PURE versus purified milk 263 



nesa on the part of the milk producer and the milk 

 dealer, as well as a slackening of energy and a lessen- 

 ing of zeal on the part of the consumers. The advo- 

 cates of pasteurization vigorously deny that this 

 would be the tendency, but I remain imconvinced 

 by their optimism. There is always the factor 

 of human weakness to be reckoned with. Boston's 

 bacteriological standard lulls the Boston citizen into 

 idle complacency, and I wonder if it would be other- 

 wise with pasteurization. "Milk Sweet" and "Pre- 

 servaline" and the host of other germicidal preser- 

 vatives increased the sloth and the weakness of the 

 farmer, and I wonder if pasteurization would do less. 

 Frankly, I am very sceptical. 



It is this factor which keeps me from being wholly 

 one of the opportunists and drives me ever and anon 

 to the radical camp — this and the radical ideal. 

 But it must be said in justice to the opportunists that 

 they do not propose to trust entirely to pasteur- 

 ization. Their plan necessitates no lessening of the 

 effort to obtain pure milk which will need no pasteur- 

 ization. They do not propose that there shall be less 

 inspection of dairies and stables than now, but more. 

 And it is in this attitude that I see the hope of a uni- 

 son of both forces. The radicals agree that until milk 

 can be obtained by the average citizen which is 

 absolutely safe and fit for use as a food for babies it is 

 wise to pasteurize it. The opportunists on their side 



