Page images
PDF
EPUB

1937

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE

Mr. CHAPMAN. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman is in error in believing that any bill now pending before the Congress would prevent the recurrence of such a disaster as the death of nearly 100 people from taking this medicine, and there is nothing in the present law that enables the Department to proceed against it. Instead of taking the time of the House, it will take no time, but if the unanimous-consent request is agreed to, the Department will prepare this information and furnish it to the committee to use in preparing more adequate food and drug legislation.

Mr. REECE of Tennessee. I cannot see any objection to this resolution going to the committee where we may have opportunity to study it.

Mr. CHAPMAN. I hope the gentleman will not delay, which would be very dangerous, with over 90 people dying as a result of taking this medicine.

Mr. REECE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, the Department of Agriculture under authority of the present law has already, according to the newspaper reports, seized all of the elixir which has been distributed, and it has been confiscated, so that at the present time there is none of this concoction outstanding. I do not see what there is to gain by rushing a resolution of this kind through without consideration.

Mr. CHAPMAN. Mr. Speaker, I say to the gentleman, as one of my associates on the committee, that I think we are badly in need of the information which by this resolution we are requesting the Department to furnish. It is true that certain shipments have been seized on a trivial and technical charge that it was misbranded as an "elixir." It is also important that we find out whether these shipments could have been impounded and whether the public could have been protected against their use if the manufacturer had not called his preparation an elixir but had used some other name. We need to know what are the deficiencies in the present law that have made possible such wholesale tragedies. Such information is what I think I need and I hope be thinks he needs as a member of that committee before we can draft any proper legislation.

The SPEAKER. Is there objection?

Mr. SABATH. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the right to object. I am wondering whether the resolution should not be broadened so that we can obtain information about hundreds of other poisonous drugs that are being sold daily all through the Nation. I think steps should be taken along that line. I think this resolution should pass, but I hope it may be broadened to include many other deadly drugs that are being sold throughout the Nation.

Mr. CHAPMAN. I hope the information produced by this resolution will be helpful to us in passing legislation that will protect the public from both dangerous and worthless drugs.

The SPEAKER. Is there objection? [After a pause.] The Chair hears none. The question is on agreeing to the resolution.

The resolution was agreed to.

LOAN OF CERTAIN PORTRAITS LOCATED IN CAPITOL Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take from the Speaker's table Senate Joint Resolution 222, granting the consent of Congress for the loan of certain portraits now located in the Capitol to the United States Constitution Sesquicentennial Commission for exhibition in the Corcoran Art Gallery, and for its immediate consideration. The SPEAKER. The gentleman from Illinois asks unanimous consent to take from the Speaker's table Senate Joint Resolution 222, and for its immediate consideration. Clerk will report the joint resolution.

The Clerk read as follows:

The

Resolved, etc., That the Architect of the Capitol be, and he is hereby, authorized to loan to the United States Constitution Sesquicentennial Commission the portraits of Thomas Jefferson, by Silly; George Washington, by Gilbert Stuart; Gunning Bedford, Jr., by Peale; and Henry Lawrence, by Copley, now located in the Capitol Building, for exhibition in the Corcoran Art Gallery between the dates of November 27, 1937, and February 1, 1938, in connection

135

with the celebration of the one hundred and aftieth anniveŠERSY of the adoption of the Constitution of the United States.

The said Architect is directed to have these portraits returned to the Capitol immediately after the conclusion of the exhibition above referred to.

Mr. CHURCH (interrupting the reading). Mr. Speaker, I make the point of order that there is no quarum present. We are here to do business.

The SPEAKER. The gentleman is out of order. He is not entitled to make a speech on raising the point of no quarum. Mr. CHURCH. We are going to ask for a quorum and insist upon it.

The SPEAKER. The gentleman from Illinois makes the point of order that there is no quorum present. The Chair will count. [After counting.] Two hundred and five Members present, not a quorum.

Mr. RAYBURN. Mr. Speaker, I move a call of the House. The motion was agreed to.

The Clerk called the roll, and the following Members failed to answer to their names:

[blocks in formation]

Mr. KELLER.

That is correct.

Mr. SNELL. These are not the large pictures, but the ones that are in certain committee rooms at the other end of the Capitol?

Mr. KELLER. That is correct.

Mr. JENKINS of Ohio. Further reserving the right to object, is it true they have been loaning the same identical ones?

Mr. KELLER. In one or two cases it is and in other cases it is not.

