OUTLINES OF A POLICY OF REFORM 269 



the other hand, the needs of cities vary greatly, so 

 that a uniform policy is impossible. 



The elimination of tuberculosis from dairy herds 

 is by far the greatest task confronting the states. 

 It is the first great need, before which everything 

 else seems relatively unimportant. Not only is it 

 important from the point of view of those reformers 

 who are seeking to obtain a satisfactory milk supply 

 for infant feeding, but there is a growing conviction 

 that we can never halt the ravages of the plague 

 among mankind until We can eliminate it from our 

 cattle. There are many reasons why this should 

 be regarded as a national problem, to be solved by 

 federal action, only a few of which need be enumerated 

 here. 



First of all, the problem is so big, its economic as- 

 pects so serious, that it will be difficult to secure a uni- 

 form, thorough, aggressive policy on the part of all the 

 states. In those states where the proportion of dairy 

 farms to the population is greatest, where the largest 

 part of the population depend on dairy farming, it 

 will, naturally, be more difficult to get such a policy 

 adopted than elsewhere, by reason of the vast eco- 

 nomic interests at stake. In those states where 

 dairying is of less importance economically, where 

 the mass of people only consider the perils to which 

 they are exposed through the sale of the milk of 

 tuberculous cows, it will' be more easy to get such 



