POLITICS AND PURE FOOD

One of the most remarkable episodes in the activities of the Remsen Board was in connection with the Convention of State, Dairy and Food Officials in their annual meeting in Denver, in 1909. The previous meeting of this official body was held at Mackinac Island in 1908. At this meeting vigorous protests against the mutilation of the food law by the creation of the Remsen Board were voiced in the resolutions adopted by the convention. These resolutions reflected severely upon the attitude of the Secretary of Agriculture and other officials of the Department in accepting the decisions of this Board which were held to be contrary to law. The Secretary of Agriculture was indignant at this feature of the meeting in 1908. It is evident that he did not want a repetition of it to occur in 1909. Previous to the date of the meeting George P. MeCabe, Solicitor, made an official trip to the Central West, which, according to the testimony given, was for the purpose of interviewing prospective delegates to Denver and urging them to vote to support the policies of the Department of Agriculture. As related in the testimony in the Moss Committee on the expenditures of the Department of Agriculture, Mr. McCabe was somewhat hazy as to the purposes of this trip and as to exactly when it was made. Only two years had passed, but they seemed to have had a remarkable effect upon his memory. Under the urgent questioning of members of the Committee and in a burst of loyalty to his chief he finally told the whole story.

To strengthen still further the administration lines in the forthcoming convention, the Secretary of Agriculture requested the members of the Referee Board also to attend this convention. In addition to this urgent request of the Secretary, the President of the forthcoming convention, the Hon. J. Q. Emery, Food and Drug Commissioner of Wisconsin, invited the members of the Referee Board to attend the convention and justify, if they could, the conclusions already reached in the benzoate of soda question. It was particularly desirable, also, to hear their opinions on the saccharin question, inasmuch as that was the chief motive of the appointment of the Remsen Board. The attitude of Dr. Remsen, the Chairman of that Board, and the part played by it in the Denver convention are luminously set forth in the testimony of the Moss committee which follows. The memory of Mr. McCabe, as I have said, was somewhat short, andthis seemed to be the case with the memory of Dr. Dunlap. He was specially sent by the Secretary of Agriculture to acquaint Dr. Remsen with his plans for controlling the Denver convention. Dr. Dunlap's memory in regard to the plan which he discussed with Dr. Remsen was quite as hazy as was Mr. McCabe's memory in regard to his trip to interview the delegates to the Denver convention. One of the most striking features in connection with this event was the fact that special commissions were issued to the members of the Remsen Board to cover their expenses in connection with this trip. It was shown by the questioning of the committee that there was cloubt as to the legality of these expenses under the general proclamation establishing the Remsen Board. That no question might arise with the disbursing officers, this special dispensation was given. The reading of the testimony will be sufficient to illustrate the other points in regard to the appearance of the Remsen Board at Denver. Following this are quotations from the Denver press at the time the meeting was in session. The pages of the testimony are given in each selection.

HON. J. Q. EMERY