Mr. JENKINS of Ohio. What is the fact with reference to these? Are they extra valuable?

Mr. KELLER. No; not as valuable as some that have been loaned heretofore. For instance, the Sargent picture of Reed; which is worth not less than $75,000, has been loaned in the same way. Washington has been loaned.

Mr. SNELL Under the circumstances I cannot see anything wrong with this resolution.

Mr. CULKIN. Mr. Speaker, reserving the right to object, how many of these pictures are to be loaned? Mr. KELLER. Four.

Mr. CULKIN. Are these the originals?
Mr. KELLER.

Yes; these are the originals.

Mr. CULKIN. Of course, they are not replaceable? Mr. KELLER. No, no; they could not be replaced at all. Mr. CULKIN. And probably there are no duplicates in existence?

APPENDIX TO THE CONGRESSIONAL RECORD

149

business by honest and fair planning are much worse of than they have ever been in their history.

Crazy schemes to destroy the liberty of the people and to establish a dictatorship will not help the situation but will make more acute the unemployment problem, destroy business and credit generally, and give us nothing with which to build.

they shall work. This applies to every industry with the exception | America and the real farmer who tries to make a comms of his of agriculture and perhaps domestic servants. It applies to the small manufacturer. It applies to the large manufacturer. A large manufacturer employing thousands and thousands of men and women can and will be able to come to Washington and maintain representation before a wage board on the fixing of wages and hours, but the small manufacturer or the small merchant could not afford to keep such representation here. The working men and women of this country, numbering perhaps three-quarters of our working population, are not members of any organization which would represent them in this respect. Therefore, this wage board would ax the majority of the peoples' wages and hours without adequate representation on the part of the employer or the employee. Many a small merchant simply has a schoolboy in for Saturdays to help him. Many a small manufacturer or repair shop has a part-time employee whom it provides with a livelihood because of the opportunity it has to give employment to someone. Many a small employer provides work for those who are older in years or who are perhaps mentally not as alert as some of the others or who are perhaps physically defective at a wage differential. Every one of these employments are special instances requiring for their proper consideration a proper understanding of the personal relations between the employer and the employee. Throughout all the history of this country this type of employment has been general, especially in the smaller plants. Most of the employees who are so employed are able to earn their own living. Those who are not able to earn enough for their entire support earn the major part of their support.

The result of the passage of this bill means the dumping of this entire block of thousands and thousands of employees in the aggregate on the permanent relief rolls with no possibility of their maintaining their self-respect or earning a part of their Livelihood themselves. Is it fair to these people, the so-called underprivileged, to deprive them entirely of their right to earn a living and their self-respect by creating a situation where without representation or without possibility of a hearing on the part of either themselves or their employer that they are placed permanently on the relief rolls of this country? Is it fair to the Attest that they be permanently burdened with the support of those who are underprivileged when the underprivileged are much better off doing something to earn at least part of their own living?

That is one aspect of this bill. A second aspect is this: If we are going to fix the minimum wages and the maximum hours, it is only one more step to fixing all hours of labor and all wages. To my mind private industry and private employment of labor from the standpoint of either the employer or the employee is impossible with either the minimum wage or the maximum hours Axed by a board in Washington or by that board going further and having absolute control over wages and hours. It means, first, the end of all liberties on the part of the workingman; the end of his right to get along: it means the end of the labor union because there can be no labor union in the situation that is created by such a board; it means the end of all private industry and the establishment of a dictatorship and socialism; it means the fixing of all wages and salaries and hours by a decree from a dictator because no other form of government is possible that can control that sort of thing.

This bill is not in the interests of labor but is being brought forward by those who are deceiving labor, who are trying to destroy private employment and make conditions such in this country that we must go backward instead of forward.

In 1933 under the N. R. A., we tried this kind of monkey work. It was rapidly destroying the small-business man, the small manufacturer. It was rapidly placing a burden upon the workingman and the employer which he was unable to bear. The Supreme Court came to the rescue of the people and wiped out the N. R. A., wiped out the governmental overlordship of industry and labor which the N. R. A. created, and then business and Industry began to go ahead until there was set up the National Labor Relations Board with authority to muddle in and create antagonism between labor and capital.

In 1933, on the demand of the President, the A. A. A. was passed, giving the Secretary of Agriculture absolute control over major agricultural products. This control intensified the agricultural depression and made the situation of the farmer much worse than It had ever been, and this continued until about 1935 when the Supreme Court wiped out the A. A. A., and there then began a revival of prosperity for farming and business, which the operations of the National Labor Board, the threat of the so-called wage and hour bill, the reduction in tarif on agricultural products. and the threat of a new agricultural dictatorship has destroyed.

