50 CONFERENCE ON MILK PROBLEMS 



I find it difficult to decide just what phase of the subject that 

 has been assigned to me, I shall occupy your time with. The 

 subject that has been assigned to mie is "The Relation of the 

 Purity of Milk Products to the Public Health," and that, of 

 course, comprehends the situation in its entirety. I could 

 not very well speak to that subject without, in some measure, 

 covering the subject that appears next on the program, namely 

 "The Bearing of Communicable Diseases on the Control of 

 Public Milk Supplies," or the next, "Bacterial Contamination 

 of Milk as a Cause of Disease," or going into the program of 

 the morrow, "The Sanitary Side of the Milk Question," or 

 "The Present System of Milk Control," and certainly not 

 without, in part, at any rate, touching upon the side that is to 

 be covered by Dr. Magruder, namely, "The Necessity of a 

 Congress for the Improvement of the National Milk Supply." 



It is rather peculiar to my mind that that great man, that 

 great, forceful personality, Theodore Roosevelt, should have 

 become interested, and so deeply interested, in a good meat 

 supply, in view of the fact that meat is of relatively so small 

 importance as compared with the question of a good milk 

 supply. 



As I look over this audience, as I have just said, I am con- 

 fronted with a further perpexity. I am not quite convinced 

 as to what particular phase of the subject I should touch 

 upon or what particular line I should occupy your time with. 

 It occurs to me that I might, for a while, dwell upon the 

 things that are responsible for the harm that is done by milk 

 when it is bad, and then, having briefly spoken upon that phase 

 of the subject, I might offer you my opinion as to what is the 

 solution of the milk problem in cities in this country. 



In my judgment, milk is the second of the most important 

 causes of death. It ranks second to air as a great causer of 

 disease and of death amongst our people. There are other 

 agencies that are of consequence and that are worthy of con- 

 sideration, but they are not of greater importance than is bad 

 milk in the production of disease. 



The harm, arising from bad milk, is done in several ways. 

 In my judgment, much the most important part of the agen- 

 cies that are responsible for the harm that comes from milk 

 are those agencies that are to be found in milk by reason of 



