289 
The Towner Milk Market Bill 
Advantages of the Plan 
Senator Towner of l>ntclioss ('onnty lias intro¬ 
duced a hill on lielialf of the I )ei)artniont of Foods 
and Markets to estahlish a milk market, pastonr- 
jzinir ])lant with manufacturing facilities in the t'ity 
of New Yoi'k. The hill authorizes the ('ommissioncr 
of the liepartment to secure suitahle premises hy 
jmrchase. or hy rent or hire, and to oipup and run 
it for the puri>oses of demonstrating an economic 
and efticient system for the sale and distiahntion of 
milk in the City of New York. In the discretion of 
the Commissioner the plant may he rented to a ten¬ 
ant who will contract to carry out the priivisions of 
the hill. The measure iti’ovides for an approjiria- 
tion of .$300,000. or as much as may he needed for 
the imrpose Intended. It providc's also that the 
hnsiness will pay all exiienses of operation, inter¬ 
est on the investment and an annual amoi-tization 
fund to repay the State in full within fifty years. 
This is virtually the same hill that was inojiosed 
hy the Department last year, and which was then 
.sidetracked for the AYicks investigation committee. 
With a virtual monopoly of the iiastenrizing of 
milk in the hands of a few large dealers it is im- 
possihle for the Department to make any adequate 
plan to estahlish a reasomahle price for the dis- 
trihntion of milk in 
the City of New York. 
This plant will make 
it ))ossihle for the De¬ 
partment to make such 
a demonsti’ation. 
If such a plant were 
in o]>eration 
loher a milk famine 
in the City of New 
York would h.ave heen 
an impossihility. The 
Department, hy hring- 
ing the milk sti’aight 
from the country, and 
hy running the i)as- 
tenrizing i»lant night 
and day, would have 
heen able to supply a 
very large volume of 
milk to the peoide of 
the city. This might 
not be snllicient to 
keej) up the regiilar 
supply hut it would 
sni'ely he a veiw great 
Indji in that direction. 
The ne<>(l of this 
demonstration is even 
greater now than he- 
tore. Tin* Octoher contracts incrcasi'd the price to 
the producer ahout one cent a quart for the six 
months from Dctoher to .Vindl. Since th.at time the 
dealers have advanccal the jirice to constinu'rs two 
cents a (piart. In addition to the i»rotits that the.v 
w(M-e making last year th(‘y have addt'd a !()(»% 
jirolit on the advance jiaid tin* i)i'odnc(q's. 'riu* con- 
sniiKU's are now ]»aying 11 emits a (piart for Crade 
It milk, wluq'e last year they paid nine <-mits. 
(Jreani and other grades arc* in proiiortion. 'Phis 
advance to the consumer must necessarily reduce 
till' consnmiition of milk, and it is to the iiittu'cst of 
the jirodncer to see that the coiisnimq- receives milk 
at a reasonahle cost of ))rodnction and distrihntioii. 
with the view of maintaining the highest itossihlo 
consumption. It will not he to the interest of the 
dairymen to allow the hons('wife to tind that some 
other ai'ticle of food is cheaiier than milk, nor to 
allow the consnmiition of milk to he reduced for 
any othei’ reason. 
Some attem))t has heen made to lay the hlanie of 
the advanced cost of milk to the consumer at the 
door of the farmer and the Department of Foods 
and Markets. Now the Deiiartment iiroposes to 
show that the farmer can be iiaid the price that he 
demands and a full .supply of milk provided in that 
wa.v. and further, that while jiaying the jirice to 
the iiroducer. the cost to the consumer can be made 
two to four cents a (piart less than she now pays. 
In view of the great importance of this industry to 
the State, and jnirticularly of the great importance 
of a full supply of milk to the iieoide of the city, 
the expense of this demonstration is trifling. It will 
he eiitii’ely educational, and in its practical ifiqdi- 
cation will he worth a lifetime of investigating 
committees, which usually cost more. There can ho 
little lost in any event. Iiecau.se the plant will he 
always available and serviceable, and worth the 
nutney. and if successful, as seems assuivd. of dis¬ 
tributing milk at two to four cents to the consumer 
less than the jiresent cost and itaying the producer 
IShB RURAL NEW-YOlIKER 
the pre.^eut price, the saving to tlu' city in its full 
supply of milk would exceed .$l!P.d0d.P(H) annually. 
The exiieriment is certainly worth trying. It will 
have the endorsement of ever.v woman's organiza¬ 
tion in the city, and of the forums, the settlement 
associations, and all of the disinterested .social and 
civic organizations. Fvery jiractical farmer and 
farm organization in the State will apjirove it. and 
should keep busy with their reiiresentatives to se- 
curt' its i»assage. 
The “ State Constabulary” Bill 
'riK'ro is h('foro tlu' N('W York Stat(' I.ogislatun' .a 
hill providing for a State [lolice force of 348 men. and 
a))propriating to administer tin' need.s of the 
new department for tin' tir.st year. A inihlic hearing— 
the biggest thus far of the si'ssion—was held in the 
Senate ('liamber at Albany, the afternoon of the 13th. 
