The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1910-06-16
Health Officers Hands lied
by Opinion of City
Attorney
UNABLE TO ENFORCE
PURE FOOD LAWS
Mr. Pollard's Decision Holds
Restaurant Keepers Not Food
Vendors, But Food Consum-
ers Through Their Gus III
toners" -

aSx&
The Richmond health Department.
the maintenance of which costs tn0 II
city several thousands of dollars an
nually has not the slightest xesfiEA
of jurisdiction over local restaurants,
hotels boarding houses or soda foun- FL
tains. so far as forcing them to keep
clean or observe the pure food lawS VI
| is concerned.
The pure food laws, SO far as they
are applicable BY Dr.-Ievy and his n
assistants, are joke Or. Levy ad-s
mitted Thursday that ne was able 10 U
enforce them only by employmenf ok Is
the great American game OF 'oiuHs rs
II matters ever come to showooWm NJ
In the police court, he said, II VIII
Immediately become apparent tna1
the boarding house. hotel and ofner
keepers can do just about what they
please. serve any food they please. ~ 3
any condition they please. withouI
fear OF successful interruption.
This lack OF authority is due TO an B
opinion rendered by city Attorney
( Pollard. in which that official declares
that proprietors Of saloons. boarding
houses. hotels and other like estan- d
lishmeuts are not food vendors, pus
food consumers.
Many Unsanitary Places.
Time and again DR.. Levy and nM
r inspectors have found eating Aeasossr57-
! where patrons were served almost
as much dirt as food He has foun0
walters with greasy. unkempt heads,
filthy hands and dirty clothing hand
i ling food and communicating IL IN 70
/ doing He has found restAurants
/ serving their customers with alleged
,..E {xx xxsuI a -
] nation Of chalk water. sweeting ana
fermalde hyde. All this and more h0
/ has found, and wanted to prosecute
t but.
| On every such occasion. however.
! he has been blocked by the decimoM4s
of the city attorney to the enect tne6s
4 the~e vendors OF impure and soH1t~
! times actually poisonous produGe~z
were not vendors in the eyes of IT,
law. but consumers through their cuass
toners.
4 And If this railing holds good. there
/ is nothing to prevent these same
dealers from serving oieomargarfna
| at will without announcing the fact
! there being a law against seliing oleos
but none against eating II. Iney
may serve preserves and spices zoe
& 1t,ft 10 III raY VITA Mt SIS quaattaiA4
/ or benzoate of soda, for there II ncf
/ law against consuming that product.
t Tshey may serve French peas kept
| green by liberal doses OF ascetfc acad.ss
In short they may serve what tn0X
D.. will, violating the pure food law fe~S
garding selling but violating no -
regarding consumption. And tno
health department can do nosninR
save that which 1t has been doin8
for two long years--blun
Wholesale Immunity Baths.
II being evident that there ~ -
law to prevent man from eAtanmt
whatever he pleases. this ruling nAx~s
urally means an immunity paxneX
which may cover an unlimited n0zlA1
Der of sins against public health.
Since taking charge of this O.
mart / have been working to hetfe4t
the condition OF various restaurAufDi
and public eating houses throu9n0uG1
the city" said DR.. Levy. In oom0t
of them food 10 served in such nl1&{
condition as to be revolving hASMf
made some of Ehese reform.
have done this by threatening - Aav1f
them arrested. fined. and finally o.
dered to get out OF business A
But all this has been blum. puH4l
and simple II any enc of the pr0ef
prietors had ever forced the mAfeARN
10 an issue, and an arrest had 0acA
made, tho first act of Justice Cruech-A
field would have been to demand ~
authority Nothing would then $500
main but for me to show the opan-
|, ion OF the city attorney INFORMS
, m. that | have no authority.
ITO my mind, the ruling Ia most 70
rnarka ble-reaIly astounding. II openAa
uD a vast field OF possibilities TO the
man who wishes to take advantages 0rN
It's terms
Regarding the milk supply. for fu-s
stance. II is possible, under TINS fut-I
Ing for a restaurant keeper to doctor
his milk as much as he sees mt. 10
fan serve milk below standard in fat&S
and oils. and made artiffcfaiiy sweet
hy huge doses of formaldchyde. HAS
can serve this eoncocticn TO his cur
tomers--and I can't stotp him, -
cause the law, as construed. declares
him to be a consumer, ana there ~
no law to prevent a man from cor
suming all the impure milk he oox1
sires. sss
And there are many, many GoHMlf
where the laws of hygiene are betn4a
violated to such an extent a. 70 - -
actual menace to public heatths nMNMf
written to Mr.. Pollard on two 0yA
casions asking II there were not 9ox
way In which we could get after fH0M
people. I found could not TN
hence resorted to- bluff.
That bluff has worked excoll1M
thus far. Through II / even J4x
suaded the management OF = prQ@
nant local hotel to remodel it, kttc
If they had refused, however. wN<
have been powerless TO force thA
afraid TO act even. for fear OF tS
ing my hand and giving the
game away zSsS
Difficult to Amend Orillnaiac
1T lis quite true that on 0n1x
Q CASTOR. after I had informed NJ
: lard OF particular nlthy
: house, and asked II there wGe1
some way In which we mfghk
: cute the proprietors. was RI
that ] might draw up an amen
to the present ordinance ana
: presented to council. This me-
simple enough but II II not. Te1
/ eighteen or nineteen thtn9.sY <
/ things too. mind you. which
j should do hut which canst n
through. Ths health dsoas