Paint Adulteration.

The Manufacturer and Builder 5, 1890

The propriety of enacting stringent laws to compel manufacturers and dealers to label the goods they handle, so as to show their character and composition, is rapidly gaining the acceptance of the whole honestminded portion of the community. The prevailing practice of paint and oil adulteration has led to a bill being framed by our contemporary House Painting and Decorating, to regulate such adulteration by making it a misdemeanor to label falsely any pigment or linseed oil. The principle upon which the bill is framed, is simply that purchasers shall not be induced to purchase paints or linseed oil by deception. There is no attempt made to prevent, nor is it desired to prevent, the sale of cheap material to those who desire to use it. But if, for instance, a manufacturer marks a package "chrome yellow," either with or without such adjectives as "best," "pure," "superfine," etc., such packages must contain pure chrome yellow, or both the manufacturer and the seller be subjected to heavy penalties. If, however, the package contains, say, only 75 per cent of pure color, and a statement to that effect is placed on the label, the sale of such color will not be unlawful. The bill will be presented to Congress as soon as practicable, and it will be accompanied by a petition of master painters and other consumers of paint in favor of its becoming a law forthwith. Those who are in favor of the petition, are invited to send their names to the editor of House Painting and Decorating, 1,130 South Thirtyfifth Street, Philadelphia, Pa.