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145
Shoreditch (34.3), Deptford (17.1), Stepney (15.3), Stoke Newington
(15.2), Hackney (13.5), Holborn (12.6), St. Pancras (12.4),
Southwark (121), Bermondsey (11.8), Kensington (11.8), Battersea
(11.7), and Bethnal Green (11.6). The percentage in Finsbury
was 11-4.
Court of Appeal ; Green v. Spiers & Pond; Definition
of Milk Purveyor.—In this case, Messrs. Spiers & Pond were,
on January 19th, 1912, summoned for that in the preceding
November they had sold milk without being registered as milk
purveyors in accordance with Section 6 of the D.C.M.O. of 1886,
which provides that " It shall not be lawful for any person to
carry on in the district of any local authority the trade of cowkeeper,
dairyman or purveyor of milk unless he is registered as
such in accordance with this article." These Orders are made
under Section 34 of the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act, 1878,
amended by the Act of 1886.
The Magistrate who heard the case, defined a purveyor of milk
to be one who provided and supplied milk to persons wishing
for it with a view of making an actual profit on the sale. He
held that the quantity sold or so provided was immaterial and
might be on a large scale or on a small scale.
From this decision the defendants appealed.
The appeal was heard on November 1st, 1912, before Lord
Alverstone, C.J., and Justices Channell and Avery, forming a Court
of Appeal. The magistrate's conviction was quashed and the
appeal allowed with costs against the Borough of Finsbury.
In the course of the judgment, the following observations were
made as to the meaning of the word purveyor.
The term purveyor in this connection meant one who sold retail
to refreshment establishments and wholesale to other milk dealers,
in short, one whose trade of milk selling was a substantial part
of the business carried on, or one who kept a dairy or milk shop
or milk store. The term did not apply to one who kept a small
general shop, and merely sold milk to oblige his customers and
to retain their custom.