As to what has been acomplished in the last nine months, so far as my experience and judgment go, I can express it in no plainer terms than, it is as difficult to find adulterated goods upon the market at the present time as it was to find pure goods at the time the law went into effect.

Very respectfully,

JNO. R. BENNETT, Inspector.

Dated Lansing, June 23, 1896.

TO THE HON. C. E. STORRS, Dairy and Food Commissioner: SIR-I herewith submit a report of the work done by me as Inspector from the date of my appointment by you to and including June 30, 1896. I commenced work August 26, 1895, and during the period above mentioned I have visited and inspected places where articles of food or ingredients thereof are manufactured or sold at wholesale or retail in the following places: Jackson, Grand Rapids, Detroit, Saginaw, Bay City, Lapeer, Flint, St. Joseph, Benton Harbor, Niles, Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, Adrian, Hudson, Hillsdale, Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, Monroe, Lawton, Paw Paw, Mt. Pleasant, Reese, Albion, Jonesville, Quincy, Coldwater, Burr Oak, Bronson, White Pigeon, Cassopolis, Galien, Kalkaska, Big Rapids, Dowagiac, Three Rivers, Colon, St. Clair, Port Huron, Pontiac, Holly, Fenton, Marshall, Union City, Sherwood, Centreville, Northville, Farmington, Plymouth, Wayne, Tecumseh, Blissfield, Norvell, Napoleon, Brooklyn, Chelsea, Dexter, Grass Lake, Leslie, Mason, Holt, Homer, Parma, Novi, Scofield, Dundee, South Lyon, Wyandotte, Charlotte, Eaton Rapide, Hastings, Vermontville, Caledonia and Nashville. In all, six hundred eighty-five inspections were made, there being fourteen factories, thirty-three wholesalers and six hundred thirty-eight retailers. In addition to the above, I have recently inspected creameries and cheese factories as follows: Towar's Wayne County Creamery, Detroit; A. B. Smith & Co., cheese factory, Northville; A. D. Power & Son, cheese factories at Northville and South Lyon; Jolliffe Bros.' cheese factory, Plymouth; Monroe Creamery, Monroe; Dundee Cheese and Butter Factory, Dundee; Macon Creamery, Dundee.

During November and January I attended Farmers' Institutes and delivered addresses on food at Kalkaska, Cadillac, Luther, Lake City, Evart, Big Rapids, Parma, Adrian, Petersburg, Mt. Clemens, Wayne, Pontiac, Howell and Ypsilanti. The people in attendance at these institutes evinced great interest in the subject, and showed by unmistakable signs, their approval of our pure food laws and their desire for the strengthening thereof at the next session of our Legislature. A continuation of this policy, will in my opinion be of great value to the Commission by creating and conserving a clear understanding of the benefits to the people; and to the people, by aiding and directing them in exercising economy in the use and purchase of articles of food.

Manufacturers and dealers are almost unanimous in their approval of, and sympathy with both the laws and the policy and method of their

enforcement, and are diligent and sincere in their endeavors to comply with them. Occasionally one will be heard severely to condemn either the laws or the policy of the Department, but I have not yet found one who was not convinced to the contrary by a few words of explanation. This leads me to conclude that the entire people of our State will approve more and more and criticise less with the increase in their understanding of them.

Even a casual observer could not fail to notice the great improvement in the quality of articles of food in the past ten months. This has been at least ninety per cent at a conservative estimate.

There are to my mind two primary causes for this: First, The innate honesty of most dealers themselves; Second, The fear that they will be adversely advertised in the monthly bulletins if prohibited articles are found in their stocks.

The fact that Inspectors are constantly on the alert and are liable to drop in upon the unsuspecting dealer or manufacturer at any time, has a very salutary effect in operating as a preventive, rather than a corrective. The efficacy of the monthly bulletin is indeed surprising, and its value can scarcely be overestimated. There is no question but that authority should be given for their issue to be at least quadrupled or even unlimited.

Very respectfully,

Dated Jackson, June 30, 1896.

JNO. I. BRECK, Inspector.

HON. C. E. STORRS, State Dairy and Food Commissioner: SIR-In pursuance of Section 9 of Act No. 245, Public Acts of 1895, I herewith submit a summary of the work done by me from September 1 to the present time, as one of the inspectors in your department.

During the time mentioned, I have visited sixty-five towns, mostly in the western portion of the State. In these sixty-five places I have made personal calls upon about eight hundred dealers, including wholesale druggists, wholesale grocers, wholesale liquor dealers, spice manufacturers, breweries and bottling works, retail druggists and grocers, confectioners, manufacturers of extracts, jellies, syrups, vinegar and any line of business affected by the Pure Food Laws. In every instance I have carefully and fully informed the dealers of the construction put upon the law and of the requirements by this Department, and have left with them printed copies of the same.

