NEW CRIMES FOR OLD [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]
- SIR,—Mr. Bell simply does not answer Lord Astor's chief objection to the Milk Marketing Scheme. The proposed board, can limit the production of certified milk by fixing the price so high as to limit the demand for it. Not only would this be in the interests of producers of ungraded milk who do not want cheap, clean milk to compete with their inferior article, but it would also be in the interests of established producers of certified milk who wish to discourage others from starting its production. Ergo the fact that three of the eight members of the proposed board are themselves certified milk producers with established reputations is no safeguard at all—quite the reverse !
Lord Astor has touched a weak spot in the scheme, and one may hope that he will see it suitably amended, e.g., by a provision empowering local public health authorities to suspend any of the proposed board's enactments within their own areas until it has been approved by the Secretary of State. The local authorities can be taken as representing both the public health and the consumers' interests, for they are large consumers of milk in their hospitals, poor law institutions, child welfare centres, &c. The Secretary of State (for Scotland) is obviously the most impartial arbiter available.
As for a " Drink More Milk " campaign, one need only refer Mr. Bell to a recent meeting of the Royal Sanitary Institute of Scotland in Elgin as reported in the Scotsman of 9th inst.- particularly to the considered opinion of the Chief Veterinary Officer for Glasgow, that " under present conditions it is little short of a crime to advocate the drinking of more milk, as much of the milk now offered for sale is diseased, or unsound, or unfit for human consumption." This state of affairs will be remedied only when the consuming public is taught to insist upon having " certified " milk and to pay such a price for it as will induce more dairy farmers to undertake its production.
In view of the constant reiteration by medical men and public health officials of their conviction that ungraded milk is unfit for human consumption, all the milk marketing schemes concocted by dairy farmers will never induce the public permanently to drink more of it, and it seems a pity that public money should be wasted on attempting anything of the kind. Unfortunately there is little hope that the scheme will be rejected. The most one can hope for is that Parliament may render it as harmless as possible.—I am, Sir, &c., A PRODUCER.
Previous page
