Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-01-11
THE MILK SUPPLY
Bill to Regulate Production and Sale
Before the Senate.
COMMENTS BY THE HEALTH OFFICER
Provisions Of Measure for Better
ment of District Conditions.
G H A N q ES S U q G E S T E D

Senator Gallinger has introduced a bill in
the Senate to regulate the production and
sale of milk and cream in and for the
District of Columbia. The bill has been
referred to the Senate District committee
and will later be forwarded to the District
Commissioners for consideration and re-
port. The bill is the same as was intro
duced by Senator Gallinger at the last ses-
sion of Congress. 1t was drafted by the
health department of the District govern
ment, and is intended as a substitute for
the present milk law.
Since framing the bill as it has now been
presented to the Senate, Dr. William c.
Woodward, the health officer, has been
called upon by numerous dairymen for con-
sultation regarding the provisions Of the
proposed act AS result of these CONSUL
tations he has decided to recommend a few
changes in the bill. The proposed law, it
is said, will correct those evils that are not
now reached by the existing regulations.
1t is stated that there is some question as
to whether or not the existing milk law
controls the production and sale of cream
The new law includes cream in its title
and in all its provisions
Regarding Condensed Milk.
Another feature of the bill is that it pro-
:.
densed milk in the District, matter not
heretofore touched upon. According to the
proposed new law condensed milk must be
made from pure, wholesome milk, free from
preservatives. The condensed article must
not be made from milk from which a part
of the cream has been removed, or from
milk containing less than 1212 per cent
milk solids, including 49, per cent of fat
unless the same be plainly marked and sold
as condensed SKINNED milk. The bill also
provides that the percentage by weight
which the milk in the finished product bears
to the entire mass is indicated on label
affixed to the outside Of the package or
can.
The bill provides that farmers and deal
ers bringing milk into the District shall at
all times keep the milk cool. Fifty de-
grees is fixed as the cooling point. DR..
Woodward was induced last winter to grant
concession in this respect and recon-
mended that the temperature be fixed at 60
degrees. He has decided now that it would
be better not to recede from the 50-degree
mark, leaving the matter of the concession
of 10 degrees to the farmers in the hands
Of Congress.
The bill also provides that no milk dealer
shall carry bottles for the delivery of milk
in the same wagon in which milk is being
carried In bulk This provision was thought
to be necessary to provide against the re-
filling of dirty milk bottles while the dealer
was on his route The health officer thinks
this measure a little too stringent At the
time it was made the inspection force at
the command Of the health department was
insufficient to properly look after these
wagons. DR.. Woodward believes now that
his inspectors can see to it that no dirty
bottles are refilled, and therefore the pro-
vision that bottled milk and milk in bulk
should not be transported in the same
wagon will probably not be insisted upon.
Condemned Cattle.
In the bill as it stands at present there is
demned cattle. DR.. Woodward is of the
opinion, however, that the prevention of
the use of condemned cows for milking
purposes can perhaps be got at in a differ
ent way, and is giving the question some
study. 1t is stated that cows unfit for milk
ing purposes are often in good condition for
food or for breeding, and therefore it would
be unfair to brand such COW. The pro-
visions will be made strict regarding the
punishment of any person selling con-
demned cow for dairy purposes. The bill
makes the decision of the health office
final in the matter of the condemnation of
cattle. The dairymen have applied to the
health officer for an amendment by which
they will be granted the right of appeal.
That matter is also being considered by DIR.
Woodward 1t IS hoped in the end to secure
something of a model milk law.
DR.. Woodward's Views.
Speaking of the bill. DIR. Woodward says
THE production and sale Of milkand
cream in and for this District are now reg
ulated by an act to regulate the sale of
milk in the District of Columbia, and for
| other purposes, approved March 2, 1895. The
| bill under consideration is designed to
! correct defects in that act which have been
demonstrated by five years experience in
attempting to enforce it. For convenience
it has been made to include the provisions
of existing law as they would stand If nee
essary amendments were made, and is in
tended not only to amend but to replace
the statue now in force.
Probably the most serious defect in the
milk law of 1898, and one which will be
corrected by the passage of this bill, is the
absence of any provision whereby the is
sue of permits to sell milk and to bring
milk into the District for sale is made con-
ditional on the sufficiency of the equipment
of the proposed dairy or dairy farm for
cooling the milk and for cleaning the recep-
tacles in which it is kept Dirt and warmth
are the most potent factors in effecting the
decomposition of milk, and milk more or
less advanced in that process, even though
the change be not yet perceptble to the
senses, is a most dangerous article of diet
especially in the case of infants and young
children. Under existing law the issue of
permits to bring milk, into the District is
made absolutely dependent upon tie con-
sideration of the application submitted
by the milk dealer. The pending bill au-
thorizes the health officer to take into con-
sideration the actual condition of the farrn
as shown by an inspection by a representa-
i've OF the nealtn department WIeneVer II
is practicable to have such an inspection
made.
Not Reliable Guide.
Experience has shown that the appli-
cation filed by the farmer is not reliable
guide as to the condition of his farm, and
that as the examination of his cattle by a
veterinary surgeon In his employ is made
at a specified time an overshrewd farmer
can, and apparently sometimes does SUBJ
nit for examination only such cattle as he
knows to be in good condition.
THE control Of the milk which is brought
into the District of Columbia from adjacent
states is greatly weakened by the fact that
it is impossible in most cases to reach by
legal process the shipper, who resides in
another Jurisdiction This defect in the
law now in force will be corrected by the
passage of the pending bill, by making it
illegal to sell milk in the District which
comes from places from which shipments
have not been authorized.
One of the Evila.