FDA History Intro

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Dr. Wiley's Introduction to His 1929 Book About

Corruption in the FDA

FDA History Intro

 

Home HISTORY OF A CRIME AGAINST THE FOOD LAW

by Harvey W. Wiley, M.D., the very first commissioner

of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), then known

as the “US Bureau of Chemistry.”

 

INTRODUCTION

I suppose after the manner of those who steal the

titles of other authors an

apology should be made to Victor Hugo. The crime that

he described was one

purely political. It told the story of Louis Napoleon,

who, having been elected

President of the French Republic in 1848, following

the model of his illustrious

uncle, became Emperor of the French nation in 1852.

Victor Hugo was one of the

leaders against this movement and naturally became a

persona non grata at Paris.

With hundreds of others who had opposed this coup

d'état he sought safety in

Brussels. He arrived there on the 14th day of

December, 1852, and began his

" History of a Crime " on that very day. It was

completed by May 5, 1853. He did

not publish it for twenty-five years afterward.

It has been only twenty-one years since the crime

about to be described was

committed. Perhaps it would be the part of wisdom if

its history, still

unpublished, be withheld for another six years. The

everthreatening thought of

Anno Domini warns that it is not likely that I may

still be on this planet after

the lapse of six years. This fact should absolve me

from any blame for a

somewhat premature publication. The theft of his title

is not likely to disturb

the ashes of Victor Hugo in the Pantheon, to which

they were committed by five

hundred thousand of his fellow citizens in the summer

of 1885, three months

after his eighty-third birthday.

Presumably a similar lese majesté might be charged

against the author of this

story. Probably the truths which are told in the

following pages, and a

Government less violently set up than that of Napoleon

III, will be a safeguard

against expatriation. It is advisable and even

desirable, while the memories of

this crime are still fresh, to set down in simple

language a recital thereof.

There are many embarrassments in connection with

writing a story of this kind

which usually would deter or prevent the completion of

the work. Many of the

authors and participators in this crime have already

joined the great majority

and entered upon the Great Adventure. I am not

unmindful of the excellent adage,

nil de mortuis nisi bonum. I will not impute any base

motives to those who are

no longer here to defend themselves. It is far better

to take the safe course.

That is to assume that the crimes committed against

the Food and Drugs Act were

due to errors of judgment and not to any set purpose

to destroy the salutary

provisions of this law. While in the recital of these

crimes, in spite of a

purpose to the contrary, there may be found at times

language which would

indicate that the actors were not simply ignorant, it

must be attributed to. the

zeal for proper enforcement of the food law which

leads to a recital of these

facts, rather than to a purpose of. misjudging the

motives of the actors

themselves.

Twenty years have passed since these offenses

against the law began. There

are two reasons why I have waited so long before

setting down in order this

history. The principal one is that my time was all

consumed with my efforts

toward improving the nutrition, and consequently the

health of the nation. The

need of better nutrition is shown in an address

opposing the repeal of the mixed

flour law quoted further on. This was an indictment of

the severest kind of the

methods of up-bringing our youth. The deplorable

condition of our young men was

vividly shown in the Great War. Fully one-third of

those called to the colors

were found to be physically and mentally unfit to

serve their country in its

hour of need. Another third could only attend to camp

and hospital tasks. Only

one-third could go into. the trenches and serve their

country on the field of

battle.

It was a matter of supreme importance to endeavor

in all honorable ways to

remove the possibility of a similar stigma which might

arise from any future

crises of the republic. To instruct young persons to

be parents, to teach them

how to bring up their children after they are born,

and to eliminate such a

percentage of unfit are problems which require careful

study. Having now reached

the age of eighty-four, I am forcibly reminded that if

this history of a crime

is ever to be written it must be done now, without

undue delay.

The second reason which has made, me hesitate is

because of my high personal

regard for those who are not shown as wholly devoted

to the public service in

the lapses of their conduct respecting the food and

drugs legislation. It is

always painful to say anything which could even be

construed as derogatory to

those who have been one's friends.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

It is the practice in criminal proceedings before

the courts for the opposing

counsel to lay before the court and the jury an

outline of the points he expects

to prove and the nature of the evidence which it is

proposed to offer. It is

advisable to set down briefly the important points in

this history. First of all

will be a recital of the efforts made over a period of

twenty-five years to

secure a national food. and drugs act. Attention is

called to the indifference

of the people at large in regard to the character of

the foods and drugs which

they used, and the efforts that were made to overcome

this attitude. It was soon

found that individual activities were practically

useless in securing national

legislation. Only mass action could produce any

progressive results. The

organized bodies of men and women who gradually became

interested in this

legislation will be pointed out. At the same time the

character of the lobbies

formed efficiently to block national legislation will

be described. Particular

attention will be called to the dominant features

which always characterized

this proposed legislation. There was very little

discussion of the question of

misbranding. The chief points discussed were the

results of adding to our food

products preservative substances to keep them from

decay, and coloring matters

which made them look more attractive and fresh. Brief

citations from the

evidence before the various committees in the House

and the Senate will

illustrate the magnitude of the struggle which finally

resulted in the approval

of the Food and Drugs Act on June 30, 1906.

 

PROLOGUE

" Remember how long thou hast already put off these

things, and how often a

certaine day and houre as it were, having been set

unto thee by the gods, thou

hast neglected it. It is high time for thee to

understand the true nature both

of the world, whereof thou art a part; and of that

Lord and Governour of the

World, from whom, as a channell from the spring, thou

thy selfe didst flow: And

that there is but a certaine limit, of time appointed

unto thee, which if thou

shalt not make use of to calme and alay the many

distempers of thy soule, it

will passe away and thou with it, and never after

returne. "

--From The Golden Book of Marcus Aurelius, published

by J. M. Dent & Co.,

Aldine House, London, W. C., Page 16.

" Bare tabulation will not do; simple enumeration is

plainly insufficient.

There must be a hint of perspective. The historian

must select, and in the

awkward process of selection he becomes an artist. One

seems to see the

historian at this uncomfortable stage desert the

laboratory and furtively

approach the studio. And why not? There is no need for

him to blush when we

detect him in the questionable company of artists. For

history is an art as

well,--the art of representing past events through

facts of scientific accuracy.

If the facts are inaccurate, it is not history. But if

they are not embodied in

a picture of a living past, it is not history either.

For a smear on a palet is

not a picture. So the historian, when his work among

the test-tubes of research

is done, must turn artist, abandoning his overalls for

the velvet jacket. If he

can not, so much the less historian he.

" It is so easy for the historian to forget his duty

in the multiplicity of

his business. To put it crudely, he is asked to raise

the dead, to bring the

past to life, to give a continuous performance of the

miracle of Endor. He must

achieve this feat with a restricted armory. For he is

not allowed the novelist's

liberty of invention. His incantations are strictly

limited to the ascertained

facts, and with their aid alone he is expected to

evoke the past. We ask of the

historian a great tapestry, crowded with figures,

filled with shifting lights

and crowds and landscapes; and we insist sternly

(though with perfect propriety)

that he shall use no single thread for his weaving

that can not be vouched for

as to its color, length, and weight by reference to

his unvarying authorities,

the scientific facts. "

--From " The Missing Muse, " by Philip Guedalla, in

The Forum for November,

1927, Page 666.