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AUGUST 11, 1905 - ,".. "
have been written six years ago it appears in the
annual report Issued in 1904 under the authority
of Mr. Roosevelt's secretary of the interior.
AN INTERESTING article entitled "The Palate
versus the Eye," appears In. a recent num
ber of The Nation. The writer relates that sev
eral years ago a Pacific Coast salmon packer
learned that there was an excellent market for
canned fish among the negroes of the Gulf states,
and undertook to secure" a share of this trade
for his own product. An experienced salesman
was therefore sent to Louisiana. He, on finding
that canned codfish was the stapje, saw an easy
task ahea.d of, him. He explained fri-the, shop
keepers how much richer and more toothsome his
salmon was and they accordingly laid in a stock
and recommended the goods to their customers.
But it appears that the codfish with which those
same customers were familiar had the habit of
turning rusty when old. Red flesh had with them
come to mean unfitness for food. The buyers
opened the cans, found the contents -'red, threw
them away, and refused to buy any more. The
skilful salesman's further efforts were unavail
ing. But there is taken among the high-grade
salmon an inferior fish known as 'dog salmon,'
which the canners had previously thrown away.
Its flesh is coarse and fat, b'ut it is white, and,
what is more, stays white indefinitely in the can.
So the canner, whose first attempt had failed, be
gan to put up 'dog salmon' for this same trade.
He labelled his goods, 'Warranted not to turn red
with age,' and was rewarded by well-deserved
success in the places which would have none of
his high-grade wares."
WHETHER this story is actually true or not,
it serves as a text, for an interesting dis
course by The Nation writer., He says that it
is clear that there is "no use trying to make
people, eat anything that does not conform to
their ideas of what viands. should be." He adds:
"A government pamphlet on 'Consumers' Fancies,'
emanating from the omniscient department of
agriculture, and credited to George K. Holmes,
chief of the, division of foreign markets in the
bureau of statistics, eloquently enforces this les
son. Her.e are rapidly run over most of the com
moner, whimsy relating to, the appearance of art
icles ; for the; table. Thusr brown eggs sell' for
a higher price than pure white ones in Boston,
While New York and San Francisco prefer the
white; butter colored to suit Chicago's taste
would be too pale for that of Washington, alid not
nearly dark enough for New Orleans. And, in a
long list of the most familiar articles, the con
sumer demands a color or appearance which, not
only is no indication of quality, but is actually
absent in the pure natural product. Catsup made
from tomatoes is not a vivid red, and must be
made so, in very many cases, by dyeing. Cider
as it drips from the modern mill is almost color
less, but the buyer, remembering that the old
time cider and vinegar were brown, demands that
the new wear the same color.- The maker meets
the demand with caramel. Whiskey is in similar
case. As it comes from the still it is white, and
the darker color results only after it has been
stored in a charred barrel: This tone can be
given to white or undercolored whiskey by means
of burnt sugar. Prunes are dipped in glycerine
and logwood, walnuts bleached with sulphite, be
cause people believe that they ought to look as
nature never intende they should. Obviously, the
refusal of the public to buy the 'real thing' just
as it comes is the greatest imaginable incentive
to adulteration and fraud."
SHORT of these actually fraudulent practices,
according to this same authority, the "un
reasoning preferences of- the consumer work to
his own detriment." For instance, The Nation
writer says: "Take the single example of fruits.
In none of the homelier departments of life, per
haps, is there so much bewailing of the good
old days. The apple, peach, plum, pear, cherry
of our forefathers has been succeeded by an in
sipid pulp. Yet tlie cause of this, or at least
one of the Important causes, can be readily
traced. Look, for instance, at the system of mark
ing which prevailed at the Louisiana Purchase
Exposition. In judging apples, 15 points were
given to size, 15 to color, 15 to form, 20 to free
dom from blemishes, and only 15 to taste. In
peaches, 25 points were counted for quality to
75 for appearance; in pears and plums the same.