Only last winter at Houston, Tex., I saw five foreign ships, each loaded with at least 175,000 bushels of Argentine corn, a total of 875.000 bushels, which was being imported in to the great corngrowing State of Texas as a result of the reciprocal-trade policies of the Roosevelt administration. This is just a small sample of the manner in which we have seen the Roosevelt administration move to destroy agricultural prosperity. And now, when a surplus results largely because of the cumulative effect of the unnecessary foreign imports, we are asked to give the President dictatorial powers to that he can make the emergency permanent.

If you will take stock of those that you know and of their situation now and their situation 4 years ago back in your own home communities, you will realize that the workingman who works for a living is worse of than he ever was before. It is true that large funds have been handed out to those who never worked and never would work, but the real workingman who is the backbone of

In 4 years' time we have had $16,000,000,000 added to the national debt. I can say this to you: There is no evidence of any honest attempt yet to reduce expenses and balance the Federal Budget. It is rumored, although we do not know about it, that $208,000,000 has been impounded by the President out of this year's appropri tions available for expenditure in 1938. What does that amount out of 89,000,000,000 of funds available to the President for expendsture in the fiscal year 1938? What does that amount to with deficit already existing in a little over 4 months of this Ascal your amounting to over $600,000,000, indicating a net deficit for the year of approximately $2,000,000,000, and this, we must consider, commes at a time when the Government income taxes and internal-revenue taxes as a result of this administration's created depression are bound to be lower on March 15 and June 15 next?

But these things that I have talked about are not the worst attuation that the Government faces. There is the proposed reorganization plan. There is the bill to destroy the power of the Comp troller General to audit claims and fx the balances of the executive departments and independent agencies. In other words, an absolute power to see that funds are not expended for any purpose other than that authorized by law. The Comptroller General, under the bill that is pending before the House H. R. 8276-would have no power except to report to Congress. The functions that are now exercised by the Comptroller General would be exercised by an auditor general, who would be a subordinate officer of the Treasury Department and who would be subject to every whim of the Executive. In the first battles for Anglo-Saxon liberty the Magna Charta was wrested from King John in England. One of the major principles set forth in that document was the right of Parliament, or the legislative body, to have control over appropriations. That same right was delegated to the Congress under the Constitution of the United States. Ever since the formation of our Government there has been an auditing cfficer of absolute independence. Since 1821 this official has been the Comptroller General. To destroy the power of the Comptroller General to audit and fix balances and vest that authority in a subordinate oficial of the Treasury Department simply destroys any control that Congress ever had over appropriations and their expenditure and all safeguards as to the proper expenditure of funds. Such an operation is cumulative. It is along the lines of the establishment in this country of a dictatorship and an autocracy, of the destruction of the liberty of the American people, of the destruction of any possible relief for labor, or farming, or industry.

This special session and the regular session that is to come in January are amongst the most important in American history, for If we give up our liberties under the Constitution now, and the passage of these bills means giving up cur liberties and American freedom, under which we have established the greatest opportunity for the common man in the history of the world, they will have gone forever.

Let us stand up now and fight for the liberties of the American people, for the rights of labor, of farming, and of industry, and against those who would destroy them.

Making Pure Food and Drug Legislation Effective

EXTENSION OF REMARKS

HON. JOHN M. COFFEE

OF WASHINGTON

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Monday, November 22, 1937

RÁDIO ADDRESS BY HON. JOHN M. COFFEE OF WASHINGTON
ON JULY 21, 1937

Mr. COFFEE of Washington. Mr. Speaker, under leave to extend my remarks, I include a coast-to-coast radio address delivered by me over the Nation-wide network of 84 stations of the Columbia Broadcasting System, as follows:

WE ARE TOO EASILY IMPRESSED BY MISREPRESENTATION One of the anomalies of our times is the inability or the unwillingness of the American people, through their Congress, to pass effective national pure food and drug legislation to enact laws with teeth in them. As a Nation we love to be hoodwinked. We delight in mirages. We are dreamers of rosy dreams. We are gluttons for punishment. We repudiate the apothegm "the burned child fears the fire." After the tannic acid assuages the agony of the burn we return to the fire with carefree gayety. I a novel runs to 1,000 pages and we are told with sumcient frequency by fashionably well-placed people that it is a masterpiece we hypnotize ourselves into believing it also, and vie with

