Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Social Problems And Their Peaceful Solution.
in selling goods under false names , goods made poorer in quality by the admixture of foreign substances , or the making articles look presentable by colouring or other processes , upon , such a system of fraudulent and , in many cases , murderous crime , we
would have no mercy . To put a stop to this evil we would make the sale of any article described , as different in any respect to its real nature or character illegal , and carrying with it entire forfeiture of the whole bulk of the goodsas well as condign
, punishment . To this end wo would enact that any infringement of these regulations , duly proved before a bench of magistrates , should entail , besides , as we have already said , forfeiture of tho goods , a heavy fine and endorsement of the license for the
first offence ; imprisonment without option of fine , and a lengthened suspension of the license for the second ; and for the third , imprisonment with hard labour and total revocation of the license , preventing the offender from ever entering into trade
again . One might say here , perhaps , that we were putting such restrictions upon it that trading would be well-nigh impossible , or at least , would prevent its being entered
into by any man of self-respect ; to which objection we would say that we believe the very reverse would be the case , for the reputation of every individual trader , being thus vouched for , the whole body would bo above suspicion . Surely no reasonable person with any regard for his own or his
family ' s health would resent the visit of a sanitary inspector , and by parity of reasoning everyjespeetable trader would gladly welcome a system of inspection by which disrepiutable and noxious members of the fraternity would be effectually weeded out ;
besides , if they did object , no man is allowed by the law to rob his neighbours or poison them by keeping a nuisance upon his premises , surely society at large has as great a right to protect itself from robbery and poisoning in its food-supply , its very
life . Just one qualification , and that a reasonable one , must be made on the point of the admixture of goods with foreign ingredients : some articles in common use are preferred so mixed , some must be manipulated with other things , coffee with chicory affords an instance of the former ; mustard of the latter—well , let tho admixture be made , but let it also be declared
and let tho declaration embody not only tho quality , but the proportionate quantity of each ingcdient , and then , and not till then , will people have a guarantee of the real worth of their purchases . We press these points especially in the interests of
our less well-to-do brethren ; for , whilst the rich enjoy , either from the character of those with whom they can afford to deal or from their own indifference to price at least a comparative immunity from this system of pilfering and slow . poisonin «
combined , it is a melancholy fact that the poor are but too often shamefully defrauded , both iii quantity and quality on every hand , With regard to the preparation for sale of articles of food unfit for human consumption , but little need here be said ,
certainly not more than this : —that there can be no possible difference in guilt between the poisoner who commits his crime to realize the policy of insurance , and the purveyor of poison wholesale in the shape of unsound food ; the latter , probably , is the more mischievous of the two , as warring against numbers instead of individuals , and ought to be dealt with
accordingly . And now as to our third reason of all this mischief—the folly of the purchaser himself . We call it all folly , although the mischief may be brought about through ignorance as well as through prejudice ,
but from whichever source it spring , the evil can only be remedied by ignorance and obstinacy giving way to education and Teason . A WOT & as to what we mean : now we all know that any natural product does not always present the same appearance as
to colour , & c , as for instance , barley , one of our own home-grown products ; why , then , look for a sameness of appearance which is absolutely unattainable , at least in a genuine way 1 If , however , it is looked for andwhat is
moredemandedadulter-, , , ation must ensue . If a man will have liis cayenne of such a startling red as pepper never grew , and his pickles of such a vivid green as is to Dame Nature quite unknown ; what must he expect but that the deficiencies in these respects of the vegetable
kingdom , must be made up for by the products of the mineral world ? If he will have the eye delighted as well as the taste gratified , whence must he look for these "improvements , " save from those in
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Social Problems And Their Peaceful Solution.
in selling goods under false names , goods made poorer in quality by the admixture of foreign substances , or the making articles look presentable by colouring or other processes , upon , such a system of fraudulent and , in many cases , murderous crime , we
would have no mercy . To put a stop to this evil we would make the sale of any article described , as different in any respect to its real nature or character illegal , and carrying with it entire forfeiture of the whole bulk of the goodsas well as condign
, punishment . To this end wo would enact that any infringement of these regulations , duly proved before a bench of magistrates , should entail , besides , as we have already said , forfeiture of tho goods , a heavy fine and endorsement of the license for the
first offence ; imprisonment without option of fine , and a lengthened suspension of the license for the second ; and for the third , imprisonment with hard labour and total revocation of the license , preventing the offender from ever entering into trade
again . One might say here , perhaps , that we were putting such restrictions upon it that trading would be well-nigh impossible , or at least , would prevent its being entered
into by any man of self-respect ; to which objection we would say that we believe the very reverse would be the case , for the reputation of every individual trader , being thus vouched for , the whole body would bo above suspicion . Surely no reasonable person with any regard for his own or his
family ' s health would resent the visit of a sanitary inspector , and by parity of reasoning everyjespeetable trader would gladly welcome a system of inspection by which disrepiutable and noxious members of the fraternity would be effectually weeded out ;
besides , if they did object , no man is allowed by the law to rob his neighbours or poison them by keeping a nuisance upon his premises , surely society at large has as great a right to protect itself from robbery and poisoning in its food-supply , its very
life . Just one qualification , and that a reasonable one , must be made on the point of the admixture of goods with foreign ingredients : some articles in common use are preferred so mixed , some must be manipulated with other things , coffee with chicory affords an instance of the former ; mustard of the latter—well , let tho admixture be made , but let it also be declared
and let tho declaration embody not only tho quality , but the proportionate quantity of each ingcdient , and then , and not till then , will people have a guarantee of the real worth of their purchases . We press these points especially in the interests of
our less well-to-do brethren ; for , whilst the rich enjoy , either from the character of those with whom they can afford to deal or from their own indifference to price at least a comparative immunity from this system of pilfering and slow . poisonin «
combined , it is a melancholy fact that the poor are but too often shamefully defrauded , both iii quantity and quality on every hand , With regard to the preparation for sale of articles of food unfit for human consumption , but little need here be said ,
certainly not more than this : —that there can be no possible difference in guilt between the poisoner who commits his crime to realize the policy of insurance , and the purveyor of poison wholesale in the shape of unsound food ; the latter , probably , is the more mischievous of the two , as warring against numbers instead of individuals , and ought to be dealt with
accordingly . And now as to our third reason of all this mischief—the folly of the purchaser himself . We call it all folly , although the mischief may be brought about through ignorance as well as through prejudice ,
but from whichever source it spring , the evil can only be remedied by ignorance and obstinacy giving way to education and Teason . A WOT & as to what we mean : now we all know that any natural product does not always present the same appearance as
to colour , & c , as for instance , barley , one of our own home-grown products ; why , then , look for a sameness of appearance which is absolutely unattainable , at least in a genuine way 1 If , however , it is looked for andwhat is
moredemandedadulter-, , , ation must ensue . If a man will have liis cayenne of such a startling red as pepper never grew , and his pickles of such a vivid green as is to Dame Nature quite unknown ; what must he expect but that the deficiencies in these respects of the vegetable
kingdom , must be made up for by the products of the mineral world ? If he will have the eye delighted as well as the taste gratified , whence must he look for these "improvements , " save from those in