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inhabitants, and that each of such inhabitants consumes on
the average one pennyworth of milk per diem, we find, by
a simple arithmetical calculation, that the inhabitants of
the parish are defrauded, on this one article of food alone,
to the extent of £20,250 per annum. I have here alluded
merely to the money loss. No money can compensate for
the deaths of the young children murdered by the fraudulent
milk dealer. To check this annual waste of life and money,
fines were imposed in milk cases to the extent of £30 7s. Od.
being on the average, almost exactly £1 3s. 4d. per adulterated
sample, with a maximum of £20, and a minimum of
one shilling. It is of course absurd to think that adulteration
will cease when the gains to the adulterator are more
than six hundred times as great as the losses.
The other means of checking adulteration is to take
more samples. The Local Government Board, I understand,
recommends as a minimum one sample per thousand
inhabitants per annum; during the last year we have been
taking rather less than half that quantity. I feel it is my
duty to point this out, though personally I shall be a loser
if more samples are taken, as under my existing agreement
with the Vestry the fees for samples over 200 are reduced.
To take the case of Milk, although we see from last
year's results that about 80,000 inhabitants consume
adulterated milk daily, yet we take only on the average
3 samples in a fortnight.