The Washington herald., 1922-02-28
District Milk Problem.
To the Editor. The Washington Herald:

One of your contemporaries, I'M
der date of February 81, published
an able editorial article upon the
matter of the milk supply of the
District that invites attention.
The District Committee upon milk
investigation is duly criticised for
its failure to report out bill that
will adequately safeguard the health
of the citizens of the District.
As a matter of fact the fault Is
not SO much with the committee as
it Is with the Anticipated method
of committee assignments under
which a specific committee is OK
pected to- deal with almost every
subject under the sun that has ref
erence to the welfare of citizens of
the District
The issues involved are of such
a mixed character and are of such
national Importance as to justin
their reference to a committee upon
public welfare. constituted largely
of doctors and lawyers.
The first issue involved Is the
right of the District to have a board
o: health. II the health officer IL
to be-held up by every Tom. Dick
and Harry who desires to retain a
lawyer to sue out a writ of man.
damus. the department might as
we'll be abolished and the taxpayers
saved the expense of maintaining it.
The actions of the health officer,
however. should be subject to equit-
able control. and the use of kings
writs" should be forbidden. Under
the present conditions the District
is nothing but a serfdom. If any
man ever deserved sympathy it is
the health officer of the District.
The second issue involved is the
right of the farmers of Maryland
and Virginia to their own home.
economic market The interest of
these people is almost inseparabis
with the interest of the people of
the District, and what Injuries one
Injuries the other. At present the
! householders are obtaining a reduc
ton in the cost of milk at the ex-
pense of the farmer. who. under
the influence of a diminished rev.
tenue and a greatly increased cost
of production. due to the advance
in grain costs. is slaughtering off,
or disposing of his dairy cattle and
retiring: from business.
A reduction of from 1 to 2 cents
in the cost of milk means but little
to the average householder, but il
means much to the dairy farmer.
These men are not heavy growers
Of grain. but buyers. and although
they are receiving cents per
gallon less for their milk the price
of corn has doubled since the in
vestigation began and other grains
/ have advanced accordingly.
The third issue involved is that
of price fixing" Any lawyer who
Is not demented, or in Ills dotage,
will advise Congress that It is
practically impossible to prevent
price fixing. The Kansas City
(MissourD ice trust Investigations
proved this, and the government
after enormous expenditure of
money has never been able to pre-
vent the packers from resorting to
this. What they have Iefrained
from doing was of their own free
will and not because the govern
ment compelled II. Trusts because
| of their violation OF the provisions
of the Sherman antitrust law have
been dissolved upon paper. and IL
anyone has suffered it has been the
small stockholders: The law has
simply put a premium upon dishon-
esty and about the only people
that have refrained from violating
the law have been the honest manu-
facturers, distributors and farmers.
Prices are usually fixed over the
telephones in order to leave no
record.
The fourth issue involved is that
of the tuberculin test against the
pasteurization of milk. Neither Is
infallible. but the test brings the
veterinarian into the herd and dis
closes conditions that otherwise es-
cape observation. The pasteuriza-
ton places premium upon the
production of dirty milk. Nowhere
L. fhla hnffaz Oh hnx In "A