NEW YORK MILK COMMITTEE 169 



tical impossibility for any law against companies to reach the 

 situation that we find here in the milk trade to-day. There 

 is no combination in the form of any written agreement. The 

 milk dealers are too shrewd for that. It is what might be 

 termed a gentlemen's agreement. A number of milk dealers sit 

 down at a table together at lunch or dinner, and they dis- 

 cuss the price of milk, and one says "I think milk ought to 

 be nine cents a quart," and another one says, "I think so, 

 too ; I think it is worth nine cents" ; and they all think the 

 same way. They do not enter into any form of agreement, 

 even a formal verbal agreement. That is not necessary, and it 

 would be of no advantage to them. They know they couldn't 

 enforce such an agreement in Court, so what is the use of doing 

 a useless thing? They simply come to this consensus of opin- 

 ion as to the value of milk, and they all go out and raise or 

 lower the price of milk next day, according to that consensus 

 of opinion. But there has been no agreement, and that enables 

 each of them to go on the stand and say that he never agreed 

 to raise or lower the price of milk. 



With such a situation, ladies and gentlemen, it is impos- 

 sible to pass any law against combinations that has any teeth 

 to it, or that can touch those men or get at that agreement. 

 There is no prosecuting officer in the country that can get 

 at them. 



In the first place, he has to find out where that meeting was 

 held, and when he finds out where it was held, he has to find 

 out what was said at it, and the only way he can find out 

 either of those two things, is, in case someone who was at 

 the meeting turns traitor. And the milkmen seem to be a 

 pretty loyal body of men ! 



Now, my remedy would be the appointment of a Milk Com- 

 mission by the Governor, this Commission to be industrial, 

 rather than political. To that end I would recommend that 

 the State Grange and the Chambers of Commerce of the dif- 

 ferent cities pick out candidates and send in their names to the 

 governor, so that he would have them to select this com- 

 mission from. 



It should be the duty of this Commission to inquire into 

 and to find out the value of milk in the various localities of 

 this State. Every Milk Dealer in the State should be re- 



