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prevent fraud of this kind. The person who actually bought
the submitted article is questioned as to time of purchase, name
of vendor, whether he personally saw the consignment prior to
purchase; the marks on boxes or cases and weight are carefully
noted, as well as the time of submission and the condition,
which latter is also invariably further witnessed by one
of the District Inspectors.
It will therefore be seen that a person submitting for condemnation
an article which he has substituted for that actually
bought can be quickly brought to book, if the wholesale
merchant has any doubt of fraudulent practices.
In connection with this important matter of food supply, I
believe that the time is not far distant when, with the exception
of meat and milk, it will be a rare thing to find any unsound
food exposed for sale. The three chief factors in the improvement
of the food markets are: First, the gradual education of
the purchasing public as to quality; secondly, the keen competition
between the various tradesmen; and thirdly, and perhaps
the most important, the growth of branch shops of great
limited companies whose leading trade principle is to supply the
public with a thoroughly sound and fresh article at the lowest
price, and other shopkeepers have been compelled to fall into
line with great advantage to the public in general.
With regard to Meat and Milk, the case is somewhat
different, and will never be quite satisfactory until there is some
settled national standard for dealing with tuberculous cows and
new legislation in regard to slaughtering.
The aim of most reformers in the latter direction is compulsory
use of municipal abattoirs. While having the very
greatest admiration for this scheme in the abstract, it presents
too many difficulties in the concrete to recommend itself to
my undivided support. It is a well known principle in English
law that legislation shall never, or rarely, be retrospective and