Page:May Walden - Socialism and the Home (1900).pdf/5

Rh have plenty of money to spend, but what about the ones who must buy where they can get things the cheapest? Besides I have personal knowledge of the fact that one of the best known wholesale grocery firms in Chicago, whose reputation for honesty is supposed to be first class, employs men to put harmless adulterations into their goods.

The most harm, however, comes from the supply of impure milk. Of all the children born in the United States over half die before they are five years old, and many of the deaths are caused by impure milk. Think of the little lives sacrificed and the homes desolated through this one cause alone—and one that can easily be prevented. H. W. Conn, professor of biology at Wesleyan University, tells us in an article "Cheap milk is poor milk," how easily milk is tainted and how much disease is caused by the germs of typhoid and scarlet fevers, diphtheria and consumption being carried in it. He tells us that the milk for babies must be given while fresh, and kept in a cool place. I wonder if he knows about the ice famine which was created in New York City one summer for the benefit of the Ice Trust, which caused the death of thousands of babies? He tells us that the babies are made sick by the filth falling from the cow's bodies into the milk pails when the milking is done, and says that the farmers must keep their cows clean and we must pay more for our milk so the farmers can hire more help to clean the cows. But he doesn't tell us how we are to get the money! He says: "We hear occasionally of the wisdom of inaugurating dairy inspection, by which the method of milk production should be under supervision, for the protection of the public," but he doesn't tell us how to get about it nor who is willing to have it done. Many pure food laws have been made and passed; health departments have compiled reports saying that "the limit of adulteration should be governed by a commission," but the laws if passed are never en-