In making examinations or tests of goods, such as I have suspected to be adulterated or sold in violation of the laws of the State, I have obtained samples of, which samples I have forwarded to the State Analyst for purposes of analysis.

The condition of the stocks of food products, at the time of the commencement of our work, was simply frightful, as may be plainly seen by reference to the reports of the State Analyst as shown by the monthly bulletins issued by this Department. My work has been principally to visit towns and dealers for the first time. I am pleased to be able to

say that a vast improvement in the quality of all classes of food products is very noticeable. The improvement has been particularly noticeable upon a second visit. Rarely, if ever, do I upon a second visit find any goods once condemned as illegal. Dealers in the smallest village and hamlet, while not thoroughly acquainted with the provisions of the law and its requirements, almost invariably know that there is a pure food law and are making an honest endeavor to obtain goods that will comply therewith, resulting in the improvement noted above. Indeed, in many cases, upon being satisfied that certain goods were not such as would comply with the law, dealers have disposed of them at once by throwing them out upon the ground, while others have immediately returned them to the manufacturer or dealer from whom they were obtained, thus evidencing a disposition to strictly comply with the requirements of the law. So far as my observation goes, I can safely say that the manufacturers and dealers in food products in the State are in hearty sympathy with the law. In order to ascertain the true feeling in this regard I bave taken pains to interview and obtain expressions from a large number of dealers, both wholesale and retail, and the result has, in every instance, proven highly satisfactory and it seems to me, shows that the end aimed at by the law is being accomplished. These few quotations from interviews with some of the wholesale grocers in the city of Grand Rapids are but samples of the general sentiment throughout my entire district.

A leading dealer says: "We would not consent to go back to the old way of putting up nothing for something. The operation of the law has been worth all it has cost in the almost or quite elimination of scheme goods. The general result is highly satisfactory. In short, the law is a service to both the dealer and the consumer, and when you render both classes a service you are doing good.'

Another says: "We are in hearty sympathy with the law. It must necessarily be expected that it will take some time to completely change the old order of thinge. There is no question but that it is already working a great deal of good as a result of its enforcement. It has completely revolutionized the spice business."'

Another says: "There is a great improvement in the class of food products sold in the State of Michigan. We have no cause for complaint and think the law is a good one."

Another says: "The law is all right, our relations with the Department have been very pleasant and we have no cause for complaint. The law is working a great deal of good in that it gives the general public a better class of food products and tends to do away with competition against adulterated and worthless goods.

A leading spice manufacturer and dealer says: "The law is a good one and should be enforced to the letter. The people would not, under any circumstances, consent to go back to the old way. While we know that the law (like all other laws) is being violated to a greater or less extent by unscrupulous parties, we believe that the improvement in the class of food products sold in Michigan today is very marked. We stand ready to aid the department at any time.'

These expressions are indicative of the general feeling among all dealers, both wholesale and retail; in fact I have found no opposition whatever to the provisions of the law, but on the contrary a universal spirit of willingness to comply with its provisions.

The places visited by me are as follows: Grand Rapids, Hart, Pentwater, Ludington, Manistee, Frankfort, Traverse City, Muskegon, Grand Haven, Holland, Allegan, St. Louis, Ithaca, Ashley, Elsie, Carson City, Grand Ledge, Lake Odessa, Belding, Greenville, Sheridan, Stanton, Howard City, Lakeview, Big Rapids, Reed City, Evart, Farwell, Clare, Midland, Cadillac, Lake City, Kalkaska, Mancelona, Harbor Springs, Petoskey, Charlevoix, Bellaire, Copemish, Thompsonville, White Cloud, Big Prairie, Newaygo, Sparta, Cedar Springs, Rockford, Ravenna, Conklin, Plainwell, Martin, Shelbyville, Bradley, Wayland, Berlin, Coopersville, Nunica, Spring Lake, E. Richmond, Saugatuck, Hudsonville, Grandville, Jenison, Bravo and Fennville.

Respectfully submitted,

Dated Lansing, June 15, 1896.

W. B. SCATTERGOOD, Inspector.

HON. C. E. STORRS, Dairy and Food Commissioner:

SIR-I found in the upper peninsula a decided friendliness for the pure food laws of the State and a disposition to comply therewith to the best of their information. Those of the merchants who keep themselves informed as to the trend of opinion and the conditions of trade, regard the law as tending to eliminate much of the dishonesty which has been felt to be insidiously working into the mercantile profession and believe that it will, to a considerable extent, place honest dealers on a footing to combat the craze for anything that is cheap simply because it is cheap.

I visited and examined the stocks of two hundred ninety-four grocers, called on fifty-six druggists, managers of twelve breweries and seventythree saloons. My work with the saloons was somewhat limited on account of the absence of the proprietors from their places of business.

Respectfully submitted,

SAMUEL F. Cook, Inspector.

Lansing, February 1, 1896.

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