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iar with the practice of cold storage still appreciate neither its purpose nor 
its effect. The Commission on Cold Storage appointed by the Governor of 
Massachusetts to investigate the subject, addressed a circular of inquiry to 
secretaries of Boards of Health in the different States, asking for opinions 
or suggestions as to the need of regulation of the industry and the form 
which it should take. Twenty-one state boards answered the inquiry and 
in every instance recorded a belief that legislation for the regulation of 
cold storage of food and food products is necessary. That the information, 
however, was not on the whole of great value was shown by the fact that 
one official recommended restricting the time limit of storage to ten days, 
another to ninety days, several did not think storage for more than three 
months desirable. When the information of those we count as sanitary 
experts is so limited, need we wonder at the fear of cold storage products 
so long held by the average consumer? Before satisfactory legislation is 
enacted we must know why we need regulation and what, if any, bounds 
of restriction are necessary. The business should be regulated by practical 
laws which do not have for their purpose its destruction and which are 
intended rather to put a stop to the practice of the storing of food unsuit- 
able for refrigeration, and which has, even before its entry into storage, 
deteriorated and become unfit for food, and to insure the withdrawal of 
all goods before they have been held sufficiently long to undergo such 
physical change as may render them undesirable for human consumption. 
The report of the Massachusetts Commission referred to recognizes in 
cold storage a fundamental necessity in the distribution of the food supply 
of the nation. It finds that cold storage enables perishable food products 
to be brought to market with the least possible deterioration, and that it 
enables the surplus of one season to be carried over to meet the demand 
during the season of natural scarcity. In this way, by distributing the 
seasonal output of perishable food stuffs evenly through the market year, 
it helps to equalize supply and demand. The price of the food supply to 
the consumer is not materially influenced by cold storage. It has been 
argued that the possibility of storing food products against a rising market 
may lead to speculation on the part of the middleman, and no doubt the 
facilities offered by cold storage may be abused to manipulate prices. This 
possibility, however, is more theoretical than actual, because of the enor- 
mous practical difficulties in the way of artificially controlling the supply 
of food. It is impossible to determine in advance, for instance, whether 