Organized labor lined iq) .solidly against the measure, 
claiming that a State con.stahulary would .serve the 
cai»italists in time of labor troubles. Socialist memb('r 
of Assembly IVhih'horn, of Hrooklyn, branded the bill 
as •‘another yoke around the neck of labor,” and 
charged that the cajiitalists want the measure so that 
th(\v could use the State police to crush labor union.s. 
The president of the State F(’deration of labor loudly 
declared the loyalty of organized labor to the Hag and 
country, and stated that labor did not object to the 
State’s militia, but to the uses to which it had so 
often been devoted. 'Phe h'gal advisor of the labor 
unions of the State declared that one s(>ction of the 
bill would giv(' the State ))i>li<T authority to seiz(> a 
labor leader or :iny other, without warrant or ju.stitica- 
tion. and |iut him in jail on nuu'e pretense. 'Phis was 
denied b,\’ the introducer. Simator Mills. 
Mayor lamn. of Schenectady, attack(Hl the bill, stat¬ 
ing that in his city they had gone through one of the 
largest, in numbers of ijien concerm'd. disturbances in 
the Stat('. without any trouble because In* had en- 
foi'ced th(' laws now on the bo(d<.s. inqiartially. show¬ 
ing no favor to the capitalists nor to the strik('rs. lie 
saw no need for this proixtsed law and ridiculed the 
stat(Mnent that it was desin'd for the better prot('ction 
of th(> rural district.s. 'Phis point was later answered 
by Samuel Fraser, of (Jeneseo. who said that the jx'o- 
jde of West('rn New York advocated the passage of 
the bill and iiroduced resolutions and petitions to tliat 
elIVct. Mr. h’ra.ser said: "I am amazeil at the attitude 
of labor and the city peoph' toward this legislation. 
'Ph(' p(>oi)le in the rui’al districts want poli(*e iirotee- 
tion. In my own county the Italians have banded 
themselves into lawless groups, and the constables are 
unable to maintain order. Murders, assaidts of all 
kinds and robberies have lu'cn committed, and the of¬ 
fenders have gone free.” 
The charges that the constabulary law of Pennsyl¬ 
vania. after which the measure under consideration is 
modeh'd. was a failure, was answered by Captain 
Lamb of the Pennsylvania constabulary for(‘e. 'Phe 
captain is :i pai'ticularly clean-cut man who had s(>en 
.service in the Philippines and in China; he told of 
the mak('-ui) of the force in the neighboring State; of 
its ('xcellent work; of the protection given chietly to 
residents in rural districts; stated' that only one-half 
of one per cent, of its arri'sts had bi^en cases due to 
labor disputes. He withstood for more than an hour 
the severe “heckling” of the labor leaders, .‘ind in such 
a manner as to win the sympathies and admiration of 
his .auditors. Charge after charge of brutality and 
ruthlessness, even of murders, h(‘ answered and dis¬ 
pelled. The particular charge that the Pennsylvania 
constabulary was recruited from the ranks of former 
convicts, authority f('r which was alleged to be a su- 
jireme court judge of that State, he C(.impletely dis- 
piawed by reading a letter froin the judge naiiK'd to 
the effect that he had never made such a statement. 
'Phe sheriff of the county of Luzern(‘. Pa., was present 
to tell of the good woi’k and faithfulness of the State 
police. 
After a session lasting nearly five hours a tentative 
agreement was reaclu'd that the labor haulers might 
withdraw opposition to tin' bill pi'ovided there Ix' writ¬ 
ten in an amendment that the police were to be used 
only in country districts, and not go into citii's unless 
called there by proper authorithas. Later, it is umh'r- 
st(xid, the labor leaders in conference repudiated this 
agreement. 
It was stated at the hearing that Covernor Whit¬ 
man is iirejiared to approve tin* legislation if it comes 
Ix'foix' him. Sonu' surpris(* was expia'ssed that the 
State (Irange at its annual meeting last week at One- 
onta. had not come out for the measure. Some (iranges, 
individually, have heen petitioning their members of 
the Legislature in favor of the bill. Resolutions in 
its favor were adopted at the annual meeting of the 
State Agricultural Society last month. ii. 
The Farmer and the City Hunter 
Fvery farmer in the State should promptly write his 
Assemblyman and Stat(' Senator in opposition to the 
bill^ permitting an ()p(>n .season on (h'er in the farming 
regions. Instead demand' a law giving farmers the 
right to kill deer whenever they damage the farmer's 
trees and other crojis. The following is a clipiiing from 
the F('b. dth i.ssue of the (Joluinbia IfepiihlicaH, pub- 
lislu'd at Il'ud.son. N. Y. Read it carefully, and see 
wlu'ther it is intended for the benefit of the farmer 
or the city hunter. 
“Assemblyman Chace has introduced a bill in Albany 
amending the game law in (Mlumbia, Dutclu'.ss and 
R(‘n.s.selaer counties providing for an open s('ason for 
(h'er in these counties from November !>th to November 
15th, inclusive with the restriction that no person shall 
fake more than one deer and shot guns only shall be 
used. The deer must be wild and have honis not less 
than three inclu's in length.” 
