LOCAL AUTHORITY AND MILK SUPPLY 461 



stored in living-rooms ; strict precautions must be taken as to 

 protection from contamination ; cases of infectious disease must be 

 reported ; and the name and address of the maker must appear on 

 the street barrows. These regulations are new for London, but 

 similar ones have been in existence in Glasgow since 1895, and in 

 Liverpool since 1898. 



Finally, it should be noted that the adulteration of milk is 

 dealt with in the Food and Drugs Acts.^ These Acts do not lay 

 down restrictions respecting the food supply and its management, 

 but are chiefly concerned with sampling, the detection of adultera- 

 tion, and prosecution. 



The Local Authority and the milk supply. — From what 

 has been said above, it will be evident that the Local 

 Authority is the chief body for the administration of milk legis- 

 lation. It falls to its duty to enforce this legislation and thus 

 exercise some control over the milk trade, and prevent, as far as 

 practicable, outbreaks of disease due to an infected milk supply. 

 But a little consideration will make evident a second and scarcely 

 less important duty of the Local Authority. By means of legisla- 

 tion, and the powers of registration and inspection which it provides, 

 the Local Authority should obtain an accurate and intimate know- 

 ledge of the condition of the milk trade in the district under its 

 supervision. The investigation of milk-borne infection can only be 

 rapidly and thoroughly carried out, if the Local Authority is in 

 possession of the facts in relation to {a) the sources of the milk 

 supply in its district, and [b) the conditions under which the milk 

 is stored and sold in its district. No State control of the milk 

 supply can be efficient apart from this ktiowledge. The matter will 

 therefore be briefly referred to in this place, and for convenience, 

 the Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury (population 100,000), 

 being a fairly representative district in the centre of London, will 

 be taken as an example.^ 



(a) The Sources of the Milk Supply in Finsbury. 



In a general way, it may be said, that vendors have three modes 

 of obtaining milk. First, some 185 milk sellers in Finsbury obtain 

 their supply through milk contractors, who deal with more than a 

 thousand country farms. There are 14 such wholesale contractors 

 trading in the district. Secondly, there are some 50 milk sellers 



^ The Sale of Food and Drugs Act, 1875-1899. 



^ See Report on the Milk Supply of Finsbury, 1903. 



