The Washington herald., 1917-07-31
SAYS HEALTH OFFICIAL
| HAS Been DERELICT
Matthew E. O'Brien Makes Charge
Against Dr.. Woodward. n

To the Editor OF the Washington
Herald: DIR. Woodward made the
| sweeping statement yesterday that
filthy and decomposed' milk was be-
being sold in the District
/ ing sold in the District, and that he
was powerless to prevent it. In re-
ply to that l gave the press a letter
/ in which l said that he convicted
himself of dereliction Of duty. / said
that there were no test cases pend
! ing that prevented him from prosecut-
/ ing any dealer who was selling such
milk as he claimed and which he
said was killing infants.
Instead Of meeting my statement
fairly and answering 1t he challenges
my authority to speak for the dairy
men of Washington. The question is
, not whom / represent. The big ques-
ton in which the public is interested,
! is: If milk that is killing infants is
being sold here, why is 1t that the
health authorities cannot prevent it.
"Dr. Woodward in his latest reply
says that he can not condemn such
milk because, before he could get
the evidence of its impurity it would
be sold. He does not deny that even
| If that were true he could prosecute
the dealer in the Supreme Court of
the District of Columbia, under the
national pure food law. The penalty
under that law is fine of 500 for
the first offense and a fine of $500
and one year imprisonment for the
second orfense. Why is it II such milk
! is being sold, that Dr. Woodward in
sists upon prosecuting the dealers in
the Police Court under an obsolete
| law where the maximum penalty that
could be imposed is but a SIS fine?
Can the health of the people be
better protected by a law that i'm
poses a maximum fine of $25. than
under the law that would for second
offense send the dealer to jail? Why
is 1t that the health oficer will say
that his hands are tied because he
is prevented from prosecuting under
a mild and ineffective law when he
admits that there is an unquestioned
! law under which in the proper court
he could prosecute the dealer of this
vile milk that is killing infants?
whether I have authority to claim
to represent the dairymen of Washing
ton or not have the right as a citizen
to ask why a public official will de-
clare that milk that is responsible for
Aiic htdNu VI infants Is DelnR sofa mere
| and yet no prosecutions are attempted
under the pure food law in the Su-
/ preme Court OF the District OF the
dealers that are selling that vile liquid
There are no test cases pending
that prevents DR.. Woodward from
| prosecuting the men who are selling
bad milk. There are test cases pend
ing which prevent him from enforcing
| regulations which are not warranted
by law ana which in no way affects
the purity OF milk
He says that his administration has
not been responsible for the increased
cost of milk. His attempt at prose-
! cution and his threats of prosecution
has had the effect of driving out Of
business many of the nearby milk pro-
ducers and has forced local dealers to
bring milk from a distance. His
threatened prosecutions has caused
those nearby producers who did not
go out of the business of shipping milk
here and who lacked the courage to
defy him to spend large sums of
money in complying with his fad reg
ulatiOns and the consumer has had to
foot the bills.
MATTHEW z. O'BRIEN."