L('t us consider what it will mean to the farmers if 
this bill becomes a law. It will mean that our farms 
will be overrun with an army of city hunters. Some 
of the.se hunters will be careful, but a great many will 
shoot at everything that moves in the hope that it will 
be a buck with horns. In .some ca.ses it will be a buck 
—th(' farmer’s buck sheep. Many hunters will figure it 
out this way. If they .see what they think may be a 
deer they will .sh(x)t it for fear that by not dciing so 
tlu'.v may l(»se their chance of getting a deer. If it 
turns out to be a horse, cow or .some of the farmer’s 
other stock, the hunter 
will make his ('scajie 
and the farmer will be 
unable to collect any 
pay for hi.s los.s. 
Then how about the 
lives of the farmer and 
his familyThink of 
the great lo.ss of life 
from slnxjting in the 
Adirondack Mountains 
each year. If the loss 
of life is great in the 
thinly populated moun¬ 
tain regions what 
would be the result in 
the thickly .settb'd far¬ 
ming regions? 'Phe fact 
t h a t shot-guns o n I y 
may be used will not 
reduce the loss of life 
to any great extent. 
Mo.st of the human be¬ 
ings killed by hunters 
each year are killed by 
hunters w h o mistake 
them for deer, and but 
very few are killed by 
rifle bullets that travel 
Ix'yond the object shot 
at. Rersonally I would 
prefer to be hit by a 
rifle bullet instead of a 
charge of buckshot. 
Not any of the deer 
hav(' been raised at the 
(' X 1 ) e n s e of the city 
h u n t (* r s. 'Phe de('r 
have all been raised^ at 
tin* expense of the far¬ 
mers. yet an o))en S('a- 
.son would giv(' the city 
hunt('r ('(lual rights with the fanm'r when it comes 
to killing th(' deer. D('er ar(' Ix'coming (‘XC(’('(lingly 
(h'structivi* in many parts of the State, but the bill 
introduced by Assemblyman Chace is not int('n(l('(l to 
get rid of tin' deer nuisance. It int('n(ls that only a 
f('w of the buck deer shall be killed and all of the f('- 
male deer left to feed on the farmer’s cro()s and ix'ar 
aiKjther croj) of bucks for the city hunt('rs to harvest 
iK'xt y('ar. Tin' elVect of the bill if it beconn's a law- 
will be to comiK'l the farmers to support a lot of de¬ 
structive (leer in order that the memlx'rs of the rod 
and gun clubs may have an annual deer hunt among 
our families and donn'stic animals. Let tin' de('r 
be restricted to the wild lands of the State wln're they 
Ix'long. 
'Phe r(xl and gun clubs have made our game laws up 
to the present time. Now h't the farmers have a 
shai-e in making the laws concerning the game raised 
on their farms. 'Pin' N('W York Stat(' Legislarur(' is 
controlled by the farmers’ vote, and if we let it know 
that we mean business we will get our rights. Now it 
(hx's not matter in wdiat part of the State you live, 
write to your Assemblyman and State Senator and t('ll 
them that you oppose an open sea.son on deer and that 
instead you want a law permitting farmers to kill 
deer in any number and any .sex wh('nev('r they are 
damaging crojis or trees. Massachusetts and Connecti¬ 
cut have laws permitting landowners to kill deer when 
doing damage. \Ve are entith'd to tlm same protec¬ 
tion as the farnu'rs of those States. 
When writing about the (h'er do not forget to (h'- 
mand a law making it a mi.sdemeanor to hunt, fish or 
ti-ap on the lands of another without the written c(.n- 
s('nt of the owner of such lands. Such a law would 
s;iv(' farmers the expens(' and troubh' of iiosting no- 
tic('s every 40 rods around the boundaries of the en¬ 
tire farm. Such a law would not prevent a farmer 
from allowing any of his friends and neighbom to hunt; 
but it would give him a right to say who should hunt 
on his land. Remember that under the jiresent law 
you cannot lo'ep t la'spas.sing hunters and fisherimm otV 
your farm by putting up a few notices here and there 
about the farm. In order to have your land legally 
posted, you must have a notice on ('ach and every 
corner therc'of and notices not more than 40 rods apart 
on all the boundary lines of your land. Will some (»f 
the city hunters tell us what rights they have on our 
jiroix'rty that we should be conqx'lled to go to the ('x- 
peiise and trouble of putting a notice every 40 rods 
around our entire farms, in order to keej) them off? 
Now it is our ju.st rights that we are fighting for. 
and we should all forget the Europi'an war long ('nough 
to write a few letters. Remember that mo.st of us 
cannot do much over in Europe just now, but if w(' 
all get busy we can start a nice little scrap in our 
State Lf'gislature and win it. Do not think that 
enough others will write if (Continued on pof/e 301) 
Playing Against a Strong Combination Reproduced from the Saturday Evening Post 
