178 THE COMMON SENSE OP THE MILK QUESTION 



two gallons look like three. Milk municipalization 



would be a comparatively simple business. No 



powerful companies would have to be bought, and no 



compensation for loss of license could arise. Milk 



production does not require the use of complicated 



and costly machinery. The milk trade pays well, 



and its concentration would give rise to an increased 



economy in working. We should get cheaper as 



well as better milk. On the municipal farms we 



could insist that the laborers were paid a fair rate of 



wages." • 



II 



As a matter of pure theory there is no disputing 

 most ■ of the claims made by the Fabian Society. 

 That the difficulties are beautifully minimized by 

 the writer is evident. If the Fabians really be- 

 lieve the milk business, conducted as it ought to be, 

 is such a simple one, a time of disillusionment awaits 

 them. On the contrary, the scientific production 

 of milk is a very complicated and delicate business, 

 as any one who has ever closely watched the many 

 processes, and observed the almost innumerable 

 precautions, necessary to the production of good 

 milk, such as is produced on the best experimental 

 farms, could tell them. Comparatively speaking, 

 the distribution of water is a very easy matter. 

 Doubtless milk ought to be distributed by the muni- 

 cipality as water frequently is, and for precisely 



