262 THE COMMON SENSE OF THE MILK QUESTION 



and that they should establish depots for the sale of 

 pasteurized milk scientifically prepared, and educate 

 mothers as far as possible to the importance of using it 

 for their babies. I have discussed the matter with 

 many of the leaders of the radical school, and I have 

 not yet met one of them who did not agree to the 

 following propositions: (1) the milk supply of no 

 American city can be considered a safe food for in- 

 fants ; (2) until this condition is remedied, it is 

 safest and wisest to pasteurize the milk given to in- 

 fants. This, I say, has been the unanimous verdict 

 of the leaders of the radical school of milk reformers, 

 and I see no reason why the cities should not frankly 

 teach the mothers that and provide them with the 

 means of getting pasteurized milk. 



Concerning the third objection, that pasteurization 

 tends to encourage slovenliness upon the part of the 

 milk producer and the milk dealer, I am inclined to 

 think that it is the most serious and weighty objec- 

 tion of all from a practical viewpoint. There can 

 be no doubt of the force of the objection, I think, 

 even though it may not rest upon a statistical 

 study. It requires but an ordinary knowledge of 

 human weakness. Teach people that impure and 

 disease-infected milk can be rendered harmless by 

 any process of germicide, and, unless special efforts 

 are directed to counteract the tendency, there will 

 be a drifting away from standards of care and cleanli- 



