
which has been placed In cold stor-
age may be In q perfectly wholesome
condition. nothing poisonous about
il, but IT. II A-weu known fact that
when removed from cold storage the
Tissues deteriorate and decomposi-
ton sets in more quickly. Therefore,
il a person il aware that an article
Of food has been kept in cold stor-
age. that person may be prepared to
know how to handle the article of
food; but IL q person buys a fowl
or an article of food under the im-
pressi0n that II is fresh, and keeps
it the same length OF time. they
would keep the fresh article of food.
there 10 liable to be some decay
which may prove injurious.
The FIRST draft Of the bin providing
for the Submission of monthly re-
ports TO the department of agricul-
ture has been eliminated in the new
draft. The provision Is made that the
commissioner of agriculture shall
have access to the records OF the
cold storage company. There are not
very many cold storage warehouses
in the State of Maine, and those that
are conducted in the State are gen.
orally run in q proper manner. but
it will be just as wen to have them
subject to control and inspection.
For instance. an important provi1
sion in this bill il that goods once
taken from cold storage shall not be
put back into cold storage. The pro-
vision az to the marking of goods Of
fered for sale indicating that they
have been cold stored goods is one
that should not necessarily prejudice
the public against cold storage ar
ticles, but on the contrary should
show the public the value OF cold
storage. A person. may want to buy
eggs for the table, and may want
fresh eggs. they may want to buy
eggs for cooking purposes and might
be perfectly willing to buy cold stor-
age eggs, but they want to be able
to know the difference and to know
when they. are buying an article of
food that has been in cold storage,
| they want to have a label on the
goods indicating that they have
been in cold storage. Therefore, MFR.
Speaker, move the acceptance Of the
minority report. reporting out to pass
in a new draft.
Mr.. WING Of Auburn: Mr..
Speaker, / shall oppose the motion
Of the gentleman from Gardiner,
Mr.. Gardiner, for certain reasons
which will briefly state TO you.
This bin Is an instance Of continuous
and continual interference on the
part OF government with the affairs
of citizens. You should not be I'M
duly alarmed about cold storage,
because without cold storage you
could not live. Nature is not boun-
tiful enough to supply US all at the
same time with fresh food. There
are. in the community which I rep
resent, several large packing estab-
lishments. This bill, or the minor
ity bill, provides that IL from one
of those establishments lamb, or :.
side OF beef, or case Of eggs, is
taken from the ice box of that es-
tablishnient and offered for sale in
my community. or in the neighbor.
ing community Of Lewiston. that ar
ticle cannot be returned to that ice
box II It is not sold. Now, gentle
men. any such interference with
business. with food, Is not right, and
you should go very slow before you
impose on the people Of this State.
and on the farmers Of this State who
have ice boxes, the right Of the COM
missioner Of agriculture, under a. set
Of rules Of his own making, to come
and say to you that this shall be
thrown away, or this shall be kept,
and you shall go to prison for this
offence. for having q few eggs in
your ice box or not; and I say to you
gentlemen that the committee hear
ing this bill. and this measure, in a
crowded room, with representatives
Of the various packing industries
and merchandising industries OF this
State. and having heard that meas
ure fully and carefully. they reported
that this bill ought not to pass. and
I sincerely hope that the motion of
the gentleman from Gardiner {Mr.
Gardiner) win not prevail.
The SPEAKER: All those who
| Ao,,, M,,~h IT,