150

APPENDIX TO THE CONGRESSIONAL RECORD

other in praise of the volume. I, by persistent repetition, we are told that a certain movie is super-super ultra-ultra and the adjectives of the English language are exhausted in its encomiums, there are few of us who are willing to disagree. We Join in the hallelujahs of approbation. Since it is fashionable to effect to have a musical appreciation, many of our neighbors whom we know don't know one note from another compete with each other in protesting their thrilling delight at certain discordant performances some of which we unhumorously call grand opera. We are color conscious and are intrigued by the exquisite lithography of certain stocks and bonds and seldom exercise sumcient caution to inquire into the bona fides of the sponsors. We believe what we read in the newspapers. We are a credulous and gullible Nation. Even the late P. T. Barnum arrived at that conclusion a half a century ago.

So it is with pure food and drug legislation. The patent-medicine racket continues with seemingly unabated vigor. Daily we purchase with naive faith patent cure-alls in our drug stores and canned foodstuffs, childishly confident that the product is what it purports to be.

THE CURRENT PURE FOOD AND DRUGS LAW IS OUTMODED The Federal Pure Food and Drugs Law was enacted in 1906 after a 27-year fight led by Dr. Harvey Wiley. That law has now outgrown its usefulness. Its chief defects are that it applies neither to advertising nor to cosmetics, although it does forbid false claims on labels and prohibits adulteration of food or drugs. But that law contains a fatal joker. The law interdicts false or misleading claims on labels. By "misleading" is meant a statement, which, although technically true, in fact is misleading. The United States Supreme Court some years ago had before it an important test case. The Government contended that Dr. Johnson's combination treatment for cancer was falsely labeled. We would hardly assume today that there could be much difference of opinion as to whether a "combination treatment for cancer" was misbranded or not, but the Supreme Court thought differently. It decided that the prohibition against false or misleading claims applied only to the ingredients of a package and not to claims about its curative powers, and so it dismissed the prosecution. This decision shocked the country. Within a month President Taft sent a message to Congress asking it to undo the evil the Supreme Court decision had created. A bill was introduced to amend the law to make it apply to therapeutic claims on the labels of drugs. That bill became a law, but only after the lobbyists had inserted a joker which made the amendment worthless. The amendment as finally adopted forbade false and fraudulent therapeutic claims on the labels of patent medicines.

Therefore, when the Government started an action based on false therapeutic claims against the seller of patent medicines it had to prove not only that such claims were false but also that the person who made them knew they were false.

In other words, the more ignorant a drug vendor was and the less he knew of medicine the less likely he was to be convicted. The lobbyist most active in getting this joke enacted in the 1912 amendment was an executive of one of the largest so-called ethical drug manufacturers in America.

BANBAR

Here is an illustration of the difficulties of prosecuting under this provision: A former shirt salesman was selling a so-called diabetes cure known as Banbar and getting 812 a pint for it. The Food and Drug Administration of the Department of Agriculture analyzed Banbar and found it was essentially an extract of a common weed, "horse tail", frequently found growing along railroad tracks. A criminal prosecution was started. Experts testified Banbar was worthless. The manufacturer then introduced in evidence hundreds of testimonials praising Banbar and swearing it had cured their diabetes. The Government then proved that scores of these persons had actually died of diabetes. Yet a jury of 12 good men and true acquitted the manufacturer and the Government did not appeal, for the excellent reason that it could not. The Constitution forbids putting a person in double Jeopardy for the same offense in a criminal action.

MARMOLA

Did you ever hear of Marmola, the well known antifat preparation? Its manufacturer previously had been selling lost-manhood cures by means of Police Gazette advertisements. This preparation depends for its electiveness on thyroid extracts, which can, and do, seriously harm many persons. The Post Office has the power to deny the use of the malls to those using them to defraud. Under this power it issued an order against one of the drug firms connected with Marmola. The manufacturer blithely changed the name of his firm and continued doing business under another name. He was able to dodge the postal inspectors until 1914, when the Post Office prosecuted criminally, and he pleaded guilty, paying a $5,000 fine. Eventually he gave up his mail-order business but continued to sell Marmola to retail druggists and to advertise it nationally. The Post Office then had no jurisdiction and so it dropped the fight.

