No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 57 



REPORT OF THE DAIRY AND FOOD 

 COMMISSIONER. 



Harrisburg, Pa., December ^i, igoy. 

 Hon. N. B. Critchfield, Secretary of Agriculture^ Harrisburg^ Pa. 



Dear Sir: In compliauce with law, I have the honor to herewith 

 respectfully submit a report of the work of the Dairy and Food 

 Division of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture for the 

 period intervening from April IGth., 1907, the date of my commis- 

 sion as Dairy and Food Commissioner of ^his Commonwealth, to 

 December 31st., 1907, inclusive. 



The duties of the office have been performed with a deep sense of its obliga- 

 tions and responsibilities and with an earnest purpose to serve the people fairly 

 and impartially, to the end that the greatest possible amount of good might 

 be accomplished for the benefit of the people of Pennsylvania. 



WHAT DUTIES THE BUREAU OWES TO THE COMMONW^AL.TH. 



The health, the morals and the culture of the people are the foundation of so- 

 ciety; the State promotes them under its police power which is necessarily a 

 permanent power in any government. This declaration is founded upon the ju- 

 dicial opinion expressed in the Quo-Wari-anto proceedings instituted to test 

 the constitutionality of the law creating the office of Dairy and Food Commis- 

 Bioner of Pennsylvania. 



It is evident that in the suppression of food adulteration, it stands as true 

 as in surgery, that "the merciful doctor makes the wound foul." As a logical 

 sequence, the dairy and food authorities are exercising special alertness in the 

 supervision of their districts, and these special agents are trying to do all that 

 is possible to repress violations of the dairy and food laws. The main objects to 

 be attained are first, to prevent, and secondly to repress such wrong-doing, and 

 for these purposes they are placed in full charge and held to an accountability 

 for the conditions within their local districts. 



While these special agents of the Bureau have met many difficulties in the 

 performance of their duty, earnest thanks are due to each and all of them 

 for arduous work conscientiously performed 



HOW INCUMBENT DUTIES ARE PERFORMED. 



In the conduct of the business of the Bureau, the following administrative 

 policies are pursued: 



The education of those specially interested in the manufacture and sale of 

 food and dairy products. 



Making public the violations of the laws placed under its administration for 

 enforcement. 



Instituting proper legal proceedings against all who are found to be violating 

 the laws. 



The correspondence of the Bureau shows conclusively that a large proportion 

 of the public desire to be law-abiding citizens, and that there is a general wil- 

 lingness to secure a compliance with the laws. The Bureau is always willing 

 to furnish information to correspondents whenever it can be supplied without 

 prejudicing its own interests. Just as soon as the public realized that the laws 

 were being enforced vigorously, justly and honestly, the laws were respected 

 and the people protected from fraud. 



The general knowledge of these facts has resulted in a successful termination 

 of prosecutions. Courts and magistrates can bear testimony to the fact that 

 whenever a case is instituted, nothing is left undone to prove that it is a right- 

 eous and proper cause for legal redress; consequently, the very small percentage 

 of failures to secure a conviction. 



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