The quality of cherries counts for 20 points,
though the mere item of 'stems' is worth 15. In
the scoring of grapes, again 80 per cent is on
qualities that appeal to the eye, to only 20 that
concern the palate. The fruit-grower rightly
values the awards made at a world's fair, or oyen
The Commoner.
a horticultural show, or a county fair. To say
that such and such a variety of fruit had taken
first prize would generally be regarded as the
highest recommendation. Yet if our markets are
filled with showy but tasteless fruit, the reason
to not hidden."
THE TALK about Burbank's seedless apple is
said to be in point right hero, and The Na
tion writer says: "As soon as this discovery
qr, rather, rediscoverybecame known, people
caught at.it with enthusiasm. They cracked
jokes on the 'Ain't goin' to be no core' order;
they promptly predicted the complete disappear
ance of the apple with seeds; they Wondered how
soon the seedless sort would become cheap
enough, to. buy; they organized companies to raise
it, l .d sold stock to the unwary. The only thing
they did not do was to inquire what the now
fruit tasted like. The conclusion is inevitable,
moreov-r, that as city life becomes the lot of
an increasing number, and our population gets
farther from the soil, this ignorance of an In
sistence on qualities properly unimportant will
be heightened rather than otherwise. Starting
from our days of dietetic simplicity and virtue,
the proper and logical course should have been
to insist on keeping up absolutely the flavor and
wholesomeness of every product, while encour
aging such efforts at attractiveness as caused no
deterioration in the other line. As things have
turned out, our only hope seems to be In pray
ing for such improvements in flavor and whole
someness as will not interfere with the all-essential
externals."
A CCORDING to tlie Ohio State Journal, there Is
jl "something doing" in Chicago. The Jour
nal says that a Chicago newspaper publishes the
following interesting catalogue of events trans
piring in the city by the lake:
A death every fifteen minutes.
A birth every eight minutes and twenty-seven
seconds.
A murder every seventy hours.
A suicide every eighteen hours.
A serious accident, necessitating nurse's or
physician's care, every four minutes.
A fatal accident every five hours.
A case of assault and battery every twenty
Six mlutes , . ,
- A burglary every three hours. -j '
A holdup every six hours.
A disturbance of the peace, to attract atten
tion, every six seconds.
A larceny every twenty minutes.
An arrest every seven minutes and thirty
seconds.
A fire every hour.
An arrest for drunkenness every fifteen
minutes.
A marriage every twenty minutes.
A case for the coroner every three hours.
A new building completed every one hour and
fift6en minutes.
A railroad passenger train arrives every fifty
six seconds. . .
Sixty passengers, suburban and through, ar
rive every second at railway stations.
Seventeen thousand gallons of water a minute
pass through the 1,900 miles of city water mains.
DISCUSSING the Esch-Townsend bill provid
ing for railroad rate regulation, the Chicago
Record-Herald has concluded that that bill is
unfair to the railroads because it proposes that
rates- fixed by the interstate commerce commis
sion shall go into effect after thirty days, not
withstanding that the courts may subsequently
declare them unreasonable or confiscatory. To
remedy that defect the Record-Herald Itself pro
poses an amendment to the effect that rates fixed
by the commission shall go into effect in thirty
days unless the railroads appeal to the courts, in
which case they may collect the old rates, but
must hold the difference in escrow until the de
cision of the-appeal, when they must refund it if
the decision goes against them.
THE PLAN would "give justice to all," ac
cording to the Record-Herald. Commenting
on the Record-Herald's plan, Louis F. Post, writ
ing in The Public says "and so, doubtless, it would
if 'all' are only railroads and shippers."
Mr. Post adds: "It would not give justice
to consumers. For the shippers would
make no refund to their customers, al
though they would charge consumers, In prices
of goods, the old rate until the new one had been
sustained by the courts. Of course this cannot be
avoided by any scheme for regulating rates. Either
railroads or shippers or consumers must, under
any such scheme, bo treated unfairly. There is
no help for it. But doesn't this suggest that
rate regulation la not the true remedy for high
way monopoly? Tho truth Is that there are only
two rules for freight rates, and government reg
ulation can avail of neither. Ow; Is to operate
approximately at cost, and the other Is to oper
ate for 'all tho traffic will bear.'. But only tho
government itself, as owner, could do tho former.
