In New York State, the legislature has delegated to the Department of
Health certain rights in the matter of the protection from pollution of
the waters of the state, particularly when those waters are used for
drinking purposes. Upon application from the water company, this
department, having carefully inspected the watershed, will prepare a
complete and elaborate series of rules, giving in detail just what an
individual may or may not do on the watershed, and, when enacted, these
rules have all the force of law. They are, however, like all laws,
subject to the constitutional limitations, and particularly to the
clause of the constitution which provides that "no state shall make or
enforce any law which shall deprive any person of property without due
process of law." This means that if any law prevents an individual
enjoying reasonable use of his own property, or if the deprivation of
such use is for the special benefit of some special community or
company, then that special body must be prepared to make compensation
for that deprivation, although if it were for the general good of the
community of which the individual was a member, no compensation might be
required.
REGULATIONS GOVERNING FOODS
Laws covering the sale of adulterated foods are of two kinds, namely,
those enacted by the national government at Washington, and those
enacted by the local authorities, either state or municipal. The laws
enacted by the national government, which are comprehended in the
recently enacted National Pure Food Law, deal particularly with the
adulteration and misbranding, not only of foods, but of all sorts of
medicines and liquor. Their effect, however, is limited entirely to such
articles as make up interstate commerce. If an article is made and sold
within the boundaries of any single state, it is not subject to the
national law, nor could this national law be applied to the production
or sale of any article from a farm unless that article was well enough
known to be generally distributed. For example, maple sirup, widely
advertised and generally sold, would be subject to the provisions of the
national law. Butter and cheese, sold locally, would not be subject to
such a law. It is evident, therefore, that this law does not usually
apply to farm products, unless, as in the case of some sausages, for
example, a widely advertised campaign has been instituted to promote
their sale.
There are, however, in the different states, laws which do apply locally
and which prohibit adulteration of all sorts. In New York State, for
example, the law says that no person shall, within the state,
manufacture, produce, compound, brew, distill, have, sell, or offer for
sale any adulterated food or product, and the law further specifies that
an article shall be deemed to be adulterated:--
"1. If any substance or substances has or have been mixed with
it so as to reduce or lower or injuriously affect its quality
or strength.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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