ADULTERATION OF MIXED FEEDS. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1919. UNITED STATES SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEES ON AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY, The committee of conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses on the amendments to the bill, H. R. 11945, met in the committee room of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry at 10.30 o'clock a. m., Senator Thomas P. Gore presiding. Present of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry: Senators Gore (chairman), Smith of South Carolina, Smith of Georgia, Kenyon, and Wadsworth. Present of the House Committee on Agriculture: Representatives Lever (chairman), Lee, Candler, Haugen, and Anderson. There were present also other members of the Senate and House of Representatives. The CHAIRMAN. The conference will come to order. Gentlemen, this meeting was agreed upon by Congressman Lever, chairman of the House committee, and myself. We arranged to have a hearing this morning on amendment 30 to the so-called food-production bill, which relates to the interstate shipment of concentrated feeds and is designed to prohibit the alleged adulteration of such feeds. There have been a number of requests to be heard in opposition to the amendment, and we have agreed to hear this morning those who are opposed to it, letting them state their reasons for their opposition, and then we will possibly hear some on the other side of the question. I might say that Judge George W. Ward, of New York, is here, and I have requested him, as he has made a study of the matter, to assist us somewhat in the conduct of the proceedings. Mr. Abbott, whom do you desire to have heard first? Mr. ABBOTT. Do you wish, Senator, to hear the opponents first, or the proponents? The CHAIRMAN. The opponents. The hearing was really called at their instance, Mr. Abbott; otherwise there would not have been any hearing. I think first, Mr. Abbott, I will ask to have printed at this point a copy of the amendment, so it will appear in the record of the hearing just preceding your statement. (The amendment is here printed in full, as follows:) SEC. 26. That it shall be unlawful, except as herein otherwise provided, for any person, firm, or corporation knowingly to ship, offer for shipment, or transport in commerce among the several States or for commerce with foreign countries any concentrated commercial feeding stuffs containing any damaged 3 feed, mill, elevator, or other sweepings or dust, buckwheat hulls, cottonseed hulls, peanut hulls, peanut shells, rice hulls, oat hulls, corncobs (ground). cocoa shells, clipped oat by-product, ground or unground hulls, screenings, chaff, or other cleanings derived from the preparation, cleaning, or milling of any seed or grain when separated from the standard product as an offal or by-product, or such preparation, cleaning, or milling, humus, peat, spagnum moss, ivory-nut turnings, ground cornstalks, flax-plant refuse, sorghum pulp, ground or shredded straw or hay, sawdust, cellulose, or dirt, or any other for eign material. The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to issue a written permit for the shipment of concentrated commercial feeding stuffs containing a mixture of foreign material which, in his judgment, is inseparable from such prepared feeds or which does not detract materially from its feeding value: Provided, That such feeding stuffs in packages or bales be so labeled as to show to purchasers and users thereof specifically the percentage of each ingredient entering into the composition of same; or if such feed stuffs are shipped in bulk in carload lots, then the bill of lading and the bill from manufacturer to purchaser of same shall both show such analysis. The agency distributing to users of such feeds in less-than-carload lots shall deliver to the purchaser of each lot, regardless of quantity sold, a bill showing cost and a correct analysis of such feeding stuffs. Any person or corporation who shall be convicted for violating the provisions of this section shall be liable to pay a fine of not less than $500 and not more than $5,000; or, in case of a natural person, to be imprisoned for a period not exceeding one year, in the discretion of the court, or by both such fine and imprisonment. The Secretary of Agriculture, with the approval of the Director General of Transportation, is authorized to prescribe suitable rules and regulations for carrying into effect the provisions of this section. STATEMENT OF MR. HAROLD A. ABBOTT, PRESIDENT AMERICAN FEED MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION, MANAGER OF FEED DEPARTMENT OF THE ALBERT DICKINSON CO., CHICAGO, ILL. The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Abbott, be kind enough to state your name, your post-office address, your present business, and your connection with any organization that is interested in this proposition. Mr. ABBOTT. Harold A. Abbott, manager of the feed department of the Albert Dickinson Co., Chicago. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, as we feed manufacturers understand the spirit and intent of the Gore amendment, so called, it is in effect an attempt to prevent the interstate shipment of fraudulent feeds and does not purport to interfere with the interstate shipment of feeding stuff of real intrinsic value. The CHAIRMAN. That is the idea. Mr. ABBOTT. This viewpoint we think, in general, was made reasonably clear on the floor of the Senate by Senator Gore, and with this viewpoint we feed manufacturers at the very outset wish to go on record as being heartily in accord. May we say in passing that there are now feeding-stuffs laws in 42 of the several States, rather comprehensively covering the subject of feed regulation, and that we not only comply with these laws willingly but also gladly, inasmuch as they in general accomplish the very purpose which the Senator had in his mind in the introduction of his amendment, namely, the elimination of fraudulent feeds. As a matter of fact, the feed manufacturers cooperated with the association of feed-control officials of the United States in securing the enactment of many of these State laws. But we respectfully point out that the language employed in the second paragraph of section 26 appeals to us as really frustrating |