58 THE MODERN MILK PROBLEM 



tion of sanitary measures for which public support is 

 required. One authority goes so far as to say: 



Probably the chief obstacle . . . lies at the consumer's 

 end of the problem. ... It is still unusual to find even 

 educated people willing to pay a cent a quart more for good 

 milk when they find they can get an ordinary kind cheap. 

 If the public can only be brought to appreciate the fact 

 that it is cheaper to pay a little extra for a good quality than 

 to pay less for a poorer grade of milk, a great reform can be 

 rapidly brought about. The question whether the milk 

 supply can be generally improved depends thus upon the 

 consumer. . . . This reform will come just as soon as the 

 public is ready for it, and that will be just as soon as the 

 consumer is ready to pay for quality. 7 



In a city which was attempting to enforce a tuber- 

 culin-test ordinance, users of milk informed the health 

 authorities: 



They could see no difference between the milk from a 

 tuberculin-tested herd and the milk from an untested herd. 

 They have explained that the cream line was no lower, that 

 the milk tasted no differently, and that they could see no 

 excuse for paying a higher price for such milk. This attitude, 

 more or less exaggerated, was apparent and general and of 

 course makes for the defeat of a provision like that requiring 

 the test. The dealer can quite safely oppose any require- 

 ment until the public demands it. 8 



There is this, however, to be said for the consumer: 

 that his inability to judge or control conditions nat- 

 urally makes him passive. His unwillingness to pay 

 more for milk is not unjustifiable if he has no way of 

 knowing that the quality is actually better. Far from 

 expecting the consumer to take a direct hand in the 