MARMOLA STILL PROSPERS DESPITE ITS EXPOSURE

The Food and Drug Administration was without power to proceed against Marmola, as it is technically not a drug, since obesity is not a disease. It is just a condition. This agency had Jurisdiction over food and drugs only, and hence could do nothing. The Federal Trade Commission took up the battle. That body has the power to issue an order directing a manufacturer to cease false advertising, and did so in 1928, charging that Marmola was being advertised as safe, when in fact it was dangerous. The manufacturer promptly appealed to the United States Supreme

Court, continuing to sell Marmola during the appeal, doing $600,000 worth of business a year. The Court decided that the Federal Trade Commission had jurisdiction only when a manufacturer's false advertising "injured its competitors", and ruled that the Commission had not proved that Marmola's practices were harmful to its competitors. Today Marmola, which the United States Supreme Court admitted was dangerous to use except under a doctor's care, continues to menace the health of uninformed women, and the manufacturer continues to corral the proat thereof.

PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT WANTS MERITORIOUS LEGISLATION

Many dangerous drugs are commonly used in patent medicines. Under the present law the presence of most of these drugs does not even have to be stated on the label. The consumer has no way of knowing when he is subjecting himself to the perils inherent in their use. President Roosevelt, in a message to Congress on March 22, 1935, said: "A measure is needed which will extend the control, formerly applicable only to labels, to advertising also; which will extend protection to the trade in cosmetics; which will provide for a cooperative system and method of setting standards and for a system of inspection and enforcement to reassure consumers, grown hesitant and doubtful. •

DINITROPHENOL

Recently there has been an increasing list of persons killed by dinitrophenol. Countless people have sustained cataracts of the eyes as a result of its use. Complete blindness has frequently ensued. Last year the American Medical Association reported that there were 23 reducing preparations on the market which contained dinitrophenol. In many places these preparations can be purchased at the corner drug store and the purchaser can embark on a course of self-medication with a drug which, even when taken under expert medical supervision, has often caused death.

STRYCENDI

Under the present law strychnine, a highly toxic drug, does not have to be declared as an ingredient. Scores of children have died because of strychnine poisoning, due to laxative and tonic pills. Parents assume such preparations to be innocuous. They have no way of knowing that the chocolate or sugar coating of these pills, so attractive to children, covers sufficient strychnine that six or eight tablets accidentally eaten may constitute a lethal dose poison for a small child.

THE TUGWELL HIL

Under the Tugwell bill, proposed by the Roosevelt administration, an important provision was won which listed many incurable diseases, or those which can be safely treated only by a doctor. Among these were cancer, diabetes, diphtheria, appendicitis, tuberculosis, and venereal diseases. This section forbade outright any advertisement of medicines for such diseases. Half-way measures are not enough for quacks, who profit by raising false hopes in those suffering from incurable allments. But the list of diseases was too long for the medicine industry, and the diseases were cut from 42 to 9. The present Copeland bill, now pending, does not even prohibit advertising of drugs for diabetes, although science knows of no cure. Even insulin will only keep the patient alive; it will not cure him.

The Tugwell bill required each patent medicine and cosmetic to list on its label all of its ingredients and their proportions. It might be difficult to sell cold cream at $5 a jar if the label showed merely a few inexpensive everyday ingredients in the jar. Bellers of hair tonic guaranteed to grow hair on billiard balls would be unable to operate this racket if the label disclosed that the preparation contained nothing but colored water and red pepper. The canners were up in arms about the grade-labeling proposal. Today the housewife, when buying canned foods, is buying a surprise package. The gaudy label on the outside of the can is about as descriptive of the contents as a circus-sideshow poster is of the freaks inside.

CANNERS FAVOR GAUDY ADJECTIVES

Canners protested that grade labels would confuse the ignorant housewife, that the poor would be ashamed to ask for the lower grade, that it was impossible to grade accurately. Isn't the housewife today confused by a canner's adjectives? If you are in any doubt just listen to those used in listing sizes, not quality, of olives: Small, medium, large, extra large, mammoth, giant, jumbo, colossal, and super colossal. Even Cecil B. DeMille, in his palmlest days, couldn't do better than a "super colossal olive."

But the committee in Congress refused to report the Tugwell bill. Its provisions have been emasculated. Its incisive teeth have been replaced by false molars. Substitute legislation is now pending, the principal one known as the Copeland bill. I contend that this act is a law weaker in some respects than the existing act. As it has passed the Senate the power to make multiple seizures has been seriously impaired, because under it the accused may demand trial in his home jurisdiction, whereas consumers are more likely to receive the kind of court action to which they are entitled in the districts where they lived and have been harmed than in that of a distant manufacturer who may have transgressed the law.

