New-York tribune., 1920-03-21
Milk Inquiry
<Newsasto Him,
Asserts Caffey
u. S. Attorney Asks Swami
to Explain Statements
Regarding Prosecution
by Federal Officials
Welcomes Any Evidence
Prosecutors Reference to
Sheffield Farms Case Is
Said To BE Misleading

Francis G. Caffey, United States At
torney. asked District Attorney Swami
yesterday to explain his public state
rnsnts on the status Of the inquiry into
the Sheffield Farms notice, urging farm
ers to cut milk production.
In letter to Mr.. Swami the Federal
prosecutor calls attention to statements
appearing in newspapers announcing
that Mr.. Swami had gathered evidence
of a violation of the Lever act by the
Sheffield company and had arranged
with the Federal attorney for the
prosecution of the case. Mr.. Caffey
added:
"You have never communicated with
me on the subject, much less furnished
me any such evidence. It seems
to me that it would be unfortunate for
the public to be put under misappre-
henson as to what has been done, what
It is possible lawfully to do or what is
intended by prosecuting officials. In
asmuch es the announcements in the
newspapers attributed to you or your
assistants as to what has been fur
nished to this office by you or them in
reference to the Sheffield Farms mat
ter are without foundation, l must as
sumo that you or they nave been mis-
quoted: shall be pleased to have q
letter from you on the subject"
Text Of Caffey's Letter
Mr.. Caffey's letter follows, in part:
"If you have any evidence of viola
tion of Federal law by the Sheffield
concern or by any other milk concern
l shall welcome your transmitting it to
me and will give it prompt and vigor-
Gus attention.
~ have made careful inquiry in nay
office with the view to ascertaining
whether you have communicated about
it with any one here other than my
self. So far as / can learn, neither you
nor any one connected with your Of
flee has furnished evidence on the sub
ject to this office, nor communicated
concerning it with any one connected
10Th instant you called my assistant,
Mr.. Cutler, who is in charge of the
milk investigation by this office, and
started TO tell him over the telephone
in substance the following: That you
had learned that Mr.. Cutler was exam
in'ng witness about the notice posted
at the milk stations of the Sheffield
Farms as to restricting the supply of
L. A. Van Bomel. of the Sheffield
Farms, had drafted the notice and
that Mr.. Lotion Horton, also of the
Sheffield Farms, had sent out the no.
tice; that you requested that Mr..
Cutler ascertain from me witness
whether this information was correct,
and that if Mr.. Cutler found that he
could do nothing under the Lever act
you might be able to do something un-
der the state law
II may add that Mr.. Cutler did in
terrogate the witness fully along the
lines suggested by you. He later called
your office on the telephone, but found
that you had gone for the day."
Rejects Mrs. Welzmiller's Proposal
The Sheffield company yesterday
made known its attitude on the pro-
posal Of Mrs. Louis Reed Welzmiller.
deputy markets commissioner, that the
company buy the surplus milk supply
OF its farmers and sell it at 114 cents
a quart to the poor on tickets issued
In a letter to Mrs. Welzmiller the com
pany said:
I'VE regreo that we cannot commit
ourserves, for, in our opinion, it (the
proposaD would not accomplish the
results you anticipate"
Mrs. Welzmiller quoted T. B. Evans,
an official of the Sheffield company
as saying when women are buying
silk stockings they should be able to
pay for their milk at prevailing prices"
Health Commissioner Copeland an
nounced he had written eight big milk
distributors, asking that they have rep
resentatives attend conference with
him, that a plan for materially reduc-
ing the price of milk might be devel-
oped. DR.. Copeland said he wanted
reduction big enough to justify the
Health Department in starting a cam
palgn to increase milk consumption
mere 100000 quarts day.
Ihe Sheffield company, the Glover
Farms company and the Standard Dairy
company have announced they would
attend such conference, which prob
ably will be held this week.
Statement by Swami
Mr. Swami said last night he had
not received Mr.. Caffey's letter. When
copy of it was read to him he said:
-! said | had intended to cooperate
with his office and that I had been in
communication with the Bureau of In
vestigation of the Department Of JUS.
tice and that representative of that
bureau was in my office Thursday af-
ternoon last, when l and my assistants
studied the Lever act and decided that
the poster placed on the door of the
receiving station owned by the Shef-
field Farms Company at Franklinvillc,
N. Y, was in violation of that act.
Il felt the Lever act was more ap-
plicable to that case than any of our
state laws. ] called up Mr.. Cutler, an
assistant United States attorney, who,
! was informed, was handling the milk
investigation for the government, and
told him that 1 was in possession of
evidence against the Sheffield Farms
Company and that when I had decided
! !. nad sufficient evidepce l would send
sOur investigation of the milk stu
alton has only begun. We have evil
dence, but we expect more. Some Of
this evidence relates to Federal yio-
iayion and other evidence more prop
er!X comes under the state laws.
II asked Mr.. Cutler to send to me
any evidence which he might come
across which he believed might come
under the state law"
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