180 THE MILK QUESTION 



Brookline has been taken to Cambridge, Charlestown, or 

 Maiden. This could readily be prevented without the in- 

 tervention of the state authorities by a close and cordial 

 cooperation between the local authorities. It must, how- 

 ever, be plain that the control of the situation by a large 

 number of small units is difficult, impracticable, and well- 

 nigh impossible. It requires a strong central hand. 



Another weakness in local option is lack of uniformity. 

 It has been found impossible to get all the cities and towns 

 of a state to adopt uniform laws and regulations, and 

 should this come to pass there would be wide discrepancies 

 in their administration. It is unjust and unnecessary to 

 enforce much more stringent requirements upon a farmer 

 in one county than his neighbor in another, and it is dan- 

 gerous and a disgrace to permit the opposite to take place. 



It is not in human nature for the local authorities to en- 

 force the regulations with the same stringency and effi- 

 ciency for milk produced in a county but sold at a distant 

 point, as they do for milk produced in the county and con- 

 sumed at home. Where local option is enforced and state 

 power is nil, the larger cities must depend entirely upon the 

 efficiency and integrity of the local inspectors. 



One of the serious objections to the local system is the 

 multiple inspection and unnecessary duplication of work, 

 and the resulting confusion that is thus thrown into the 

 situation. Farmers producing milk in one county would be 

 subject to inspection by all the other counties to which the 

 milk is sent. This lack of centralization is very perplexing 

 and confusing, especially where both state and local au- 

 thorities have independent power. Thus in Massachusetts 

 a dairy farm may be subject to many different inspections: 

 for example, a farm in Barre will be visited by the state 

 milk inspector; will also be inspected by an agent of the 

 Boston Board of Health because the milk is sent to Bos- 

 ton; and further, is subject to inspection by the local au- 

 thorities at Barre. If the milk is sold to one of the large 



