People v. Freeman

• Decision Date: 22 December 1909
• Citation: 242 Ill. 373,90 N.E. 366
• Parties: PEOPLE v. FREEMAN.
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court

242 Ill. 373

90 N.E. 366

PEOPLE

v.FREEMAN.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

Dec. 22, 1909.

Error to Municipal Court of Chicago; John C. Scovel, Judge.

C. E. Freeman was convicted of the offense of keeping for sale oleomargarine unlawfully colored, and he brings error. Affirmed.Charles Woodward and Delbert A. Clithero, for plaintiff in error.

W. H. Stead, Atty. Gen., and John E. W. Wayman (Charles E. Woodward and Zach Hofheimer, of counsel), for the People.

DUNN, J.

The plaintiff in error was convicted in the municipal court of Chicago of a violation of the ‘act to regulate the manufacture and sale of substitutes for butter’ (Hurd's Rev. St. 1908, p. 713, c. 38, §§ 39d-39i), by keeping for sale oleomargarine, designed as a substitute for butter, and colored so as to resemble yellow butter, the product of the dairy. He seeks a reversal of the judgment on the ground of the unconstitutionality of the act under which he was convicted.

The first six sections of the act are as follows:

‘Section 1. That for the purpose of this act, every article, substitute or compound other than (that) which is producedfrom pure milk or cream therefrom, made in the semblance of butter and designed to be used as a substitute for butter made from pure milk or its cream, is hereby declared to be imitation butter: Provided, that the use of salt and harmless coloring matter for coloring the product of pure milk or cream shall not be construed to render such product an imitation.

‘Sec. 2. No person shall coat, powder or color with annatto or any coloring matter whatever, any substance designed as a substitute for butter, whereby such substitute or product so colored or compounded shall be made to resemble butter, the product of the dairy. No person shall combine any animal fat or vegetable oil or other substance with butter or combined therewith or with animal fat or vegetable oil, or combination of the two, or with either one, any other substance or substances, for the purpose or with the effect of imparting thereto a yellow color or any shade of yellow so that such substitute shall resemble yellow or any shade of genuine yellow butter, nor introduce any such coloring matter or such substance or substances into any of the articles of which the same is composed: Provided, nothing in this act shall be construed to prohibit the use of salt, rennet and harmless coloring matter for coloring the products of pure milk or cream from the same. No person shall by himself, his agents, or employees, produce or manufacture any substance in imitation or semblance of natural butter, nor sell or keep for sale, nor offer for sale any imitation butter, made or manufactured, compounded or produced in violation of this section, whether such imitation butter shall be made or produced in this state or elsewhere. This section shall not be construed to prohibit the manufacture and sale under the regulations hereinafter provided, of substances designed to be used as a substitute for butter and not manufactured or colored as herein provided.

‘Sec. 3. Every person who lawfully manufactures any substance designed to be used as a substitute for butter, shall mark by branding, stamping or stenciling upon the top and side of each box, tub, firkin or other package in which such article shall be kept and in which it shall be removed from the place where it is produced, in a clear and durable manner, in the English language, the word ‘Oleomargarine,’ or the word ‘Butterine,’ or the words ‘Substitute for Butter,’ or the words ‘Imitation Butter,’ in printed letters in plain Roman type, each of which shall not be less than three-quarters of an inch in length.

‘Sec. 4. It shall be unlawful to sell or offer for sale any imitation butter without informing the purchaser thereof, or the person or persons to whom the same is offered for sale, that the substance sold or offered for sale is imitation butter.

‘Sec. 5. No person, by himself or others, shall ship, consign or forward by any common carrier, whether public or private, any substance designed to be used as a substitute for butter, unless it shall be marked or branded on each tub, box, firkin or jar, or other package containing the same, as provided in this act, and unless it be consigned by the carriers and receipted for by its true name: Provided, that this act shall not apply to any goods in transit between foreign states across the state of Illinois.

‘Sec. 6. No person shall have in his posession or under his control any substance designed to be used as a substitute for butter, unless the tub, firkin, jar, box or other package containing the same be clearly and durably marked, as provided in this act: Provided, that this section shall not be deemed to apply to persons who have the same in their possession for the actual consumption of themselves (or) their families. Every person who shall have possession or control of any imitation butter for the purpose of selling the same, which is not marked as required by the provisions of this act, shall be presumed...