130 CONFERENCE ON MILK PROBLEMS 



the germs into the milk. The strainer may remove all the 

 filth that is visible, but the liquid filth and the germs will pass 

 through with the milk, into the can. 



It is stating a self evident proposition to say that the con- 

 sumer has a right to demand that the producer and dealer 

 shall furnish him milk that is clean and pure. The producer 

 and the dealer, on the other hand are justified in demanding 

 that their customers shall take proper care of the milk after it 

 is delivered to them and shall pay a living price for it. The 

 men who produce and the men who sell dirty milk for clean 

 milk are either ignorant, careless or dishonest. The man who 

 adulterates his milk with filth or gives his customer 2% milk 

 from the bottom of the can may be simply ignorant, but the 

 man who puts clean water into his milk is dishonest. How- 

 ever, we can readily see that the former may be endangering 

 the lives of many babies while the dishonest man's milk may 

 be perfectly wholesome. 



The problem which confronts us in our campaign for pure 

 milk is : how can we teach the ignorant, warn the careless and 

 punish the dishonest milk-man. 



The milk producer in Connecticut has no occasion to feel 

 that the interests of milk consumers are being neglected for 

 his stable is liable, at any time, to be visited by one of the in- 

 spectors employed by the State Dairy & Food Commissioner, 

 by a local city or borough milk inspector, by an employee of 

 the board of health in the city outside of the state where his 

 milk is sold, by a representative of the dealer to whom he sells 

 his milk, by the local town health officer, or by the Commis- 

 sioner on Domestic Animals if any of the others notice any 

 animal showing suspicious symptoms of tuberculosis. 



With all these inspectors in the field there is no conflict of 

 authority. The Dairy and Food Commissioner has authority 

 to order the owner of dairy stock to remove or abate, within 

 a specified time, any unsanitary condition that may be found 

 to exist, under a penalty of a fine of twenty-five dollars. The 

 city or borough inspector can simply recommend certain 

 changes and then tell the farmer that if he fails to make them 

 he can sell no more milk in that city. The dealer can likewise 

 tell the farmer to either "put up or shut up." The local health 

 officer has the right to take samples of all milk sold in his 



