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(d) That the onus of proof of the fact that the milk wa9
delivered unadulterated shall rest upon the warrantor or the further
warrantor at the hearing of the charge;
(e) That the certificate of the Public Analyst shall, in respect
to a sample of milk proved to have been sold in the condition in
which it was supplied by a warrantor, be evidence against the
warrantor and any previous warrantors ; and
(f) That proceedings against all warrantors may be taken in
the district of the prosecuting local authority, and not in that of
the warrantor.
The Hammersmith Borough Council had under consideration the
question of the amendment of the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts, 1875 to
1899.
The Hammersmith Council were of opinion that the resolution passed
at the Conference would, if acted upon, inflict in many cases a hardship
upon the retail seller, who, if honest, could probably give no better proof
of his bona fides than to obtain a proper contract and warranty with his
milk, and for that reason it did not think it was likely or desirable that the
proposal should be embodied in any future legislation on the question.
On the other hand, the Hammersmith Council considered that the
proposals set out in the amendment were reasonable and would materially
assist local authorities in prosecuting offenders under the Sale of Food and
Drugs Acts.
The Hammersmith Council accordingly adopted a resolution in the
terms of the amendment referred to, and directed that a copy thereof be
forwarded to the President of the Local Government Board, and also
requested the Metropolitan Borough Councils, if they agreed therewith, to
support the action taken.
The Council of the Metropolitan Borough of Poplar had already
adopted resolutions urging the repeal of Section 25 of the Sale of Food
and Drugs Act, 1875, and Section 20 of the Sale of Food and Drugs
(Amendment) Act, 1899, or, as an alternative, the passing of an enactment
that the person relying on a warranty, should bring up the warrantor for
conviction in his stead, and had also passed resolutions on the subject of
taking samples at railway stations in other boroughs, of milk consigned to
the Borough.