CRAZY CRYSTALS

Did you ever hear of Crazy Crystals? They have swept the West in popularity. In American Chamber of Horrors, by Ruth DeForest Lamb, the author declares these crystals are essentially Glauber's salt, a horse physic. Yet a package of these crystals retails for $1. The same amount of Glauber's salt can be purchased for a quarter. In elaborate business omces on the main streets of American cities these crystals have been advertised as a panacea for diseases ranging from constipation to Bright's disease.

APPENDIX TO THE CONGRESSIONAL RECORD

K. R. 6286

Because I feel strongly about this matter, and because I believe pending bills do not meet the issue, as a Member of Congress I have introduced a bill, H. R. 5286, which I believe affords the protection so urgently demanded and needed by the public. This bill is sponsored by Consumers' Union of the United States, Inc., by housewives' groups, and by liberal organizations generally. The main features of the measure are the establishment of a consumers' bureau in the Public Health Service; the registration of proprietary products; informative labeling: prevention of false or misleading advertising; an adequate budget for enforcement; health education, publicity, and scientific research. If you want real and unafraid food and drug legislation, advise your RepreBentatives in Congress to support actively and work for the enactment of my bill, H. R. 5286, the Consumers' Union measure.

Under my bill every manufacturer of a proprietary product must register his formula, file a statement of all claims to be made for it, and the name of the licensed pharmacist or chemist under whose supervision the product is manufactured. Thus a product harmful to health would be prevented from ever reaching the market, since a certificate of registration would be denied if the product contained dangerous ingredients. The preventive feature of my bill would benefit everybody. Money would be saved for Government and business alike. Long and expensive court cases would be eliminated. The soundness of preventing offenses rather than punishing them after they have been perpetrated is so obvious as to be incontrovertible.

FRAUDULENT NOSTRUMS ARE PREVALENT

An example of the cogent need of registering the name of the licensed chemist who actually makes the product can be cited. One gentleman with only a graduate and scales for equipment puts up in his own home a preparation for hay fever and asthma, the principal ingredient of the nostrum being potassium iodide, a drug which converts latent tuberculosis into an active form of the disease. This man has no scientific training, having left school at the eighth grade. This picture of an ignoramus dispensing medicine to the public detriment but for his private proft is an incongruous one in our country, where scientific training and skill are supposedly held in high esteem. It is a picture which would be blotted out were H. R. 5286 to become a law. A feature of my bill is the requirement that labels of food, drugs, and cosmetics shall tell what ingredients are present and in what proportion, only spices, flavorings, and perfuming agents being excepted. Such informative labeling has been demanded by consumer groups for years. The imperative need for it is patent. If a consumer is to use medicines intelligently, he must know what is in them. If he is to spend his food dollar wisely, he must know what he is purchasing. Under the Copeland Act this need is only partially met, because it requires that the label of preparations containing two or more drugs list the active ingredients, but it does not require that the proportions in which they are present be named, with a few rare exceptions.

ALKA-SELTZER

Of what help would that be to a consumer who buys, say, AlkaSeltzer? Under the Copeland Act he will learn that it is essentially a mixture of aspirin, baking soda, and citric acid. Since be has read advertising about the alkalizing effect of Alka-Seltzer, he would probably decide that an Alka-Seltzer tablet consists mainly of a dose of baking soda with a little aspirin thrown in, whereas it is actually just the reverse. Under my bill this fact could be readily ascertained by every purchaser. Every Alka-Seltzer tablet contains 51⁄2 grains of aspirin-more than the amount in the usual aspirin tablet.

IT IS TIME TO DEMAND ACTION

How long. O Lord, how long will we gullible ones continue to be defrauded, duped, misled, and exploited without rebelling? How long will we meekly turn the other cheek? Shall we sacrifice life for private profit indefinitely? Let us awaken to our peril; rise up and act. The record of Congress the past 4 years in respect to food and drug legislation is one of which none of us can be proud. It will be a betrayal of our constituents' interests if we Members of Congress fall to pass a new law in the near future. It will be no less a betrayal if that new law is one which is little better, if any, than existing legislation, and even weaker in some respects-I mean the Copeland bill. For that reason, friends, I urge support of H. R. 5286, the Consumers' Union pure food and drug bill, a measure with a purpose, with real teeth in it, and which means what it says.

