Evening star., 1948-01-18
Fight Looms
Over Oleo
Senator Fulbright. Is
Determined to
Lift Tax
By Chalmers Roberts

A determined effort to repeal the
Federal taxes on oleomargarine and
end the nuisance to the housewife
Of having to color it herself is now
beginning on Capitol Hill.
II anything will get such bill
through Congress. observers agree,
it's the current high cost Of living
including high-priced butter.
Leader OF the new drive to repeal
the taxes is soft-spoken Senator
Fulbright, Democrat, Of Arkansas.
He considers the tax strictly puni-
tive rather than revenue raising and
many lawmakers in both houses Of
Congress agree. But the dairy in
terests have many friends on the
Hill and the resultant battle Is likely
to be q tough one.
LEGAL to Color 1t Here
The simple reason you don't buy
oleo already colored Is that there
Is . Federal tax of 10 cents pound
on colored margarine. With butter
lowering around 81 . pound, you
buy oleo to save money and GER
tainly don't want to pay an extra
dime just to have it colored.
You can legally buy colored oleo
in the District or in Virginia but
not in Maryland. In % of the 46
other States it Is illegal to sell col
ored oleo, under State law.
Consider the Federal tax alone.
On uncolored margarine the tax is
q quarter cent q pound, which is
hardly very serious. The 10-cent-a-
pound tax on the colored variety,
however, raises its, price about rs
per cent, since oleo is selling around
40 cents a pound these days.
If you're q retail grocer in the
District you must take out Federal
license and pay $48 a year for it to
legally sell colored margarine. To
sell it uncolored you need a Federal
license costing $6 year.
If you're a wholesaler it will cost
you $3.50 year to get license to
sell colored margarine, 5000 year to
sell the uncolored variety. A manu-
facturer must pay 5000 year for
Federal license before he can make
either kind.
These taxes apply to margarine
which Is used on the family dinner
table. If you eat in restaurant or
hotel that restaurant or hotel must
pay a yearly manufacturers license
fee Of $500 plus an additional 10
cents pound on all margarine. The
hotel or restaurant, Of course, does
not really manufacture" the mar
garine.
How 1t Ali Started
If you're a hospital patient or in
a charitable, religious or other in
stitution you can't eat colored mar
garine until the management has
taken out a manufacturer license
and paid a dime = pound on the
oleo. -..
Senator Fulbright seeks to repeal
all of these taxes.
How did it all begin?
Back in 1886 the dairy industry,
worried lest oleo replace butter, got
Congress to pass the first oleo act
with taxing and licensing provisions.
In 1902 the present tax schedule
outlined above. was adopted.
In 1887 Americans ate 1877 pounds
Of butter per capita and 81 pounds
Of oleo. Ten years later-last year
they ate lis pounds Of butter and
around as pounds of oleo, accord
ing to the preliminary figures now
available.
OF all the oleo produced this year,
only about l pound in 10 is col
ored. The nine others are colored
laboriously at home by the house.
wife.
In Senate speech just before the
Christmas holiday recess, Senator
Fulbright went into the oleo situa-
ton in some detail.
He pointed out that the Federal
taxes and license fees on margarine
in 1916 brought in $4,932, ,167, which
hardly makes the tax q good rev.
enue-producing measure. State
taxes and fees he estimated at
81 ,257 900 In the same year.
ZAn