No. 4.] REPORT OF DAIRY BUREAU. 439 



however, thunderstruck at the sentence, and ejaculated in 

 open court, tk Such a sentence was never imposed before in 

 this State, your Honor." " Well, it has been done now," 

 replied the judge. It seems to us that it would be well, in 

 the eases of a few other inveterate offenders, if a similar 

 course might be followed by some other judges. Indeed, 

 we are not sure but the law would be more deterrent if the 

 statute required imprisonment for the third or fourth of- 

 fence. If such a change were made, it might be policy to 

 reduce the penalty for the first offence, so that the law 

 might not seem oppressive, and might act as a warning to 

 the careless or ignorant the first time a person is caught 

 violating its provisions. 



In order that the law may seem more forceful in the 

 case of old offenders, we have adopted the policy of multi- 

 plying cases against them when we can do so. Otherwise 

 we have feared that the operation of the law might be re- 

 garded more as a license than a punishment. If it is im- 

 possible for us to reach leading cities and towns in the 

 Commonwealth oftener than once a year, an occasional fine 

 of $100 might come to be regarded as a part of the regular 

 programme, to be a fixed charge on the business. For this 

 reason we brought 6 cases against one New Bedford dealer, 

 and secured convictions in all, the fines amounting to $600 ; 

 a Holyokc dealer has paid 3 fines of $100 each ; 8 convic- 

 tions were secured against one store in North Adams, with 

 fines aggregating $900 ; one of the old offenders of Lowell 

 has been found guilty in 4 cases, the fines amounting to 

 $400 ; 5 cases were accumulated against one Worcester 

 store, with fines of $500 ; 4 against another; and 3 against 

 still another. Such procedure is not possible in all cases, 

 but we believe it is advisable when it can be done. 



One case is still pending in the supreme court. This 

 arises out of the custom of district court clerks receiving 

 complaints and issuing warrants in the name of the court, 

 when no judge is present. Clerks are by statute allowed 

 to receive complaints and issue warrants, but this question 

 grows out of their acting under such circumstances in the 

 name of the court. It is claimed that if by virtue of his 



