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Show I f Popular Talks on Law. MILK ANDIMUNICIPALITIES M Ily Walter K. Towers, A. B., J. D., of tlio Michigan Bur. H The regulation of the milk supply H is a mnftter of vital interest to all of H u. To the habit's the difference he- B tween good milk and bad ini'.U is the H difference between life and death. To B a jcreat many of us milk and cream H men either nourishment or disease H According as it is pure or impure. H Typhoid epidemic have been fre- H quently traced to an Impure milk sup- H ply and tuberculosis cows spread n M dreaded plagrue to those who consume M the milk. H The law has given the weight of its H authority to the regulation of milk by M municipal ordinances and state legls- H tative enactments. These laws have H for their purpose not .only the safe- fl guarding of the milk supply against j rUwase hut also -the twnartUion of all W relHtious between the product of the H 'iiw nTid "the far-Cmed -nilekman'a M pump Watered milk has frequently 1 dmwn down the lightnings of the law H us well as furnished inspiration for M th professional jokeamiths. It whs M the subject of the following diatribe. H ( of which a St. Louts judve recently H ' relieved himself In the case of the city MM ugln?t a purveyor of diluLen milk. M "Milk," said the wearer of the er- M mine, "an object of profound and M Vigilant ooneern to the modorn law- B maker, has been .always port and par- BJ pel of the dally life, the adages and B tfiolkJore of mankind. For uHtmple: H fvVf- are tola not to cry over spilt milk H! J that Is not to fret over real .loss p ifc.t can't be helped 'Phe Russian K ha- an adage, That which Is taken j In with the milk only gees out with B lh soul that it. early Impressions H ln-t till death. The Swede has one H denoting hospitality, viz.. When there H is milk in the can for one, there Is B mi'k in the can for tww. In the B phrase. 'The milk of human kindness,' HV is expressed the ver heart and effi e Bl of that gentle but noble virtue. The Hj bard of bards does not hesitate Is eon- B nect milk and pltlloaophy, deeming V that neither -loses dignity by the Jux- B tapoBltlu. he peaks of 'Advenrtty's VH sweet milk. philosophy.' All such H uHiicable metaphors, sawa. similes, as- M BO(iated Ideas and folklore eschew tlie H helirtlirtg'idea of water in milk. Con- B tra. themllk held in mind is good BB milk. I .recall but one instance to the B contrary (.seemingly tlie Inadvertence M ' bf a daring and erratic genius), vis: BJ 'oh Mirth and Innocence! Oh, milk M and water! M . e happy mixtures of more happy HV days.' ; Indeed, the universal, 'primal and spontaneous mental conception we have of milk, in the first Instance, Is that it Is un watered. Take one case for example: Milk and honey are emblems of pastoral good luck, peace and plenty a large and a goodly land. Witness the phrase, A land flowing with milk and honey. (Ex. Hi. 8; Jer. xxkH. 22.) But what a derisive der-isive picture would rise to harass the Imagination by use of the phrase, A huid flowing with watered milk and honey. The ordinance proceeds on tho notion that however much the cow water her own milk in her own humble and honest way (lotting nature take her course), the milkman has no right to designedly duplicate nature's na-ture's lft of witter by a furtive gift ef his dum frurrr the barnyard pump. It proceeds on the underlying theory that tit Is a fraud, a trick and a cerlt-able cerlt-able cheat contrary to the. common law nnd "hence of that phrase of It known colloquially as the 'square deal a ell water, when milk, not water, is the commodity dealt In. If one in not to get a stone who asks for bread, no more (under the spirit of the ordinance) is he to get water who asks for milk." The regulation of a matter of such general and Vital concern as milk .is properly within the proince of the state legislature. It is for the legislative legis-lative power representing the people as a whole to prescribe the measures Miat are to safeguard the supply. But the legislature may, and very frequently fre-quently does, delegate this power to Its creature, the municipality; and so we find the individual communities supported by the courts in their enactment enact-ment and enforcement of drastic ordinances regulating the production produc-tion and distribution of milk. As these measures entail additional labor and expense on the part of those engaged in tlie milk business many of the laws have been bitterly opposed in the courts, but quite generally they have been sustained. It is now clearly clear-ly understood that municipalities having hav-ing the usual powers may license milk dealers and prevent .all unlicensed persons from selling milk within the mutticiitality. A reasonable license fee may be exacted and the health officers may be given the authority to issue or withhold licenses; and, unless un-less it is shown that they acted from improper motives, their action in refusing re-fusing to issue or in revoknig a license, li-cense, under the authority of the municipality, will be supported hy the courts. Tho legislative bodies may also prescribe pre-scribe laws against adulteration. In the absence of a legal enactment an adulterant must be unwholesome before be-fore notion can be taken against the parties responsible. But modern laws forbid all adulterants, whether harmless harm-less or not. Under these regulations water is an adulterant. So any preservatives, pre-servatives, or other unnatural substances, sub-stances, no matter how harmless, are adulterants, if the law forbids tho ndulteration any person who adulterates adulter-ates is guilty and may be punished under tho law. Usually the statutes and ordinances also prohibit tho sale of adulterated milk and under the usual form of tho low It Is not necessary neces-sary to prove that the dealer knew that the milk was adulterated. It becomes be-comes his duty to see to it that the milk which he sells Is pure and up to the standard set by the law, and If ho does not he is legally liable. Both the man who owns the business and the servant who drives tho wagon aro, in general, liable under the law. But the laws have gone oven further fur-ther than requiring licenses and prohibiting pro-hibiting adulteration. They have regulated reg-ulated tho conditions under which tho milk Is produood and transported fc-od prescribed standards of rlchnoss. Regulations Reg-ulations forbidding tho sale within the town of milk from cows fed on slops, or browor's malt, or kept In unsanitary unsan-itary premises have been upheld. TIik defendants In these cases were not allowed al-lowed to show that the milk was, nevertheless, nev-ertheless, perfectly wholesome; the fact that the law prohibits the sale of such milk is final. It is a matter properly within the regulation of tho lawmaking power. The municipality may also require that nil cows be subjected sub-jected to tuberculin and other tests, and that no milk be sold within the town limits except from tested cows. Even though the dealer be licensed and his milk come from properly fed and eared for cows, and there bo no ndulteration of any kind, the milk may yet be barred because It Is not up to a required ftandard of richness A requirement of three per cent of fat in milk and of twenty per cent of fat in cream has been hold reasonable. reason-able. Where the laws provide, the health officers may seise without com- nenSRtlon sufftMont nimnHtlao nf mlllr to make tests. The analysts of competent com-petent authorities, unless shown to be erroneous, Is. taken by the courts as the final test aa to whether the milk In question was up to the ro-quired ro-quired standard. Ordinances permitting per-mitting the seizure and dostructoln of all wllk found to be Impure or bo low the required standards are supported sup-ported by tho courts and generally on-forced. on-forced. Of course the municipality may maice valid regulations governing tho measures of quantity in use by tho dealers. The citizens through their legislative representatives be they aldermen or members of tho village board may provide these regulations as well ns' those protecting" them against Impure or weak milk. All but officially-tested measures may ho barred and ordinances not infrequently infrequent-ly require that milk shall, be sold only in bottles or jars permanently marko'd with their capacity. If you are a consumer of milk roc- ognlze your fights. , You can com-ritW1 com-ritW1 tirerenforeSment"ofr theragMJla- ' .w'nTvS insufficient, you may do mu6h to se- -cure the (passage of acts that will be 'affoqfitfttS "(foplitt, ' " 1 Ts,'" bj' Wultor K. Towers.) |