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"Under sub-section 5 the local authority may, if the dairy is within the district, require the
dairyman not to supply milk either within or without the district, and shall give notice of
the fact to the local authority of any district within which they believe milk to be supplied
from such dairy.
"Provision is made in sub-section 7 for appeal to a sheriff by any local authority or dairyman
aggrieved, and for the order to remain in force pending the disposal of such appeal.
"Section 61 enables the local authority, in cases where infectious disease is attributable to milk
supplied by any dairyman, whether wholesale or retail, or to milk supplied by one or other
of several such dairymen, whether wholesale or retail, to require such dairyman, whether
within or without its district, to furnish a full and complete list of the names and addresses
of all his customers within the district, on payment at the rate of 6d. for every 25 names, and
also a full and complete list of the farmers, dairymen, or other parties from whom, during
a period to be specified, the milk or any part of the milk which they sell or distribute was
obtained, and if required to produce and exhibit to the medical officer, or person deputed by
him, all invoices, pass books, accounts or contracts connected with the consignment or
purchase of milk during such period."
The Committee were of opinion that there would be great advantage if these or similar
powers were given to authorities in England and Wales, the need for legislation on the subject
being urgent; and, so far as London is concerned, they concurred with the views expressed by
their officers, set out in a second report (11th June), that the following powers are urgently
needed, viz.:—
"(1) Power to require a dairyman to supply to the Medical Officer of the district a list of his
customers on payment of a small sum for the service.
"(2) Power to require a dairyman to furnish to the Medical Officer of the district a list of the
sources of his supply.
"(3) Power to the sanitary authority to compensate a milk vendor whose milk supply is stopped
at the request of the authority on account of suspicion that it is infective, and whose milk
is, as the result of further inquiry, subsequently determined not to have been infective.
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"As to (1) provision should be made for the requirement to apply (a) to the supply to retail
vendors by wholesale vendors, (b) to the supply to consumers by retail vendors.
"As to (2) it would be requisite to provide machinery by which milk distributed to consumers
could, if necessary, be traced to the farm from which the milk is received."
The Committee observed that—
"There is no power to exclude an infective milk supply from London, as a whole, inasmuch as
the Council has no power in the matter, and each of the twenty-nine sanitary authorities can
only exclude the milk from its own district, and that after adopting a procedure involving
considerable loss of time. Such power, it is urged, should be given to the County Council,
and along with it, the necessary powers of inspection of dairies and cattle outside as well as
inside London. The Council should also be enabled to exercise the powers numbered 1, 2,
and 3, should it find it necessary to do so, for the purpose of dealing with some widespread
prevalence of disease involving more than one district."
The Committee stated that "the necessity for the sanitary authority to obtain a magistrate's
order before making an inspection of a dairy and of cows, ought to be obviated," for "the
loss of time in obtaining an order may mean loss of life among the consumers." They further
pointed out that—
"The procedure provided in section 71 of the Public Health (London) Act, by which a meeting
of the sanitary authority is needed before the supply of milk within its district from a
particular dairy can be stopped, may lead to serious loss of time. The procedure adopted
in connection with the closure of a school under the Education Code, by which any two
members can act on the advice of the medical officer of health, is much more convenient."
The Committee referred to powers of a stringent and important character, recently obtained
by a number of municipalities, dealing with the question of milk from cows affected with tubercular
disease of the udder, which were briefly stated as follows—
"Samples of milk are examined, and, if found to contain tubercle bacilli, the medical officer
of health is authorised, after obtaining a magistrate's order, to inspect the farm from
which the milk comes, and, if accompanied by a veterinary surgeon, to inspect the cattle.
The local authority is then empowered to exclude from its district the milk from such farm,
if it finds it necessary to do so."
The Committee thought that—
"If this power were possessed by the London County Council, the owners of cows, and the
authorities of districts outside London, might possibly be Jed to institute a periodical
examination of cows, and thus, by the early exclusion from the milk supply of the milk of
a particular cow suffering from tubercular disease of the udder, to obviate the risk of the
whole milk supply of the farm being prohibited from coming into London."