Che Conservative *
not far from where the instinct of nat
ural humanity and
Conclusion. , , ,
reason would be
gin : that war is an evil , coming of evil ;
that it may bo thrilling to our nerves
and engrossing of our passions oven as
many other evils ; that it may have
its place as an evil , but is to be prevent
ed as an evil and cured as an evil if pos
sible ; that if good has ever come of it ,
this is because the world is under good
government , which can bring good out
of all evil ; of which war is indeed the
greatest witness , being man's utmost
effort to unthrone that goodness , but an
effort spent in vain ; and that as man or
nation , our best good has come to us in
far other ways.
Mr. N. S. An
FRIEND TO . , _ . .
MUTTER , drews , of Dubuque
Iowa , in today's
CONSERVATIVE says :
"We do not sanction the fostering of
one manufactured product to the detri
ment of another , nor do we sanction the
manufacture of any substitute which is
to go upon the market as the genuine
article.
"The butter producer does not object
to the manufacture and sale of oleo
margarine , providing it is known and
sold as oleomargarine. It is the decep
tion and fraud practiced that is causing
this agitation by the producers and con
sumers through the butter maker. "
Mr. Andrews seems unaware that con
gress passed , August 2d , 1886 , an act
entitled : "An act imposing a tax upon
and regulating the manufacture and
importation and exportation of oleo
margarine. " Section 8 of this act im
poses a special tax of $000 for manu
facturers , $480 for wholesalers and $48
for retailers. Section 6 stipulates :
"That all oleomargarine shall be
packed by the manufacturer thereof in
firkins , tubs , or other wooden packages
not before used for that purpose , each
containing not less than ten pounds , and
marked , stamped and branded as the
commissioner of internal revenue , with
the approval of the secretary of the
treasury , shall prescribe. "
Section 8 imposes a tax of two cents
per pound upon every pound manu
factured , to be paic
TJIX Per I'ouiul. , ,
by the manufac
turer. Heavy penalties are provided for
a violation of any of the provisions of
the law. If the butter men wish only
to prevent fraud and deception , the
present law will suffice. Why duplicate
laws already in force ?
Mr. Andrews objects to THE CONSEK
VATIVE'S limitation on bnttermakers
THE CONSERVATIVE , in its classification
of bnttermakers who were demanding
special legislation , meant to include oiilj
that small per cent , those who raised the
purse of nearly $20,000 to lobby thei
bill through congress. The farmers and
those trying to do a legitimate dairj
business had no part in this. The boodle
methods of the butter men give a clue
o the character of the legislation they
lemancl. Honest measures do not require
Senator Clark-of-Montaua methods.
Mr. Andrews asks for an enumeration
of all the ingredients of oleomargarine.
They are : Cream ,
. _ .
IiigroalciitH. , . ,
25 to 40 per cent ;
neutral lard ; cotton seed oil and oil
made from beef fat. All of these
government chemists have analyzed and
found to be healthful food products.
Oleomargarine is manufactured only in
government inspected factories. The
revenue commissioner of Illinois testifies
that the laws relative to taxation and
jrauding are most rigidly enforced ,
notwithstanding Hoard's Dairyman to
he contrary.
Mr. Andrews says : "The only im
portant legislation asked for is that oleo
margarine shall not bo colored in
imitation of genuine butter. ' ' Evidently
Mr. Andrews regards the demand of the
butter men for a tax of ten cents per
pound on oleomargarine as unimportant
legislation. It would be a prohibitive
tax and would completely stamp out the
oleomargarine industry. How can Mr.
Andrews endorse this demand if he
really meant : ' 'We do not sanction the
fostering of one manufactured product
to the detriment of another ? "
Oleomargarine is not colored in imita
tion of genuine butter. The natural
color of creamery butter is , in winter
time , a pale uninviting hue that would
not command ten cents per pound. Let
the butter men stop- coloring their
product and there would be no confusion
with oleomargarine. Why should the
but4termakers be given a monopoly on
the use of yellow dyeing materials ?
These substances for coloring butter are
advertised in dairy and farm journals all
over the country.
. . A dispatch from
CRIME AND _ , . , . , _ ,
FASHION.Milford , Del. , says
that a contract has
been closed there for 20,000 birds to be
killed for New York milliners at from
10 to 50 cents each. The contract calls
for meadow larks , bluebirds , red-wing
blackbirds , crow blackbirds , English
sparrows , and baby owls. Stated in the
plainest language , this contract calls for
the commission of a crime of a crue
kind a crime made possible under the
laws of Delaware but none the less
crime and none the less disgraceful to
the state that its laws make the crime
possible.
Such a wholesale slaughter of bird
life as that contemplated by this contraci
is a murder of the innocents and a rob
bery of the state. It sets a premium
upon cruelty , and as those birds are o
the insect-destroying class it robs thi
farmers of protection supplied to them
by nature. It also robs all the people o
one of the most oharming accessories o
nature. It is , there fore , a crime agaius
ociety tolerated by the laws of Dela-
vare.
The aggravating feature of this whole-
ale slaughter is that it is to be com
mitted to gratify female vanity , human
elfishness , and human greed. The
vomen who will wear the plumage of
hese thousands of birds will not have
committed murder themselves , but they
ire responsible for it. If they should
refuse to adorn themselves with the
reathers the lives of the birds would bo
spared. They make the demand , and
he milliners gratify it by blindly follow -
ug the edicts of fashion mongers. The
atter plan the slaughter. The milliners
agree to purchase the plumage because
; hey know the women will consent to
, vear it. Fashion blunts all kindly
'eeling and shows no mercy. Birds are
not only killed outright , but birds and
other animals are tortured in order to
secure their feathers and skins for female
adornment.
Female fashions are rapidly depopu-
atiug the bird world. The song birds
are specially noted for their beautiful
plumage and are rapidly disappearing ,
and now the bird murderers are begin
ning their destructive work in other
directions. The sea birds , ad especially
the gulls , are vanishing from the Atlan
tic coast , thousands of them having
been slaughtered every year to supply
the demand for female adornment and
to gratify female vanity. If the various
states do not soon enact laws , with
heavy penalties attached , forbidding the
destruction of birds , bird life will soon
become extinct. Chicago Tribune.
. _ . The reliable and
MANAGER , . , .
DODURIDGE. readable a. . Jos
eph News of the
14th instant remarks :
"The resignation of W. B. Doddridge
as general manager of the Missouri Pa
cific railway system is one of the sur
prises of the season , although such a
thing has been hinted at for several
months. "
Many good citizens , sensible people
and admirers of the character and abil
ity of Mr. Doddridge have wondered
why he did not sever his relations with
the Missouri Pacific Railroad Company
long ago. That corporation needed more
instead of less Doddridges. In Nebraska
he has a dozen friends where the Mis
souri Pacific Company has one.
The Atchison , Topeka & Santa Fe has
secured such satisfactory results from its
experiments in tree planting for tele
graph pole and tie timber that it is stat
ed that the work will be carried on to a
still greater extent. This road planted
1,280 acres in catalpas fifteen years ago.
The total expense was $128,000 ; but it
is estimated by the railroad officials that
in ten years more the tract will have
produced $2,500,000 worth of poles , ties
and posts. The Railway Age ,