CONTROL OF THE PUBLIC MILK SUPPLY 375 



for infractions of the agreement. The confusion resulting from such a 

 system would be intolerable; so the community acting through the law- 

 making power makes a contract or law which establishes the quality of 

 the milk, the way it shall be handled, etc. It places the responsibility 

 for seeing the law is lived up to in the hands of an inspector and provides 

 courts to settle disputes that may arise between the parties to the con- 

 tract. It is apparent that this contract or law must be so drawn that it 

 is fair to all. In theory a law that imposes whimsical or arduous condi- 

 tions on the vendor or producer will result in high prices to the consumer 

 and one that does not protect the consumer's interests is likely to invite 

 slovenly competition and therefore to fail to protect the market to the 

 dealer. This raises the question, what is the object of a milk ordinance? 

 It is this, to secure good clean milk for the consumer. Henderson has 

 defined such milk as that which, being produced by practical dairymen 

 from profitable cows, economically fed, housed in clean quarters, milked 

 and attended by intelligent and well-paid milkers, is promptly cooled, 

 kept uncontaminated till used, and is produced at a cost which admits of 

 its being sold at a price which, while not prohibitive to the consumer, yet 

 insures legitimate profit. The late G. M. Whitaker said that milk of good 

 quality should be that with a proper amount of food material, no foreign 

 substances, and no pathogenic bacteria and that it should come from 

 clean cows, in clean surroundings. So there should be the following 

 standards for milk; food standards, bacteriological standards, temperature 

 standards and score-card standards. 



Food standards would protect the public against adulteration and 

 should keep off the market, milk of low food value. Bacterial standards 

 serve as a check on the methods of production, but do not mean that 

 milk attaining these standards is free from disease germs. Temperature 

 standards should mean that the milk is kept as near 40F. as possible. 

 The score card should bring the dairy and dairyman to higher standards. 



In addition to the postulates of Henderson and Whitaker the writer 

 would ad d that the milk should come from healthy cows. That the milk 

 of cows suffering from such diseases as anthrax, aphthous fever, cowpox 

 and some other maladies should not be sold, probably all would agree, 

 but probably some would permit the sale of pasteurized milk from 

 animals that failed to give evidence of tuberculosis on careful physical 

 examination. In regard to this matter it is best to be conservative but 

 the dairy world is probably slowly working toward a great reduction in 

 the amount of tuberculosis that will be tolerated in herds supplying the 

 city market and possibly toward its ultimate extinction and it is the 

 writer's belief that well-considered ordinances should exert pressure in 

 this direction. Pasteurization acts as a palliative and not as a cure of 

 the tuberculosis problem. When properly supervised, it offers a high 

 degree of protection from the disease but it can never be regarded as 



