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that the extra work given to the District Sanitary Inspectors has
had a prejudicial effect on both their old and new work. Some
Inspectors are keener than others in doing work in connection with
food, but the same remark applies, of course, to all branches of
health work, and one does not expect to get equal efficiency from all
members of the staff.
" With regard to the Food and Drugs Acts, the same number of
samples have, of course, been taken, and the number of prosecutions
for adulteration, viz., 25, seems up to the ordinary standard as far
as figures. But if the prosecutions be examined in detail it will be
found that five of these were due to an entirely new campaign against
Chemists, which, for various reasons, could not be undertaken by
the previous Inspectors, and this will reduce the number of prosecutions
to 20. Another point which occurs to me is that there are
certain retailers in this Borough infringing the Food and Drugs Acts
who cannot be brought to justice by the ordinary methods of sampling,
and it is therefore necessary for the Inspectors engaged in this
Department to adopt special methods, such as getting the ' agent '
to become a regular customer at the shop and taking unofficial
samples for several weeks before the official sample is taken.
" This method, which I have always looked upon as most important
has not been done by the District Inspectors, because it
requires more time and thought than they can give to it along with the
other work. By adopting this method, both as regards the keepers of
general shops and milkmen, the habitual culprits are often caught,
whereas many of the ordinary prosecutions are against persons who
cannot be classed among habitual offenders, but who innocently
sell articles which have been supplied to them by others in an
adulterated form. A man who wilfully sets himself to circumvent
the Food and Drugs Acts frequently supplies inferior articles to
regular customers, whereas casual customers are well served until
he feels confident he is not dealing with an Inspector.
“ There are also many legal questions which arise in connection
with the Food and Drugs Acts, such as obtaining suitable evidence
for the Police Court, considering the Sections under which prosecution