234 APPENDIX E 



the final decision was rendered by the supreme court of the United 

 States, an attempt to enforce the provisions of the ordinance was 

 made. There was an immediate strike of milk shippers. They 

 refused to ship milk to Milwaukee, and succeeded in curtailing the 

 supply appreciably. The larger dairy companies, however, would 

 readily have won this battle had they actually been concerned in 

 it. It became evident that they were not directly concerned nor 

 that they even desired that the ordinance be enforced. While they 

 managed to procure milk, they took a stand against the Health 

 Department, and with the shippers, succeeded in at least rendering 

 negative most of the favorable public opinion, and took the matter 

 into the Common Council, where a bitter fight was waged on the 

 floor, which finally was won by the Health Department. 



The dealers then protested that it was impossible to continue the 

 milk business under existing conditions that is, with the curtailed 

 supply and the opposition of the shippers. 



Ultimately, the department was compelled to procure temporary 

 shippers without the enforcement of the ordinance. 



The fight was then taken to the floor of the state legislature, 

 which met in the fall, and there a second long battle was waged, 

 which was again won by the Health Department. 



It has not yet been possible to fully enforce the ordinance, how- 

 ever, despite these victories, perhaps as largely because the milk 

 dealer does not want a restricted source of supply as because the 

 shipper does not want to test his cattle. By cooperative work, 

 however, and educational effort, the shipper is gradually coming to 

 see the merits of the test and is no longer the most active opponent. 

 The dealer, on the other hand, appears to see a threat to his source 

 of supply in that the test will restrict the number of shippers and 

 thus permit a comparatively compact body to dictate prices. 



The question of pasteurization was incidentally brought up in 

 connection with the test when the dealers contended that their 

 pasteurizers were all-sufficient to take care of any contamination 

 by tuberculosis that might exist in the milk, and by suggesting 

 that a pasteurization ordinance be passed. Eighty-five per cent 

 of Milwaukee's milk supply already is pasteurized, and, although 

 such an ordinance is in contemplation, it has not yet been intro- 

 duced. 



