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77
asked to do so, or altered their premises to make them suitable; four
or five were struck off. In Hammersmith, 54 retailers were removed
from the Register in 1920.
Until the Milk and Dairies (Amendment) Act, 1922, Sec. 2(1) came
into being, Local Authorities had acted on the London County Council
(General Powers) Act, 1908, Part II, Sec. 5(1), which gave power to
a Sanitary Authority to remove from or refuse to enter on the Register
names of dairymen, etc. The 1922 Act gives power to refuse registration
and remove from the Register.
With these points in mind, your Medical Officer of Health visited
every one of the milk premises in the Borough with the following
results:—
No. on Register, 155, of whom 33 were dairymen and 122
purveyors.
Purveyors 122: satisfactory 38; fair 57; unsatisfactory 27. This
was a very unsatisfactory state of affairs. Many of these were small
shops which in addition to selling milk, sold an array of other goods,
such as coal, sticks, vinegar, clothes, sweets, paraffin oil, etc.
This Council felt that this would not do, but bearing in mind that
many of the retailers would be severely penalised as regards their living,
the Council decided not to press for wholesale removal from the Register,
but contented itself for the time being by sending the following letter
to every milk trader in the Borough :—
"Notice to Milksellers.
"The Deptford Borough Council is gravely concerned at the unsatis"factory
conditions prevailing at many premises in which milk is sold.
"Milk is an article of food which is particularly liable to become the
"breeding place for disease germs, and, being the staple food of young
"infants, it is very essential that the strictest cleanliness should be
"observed in its storage and handling. The sale on the same premises
"of such articles as paraffin oil, coal, firewood, vinegar and pickles, is
"particularly liable to contaminate the milk; it is also very necessary
" that the premises should be free from dust and dirt of any description.
"It is proposed at an early date to revise the Register of Milksellers
"with a view to the removal therefrom of any person who, either by
"reason of the state of his premises, the quality of the milk sold, the
"methods used, or for any other reason, is deemed to be unsatisfactory.
"The Council will base its action in each instance on the reports received