The Antilynching Bill

EXTENSION OF REMARKS

OF

HON. MARTIN DIES

OF TEXAS

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Monday, November 22, 1937

Mr. DIES. Mr. Speaker, ladics and gentlemen of the House, one of the finest speeches ever delivered in the Benate was recently delivered by our distinguished Senator,

151

TOM CONNALLY, -on the antilynching bill. It was my pleasure to hear this masterful address and I was so deeply impressed with its convincing logic, its sparkling humor, and deep sincerity, that I decided to print a number of copies and send them to my friends in Texas. The speech contains valuable information that our citizenship needs, and I can think of no greater service that I can render to the cause of democracy and the preservation of State rights than to place this speech in the hands of as many people as I can. It is seldom that we are able to appreciate a great man during his lifetime. It is usually after death that we are able to appreciate the qualities of truly great men. I fear that there are some in my State who lack a full appreciation of the sterling character, the undaunted courage, the deep sincerity, and the brilliant ability of Senator CoNNALLY. Some Members of Congress and of the Senate are able to fool their constituents. Some of them, through cheap publicity, are able to deceive their constituents into believing that they occupy an important role in national affairs when, as a matter of fact, their influence is nil, and they neither have nor deserve the respect of their colleagues. But few Members of Congress have ever been able to fool their colleagues. We see them here at close quarters and are able to appraise their true worth.

The overwhelming majority of both Houses regard Senator CONNALLY as one of the outstanding Members of Congress and as a truly great man. When he speaks, Members of the House and of the Senate who seldom listen to speeches except delivered by themselves flock to the Senate floor to hear him.

We appreciate the fact that he is absolutely sincere and possesses a degree of courage which is rarely shown in modern politics.

Senator CONNALLY could have chosen the easy road and gone along with what appeared to be the popular tide, but he preferred to tread the rougher path of duty and honor. Like others, he could have trimmed his sails to catch the passing breeze, and "bowed the pregnant hinges of the knee that thrift might follow fawning," but he chose to follow the example of other great Senators that Texas has produced in the past-men who did not sacrifice their honest convictions to secure political preferment.

The thinking people of Texas are justly proud of Senator CONNALLY, and many of us believe that he will be reelected without opposition. He is fighting valiantly and courageously for the people of our State; and, while some may not agree with him upon some of his views, nevertheless we respect him for his courage in expressing those views. Of course, we cannot agree with anyone 100 percent, but it is better to have in the Halls of Congress a man who is courageous and sincere, even though we do not entirely agree with him, than to have a pussyfooting, weak-kneed, trembling, shaking politician who will barter away our liberties to secure an easy reelection. The people are today demanding that their Representatives and Senators exercise courage and do what they think is right. It is because Senator CONNALLY has done this that his friends are increasing rapidly throughout the Lone Star State.

As one who has closely watched his public career, not from a distance and not from newspapers but from firsthand observation, I express to him, in the name of my constituents, gratitude for the wonderful service he is rendering our State; and I hope that everyone will read this great speech, which I happen to know was delivered extemporaneously and came from the heart of a great man. Wage and Hour Legislation as Viewed by New York State Industrial Commissioner

EXTENSION OF REMARKS

OF

HON. ALFRED F. BEITER

OF NEW YORK

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Monday, November 22, 1937

Mr. BETTER. Mr. Speaker, I am submitting herewith for the information of the House a letter I have received from

1937

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE

The people of Puerto Rico, whether in official or private life, were greatly impressed with the fair yet businesslike administration which was brought to them by this outstanding citizen from the mainland. Governor Towner ended his service in Puerto Rico on September 29, 1929.

In the judicial field Judge Towner ranked among the leading lawyers of his State. As a Member of the House of Representatives, Representative Towner was known as a parliamentarian, one of the best-posted Members on the history of the United States, and frequently presided over this body with both tact and firmness. Governor Towner's service in Puerto Rico ranks high among the administrators of our island possessions.

While the State of Iowa was not formed during the early part of our Government, the names of Allison, Kirkwood, Harlan, Shaw, Wilson, Hepburn, Dolliver, Henderson, Lacey, Hull, Cousins, Good, and Cummins stand out as a contribution second to no other State since the admission of Iowa to the Union, and the name Towner is entitled to be included in the galaxy of statesmen supplied by Iowa to the Nation.

EXTENSION OF REMARKS

Mr. DEMUTH. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to extend my remarks and to include therein a radio address made at the ground-breaking exercises in connection with a flood-control dam built at Crooked Creek, Pa.

