CLEAN MILK 147 



free from partisanship, so as to place the general health 

 affairs of the city upon a better plane. On August 1, 1909, 

 a non-partisan board of health, established along ideal 

 lines, was placed in possession of the health affairs of Cin- 

 cinnati. These facts, from the activities of the Cincinnati 

 Milk Commission, are given as an illustration of the good 

 work that may be accomplished by a medical milk com- 

 mission in addition to simply certifying milk. 



The medical milk commission is not without its faults 

 both of commission and omission. Some medical milk 

 commissions are active, observant, helpful, and the centres 

 of activity for the whole milk question of the community. 

 More often the commission is composed of busy practi- 

 tioners who have little time to devote to the problem and 

 its details. The work is left in the hands of one member, 

 usually the bacteriologist, who makes monthly or bi- 

 monthly counts. 



Too often, when something goes wrong, the medical milk 

 commission arbitrarily pounces upon the producer. Per- 

 haps the certificate is summarily taken away. The pro- 

 ducer does his best to locate the source of the trouble at 

 once. He appeals to the medical milk commission for help, 

 but is told: "That is not our business. It is not our duty to 

 tell you how to make certified milk. It is 'up to you' to 

 do it. We are only here to see that it is done." Now that is 

 a very unfortunate attitude. The medical milk commis- 

 sion should cooperate in a helpful spirit, should study the 

 problem and do all in its power to assist and help a con- 

 scientious producer in all proper ways. If deception, fraud, 

 or left-handed practices are discovered, there is only one 

 thing to do, and that is to take away the certificate per- 

 manently. The medical milk commission should remem- 

 ber that it is easy to break down, but hard to build up. 



Perhaps one of the mistakes that certified milk com- 

 missions make is too great insistence upon non-essentials. 

 To make certified milk requires a capacity for infinite de- 



