220 THE COMMON SENSE OF THE MILK QUESTION 



I am firmly of the opinion that it is the duty of the 

 mmiicipality to undertake the production and distri- 

 bution of milk specially intended for infant con- 

 sumption, equal in quality to the very best that can 

 be produced by private producers, at a price within 

 the reach of the people, a price which would not be 

 greater than the average price for ordinary market 

 milk, so that no child might be exposed to danger as 

 a result of the ability of its mother to buy "cheaper" 

 milk. Whatever deficit might be incurred by this 

 means would, of course, be a public charge to be met 

 as all other such charges are met. Further than this 

 I do not believe any eleemosynary features should go. 

 We do not need infants' milk depots as charitable in- 

 stitutions, but rather as common, public necessities 

 to be used by all classes in the community as the 

 public schools now are. For the indigent, those who 

 cannot pay anything or only part of the price, some 

 system should be adopted by means of which all 

 charged with the relief of poverty could issue orders 

 for milk, to be paid for by the public department, 

 charitable organization, or individual issuing the order. 



If I appear to lay undue stress upon the opinion that 

 the infants' milk depot should be a municipal enter- 

 prise, and not a charity conducted by some volimtary 

 philanthropic agency, it is because, in the first place, 

 I believe that, outside of very narrow limits, which I 

 propose to indicate, such philanthropies are morally 