The SPEAKER. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Pennsylvania?

There was no objection.

PERMISSION TO ADDRESS THE HOUSE

Mr. REED of New York Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that, following the special orders of today, I may address the House for 15 minutes.

The SPEAKER. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from New York?

There was no objection.

Mr. DUNN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to address the House for 1 minute.

The SPEAKER. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Pennsylvania?

There was no objection.

Mr. DUNN. Mr. Speaker, the Members of Congress who believe in the eradication of sweatshops and the abolition of child labor should not hesitate to sign the wage and hour petition. If the fair labor standards bill is enacted into law, undoubtedly a great deal of good will be accomplished. The abominable sweatshops and child-labor practices will be terminated.

LEAVE OF ABSENCE

Mr. KERR. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent for an indefinite leave of absence for my colleague the gentleman from North Carolina [Mr. WEAVER] on account of illness in his family.

The SPEAKER. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from North Carolina?

There was no objection.

EXTENSION OF REMARKS

Mr. PATTON. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to extend my remarks in the RECORD by including a statement with respect to the position of the Senator from Texas [Mr. CONNALLY] in reference to the antilynching bill.

The SPEAKER. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Texas?

There was no objection.

PURE FOOD AND DRUGS BILL

Mr. REES of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to proceed for 1 minute..

The SPEAKER. Is there objection?
There was no objection.

Mr. REES of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, we listened with considerable amount of interest yesterday to the leadership of this House with reference to the progress that has been made thus far during the session. We were disappointed in

855

not having any information or advice as to the plans for the remainder of the special session.

We were called into special session because the President said there were emergencies at hand which required the immediate attention of Congress. This Congress has been in session for 10 days. It appears now that 2 weeks will pass and no legislation will have been enacted, except a bill that provides for the loaning of some portraits to the Constitution Sesquicentennial Commission. At the present ment we do not even have bills for consideration in line with the President's message. There are a number of important bills that have remained on the calendar since last August, and which have been recommended for passage by the committees having them in charge. It appears, however, that under the present program we are not supposed to bring those bills up for consideration at this special session.

With this plan I cannot agree. Congress is here at the expense of the taxpayers of this country. It has cost the Government several hundred thousands of dollars to bring the membership back into special session. Why not use the time and give consideration to those measures which are on the calendar and are of major importance? The least thing we could do is to consider these measures until the administration's proposed legislation is ready for our consideration. I have in mind at this time, among those measures now pending, the pure food and drug bill, known as the Copeland bill. It was introduced in the Senate in January of this year and passed by that body during March. The bill was finally recommended for passage during the closing days of the last session. The bill as submitted to the House has, in my opinion, been amended in such respects as to take out some of the most important and better features of the bill. Nevertheless, even in its present form, I believe it ought to come to the floor for consideration.

We talk about emergency measures. This is a measure which can well come under this classification. If there ever was need for legislation on food and drugs for this country, that time is right now. Newspapers and periodicals are crowded with information and of incidents where individuals and companies have taken advantage of people by the hundreds and the thousands, by falsification of advertising and adulteration as well as misbranding of foods and medicines.

To bring the problem closer home, we have the horrible example which occurred only a few weeks ago, when a concern in Tennessee was permitted to sell a drug known as elixir of sulfanilamide that has resulted in not only the Mness of numbers of people, but, according to information received from the pure food and drug department, at least 73 innocent people have died from using this misbranded and misrepresented drug. These people thought they had a right to rely upon statements made concerning this deadly drug. To make matters worse, so far as we can ascertain, nothing has been done regarding this tragedy except that a slight investigation has been made. I am advised by those who are informed on the subject that the only thing that can be done to a party who misbrands a drug, even though it may take the lives of innocent people, is to impose a fine of not more than $200, if he is convicted of the crime.

Not since 1906 has anything been done to improve the pure food and drug law that is now in force. The law at that time was one of the greatest steps that had been taken by Congress. It was a compromise measure but was the best that could be done in view of the opposition that was registered against it.

Although the present law was not written by men of experience, it is good so far as it goes. The present measure · did not anticipate the present mode of commercial practices, and of course made no provision for them. Many weaknesses have been discovered by the enforcement officials in their efforts to administer the present statute. During the entire 31 years in which the law has been in force, many defects have been brought to light by reason of judicial interpretations. Even then, it has been amended only in four minor respects.

« PreviousContinue »