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173
was found necessary to send during 1908 being considerably
fewer than in the previous year.
While it is satisfactory to be able to record this improvement,
the conditions under which milk is still sold in the Borough are
a long way from what can be called satisfactory. It is only by
constant watchfulness and systematic inspection on the part of
the Council's officers that even fairly safe conditions have been
attained. Attention to the subject of milk and the sources of contamination
was referred to, at some length, in my Annual Report
tor 1907, so it will not be necessary here to discuss the question
further.
The London County Council (General Powers) Act, 1908,
which comes into force on the 1st January, 1909, gives power
among other matters to the Sanitary Authorities in London to
"refuse to register or remove from the register purveyors of milk
whose premises are, on sanitary grounds, unsuitable for the sale
of milk." This enactment, it is to be expected, will prove of great
assistance in securing that premises in which milk is sold shall
be reasonably suitable for the purpose. It is with the general
shops that most trouble arises, the nature of the business carried
on in such premises being in most cases, so far as the security
from contamination of this sensitive article of food is concerned,
unsuitable. The new powers will probably be found most useful,
therefore, in at least improving the sanitary standard of these
premises.
The legislation carried out so far in connection with the protection
of milk is piecemeal in character and defective in its application.
It is most essential, in the interest of the public health,
that milk should be produced under conditions that are reasonably
secure as regards cleanliness and danger from disease. Under
the present state of the law, or rather the present neglect of
enforcement of the law, this, it is well known, is not attained.
The reports recently published by the London County Council as a
result of the examination of samples of milk obtained by their
Officers at railway stations under the provisions of the London
County Council (General Powers) Act, 1907, has shown that a