It could not, and It ought not to try to, forco
that rulo upon operating corporations. The lat
ter rule, 'all the traffic will boar la an excellent
ono whore thore Is competition, but a grinding
ono. whore thoro Is monopoly. To get rid of
monopoly, therefore, and not to try tho Impon
sib i of regulating monopolies, would scorn to bo
the key to tho railroad problem. And this can bo
done, and not only done but done without govern
ment operation of railroads. Nothing more Is
necessary than to soparato tho monopoly part of
the railroad business, the highway, fro.n the com
petltlvo part, the operation; and that, though
not easy under present circumstances, would bo
child's play in comparison with attempts to regu
late monopoly rates fairly by commissions and
courts."
WRITING in the July number of McClure'H,
' Lincoln StefTens compares the govern
ment of Cincinnati with the government of Clove
land, and the result of tho comparison is very
complimentary to Cleveland. Mr. StefTens says:
"The citizens of Cleveland know how to vote;
they have a public opinion, and they make It
count; thoy have two truly independent news
papers, and this free press speaks for them, with
effect. Nominally republican, when this city had
by sheer force of public opinion slopped the trol
ley grabs, It turned around and elected to suc
ceed Farley, 'democratic,' not a 'republican,' but.
Tom Johnson, a democrat. Now this was the
most terrible disappointment in the whole business-political
career of Mr. Hanna. And John
son's administration has hurt 'business' gener
ally; it Is a sore trial today to a certain kind
of business men in Cleveland; and the results of
the fight against this the 'socialist-anarchist-nihilist'
(as Hanna called Johnson) has upset the
charters of all the cities In Ohio and reversed the
judicial policy of the state courts. Next to the
'wants' of Mr. Hanna, nothing has had such an
influence on the politics, government and 'busi
ness' Interests of Ohio as the policy of the mayor
of Cleveland. Yet Cloveland re-elected Mayor
Johnson. Thero is something good In Cleveland
and T. L. Johnson. Good? It seems to mo that
Tom Johnson is the best mayor of the best-governed
city in the United States. This Is no snap
judgment. Tho first time I went to Cleveland on
the same trip that took me to Cox and Cincinnati,
I knew all about Tom Johnson. He was a danger
ous theorist with a dangerous ambition; that was
the impression the system had spread of him in
New York; and all I had to do was to prove it.
since, though mayor, he was tho head of the
actual government of the city, I called on him.
His office was full, and It was a shock to my preju
dice to watch this big jolly man do business
attention, reflection, and a question; a decision, a
laugh; next. And so it went. But I wasn't to be
fooled. When my turn came, I asked him what
his ambition was? He laughed. 'My ambition,'
he said, 'Is to make Cleveland the first American
city to get good government.' That was amusing,
and he saw ray skepticism, and it amused him.
'And not only that,' he added, with a sober im
pulse of his tremendous energy. 'I'd like to make
it not only the first to get good government; I'd
like to make It prove things, prove good govern
ment possible, prove municipal ownership pos
sible, prove anything Is possible Hat any com
munity of American citizens cares to try to do.' "
OWING to the existence of yellow fever in the
south and the fear of that dread disease
spreading, the relations between the states of
Louisiana and Mississippi were for a time de
cidedly strained. The New Orleans correspondent
for the Denver News, under date of August 1,
says: "From Information that has come to hand,
the dignity of the state of Louisiana has been
offended by an armed Invasion from the sister
state, and this morning Governor Blanchard com
municated with the captain of the naval brigade,
which has a fully equipped gunboat, with a view
pf having It dispatched to the borders to protect
Louisiana' citizens from further indignities. Mis
sissippi has five armed boats patrolling the coast
to prevent fishermen from breaking through the
quarantine lines. Some of the territory now pa
trolled by the Mississippi boats is now In dispute
before the supreme court of the United States,
both states having laid claim to it since the legis
lature of Louisiana created an oyster commission
and passed laws to protect the valuable oyster
beds in that vicinity."
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