[Reports and Appendices] of the Irish Milk Commission, 1911.

  • Great Britain. [Royal] Commission on the Irish Milk Supply.
Date:
1913
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: [Reports and Appendices] of the Irish Milk Commission, 1911. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.

    818/1108 (page 8)
    and the current expenditure, provided that the sum contributed by the urban authority shall not exceed a specified poundage rate, and also provided that such milk will be sold at the pasteurising depot, or the sub-depots, to any citizen at a price of not less than 3d., nor more than 4d. per pint. The Medical Officer of Health might be appointed an ex-officio member of the Society and provisions would naturally have to be made for the withdrawal of the contribution if the Public Health Committee became dissatisfied with the work done by the Society. Wherever infant milk depots, are worked, they are the means of educating mothers in the proper feeding of infants, so that in every way they tend to reduce the rate of infant mortality by supplying the means of life in its most suitable form and by instructing the mother in the care of her child. There is another highly i]jiportant consideration. If a child receives in infancy insufficient or innutntious Dr. McGrath, food, though it may live it is with a weakened constitution and it is less able to rasist the attacks of disease than if it had been properly fed. The depot milk is not merely a means of saving life, but also of prolonging life, of reducing the amount of ill-health and thus ultimat/ely of decreasing the financial burdens of the rate- payers. The alternative, so far as the poor at least are concerned, is to buy milk retailed under circumstances which leave much to be desired hygienically, or tinned milk, or other unsatisfactory substitutes. Any scheme for a special supply of milk to infants is costly on account of the difficulty of ensuring the health of the cow and cleanliness on the part of the milkers, distributors, vessels, and all the surroundings. Our recommendation that local authorities be authorised to contribute towards the expenses of infant milk depots is based therefore on utilitarian as well as on humani- tarian grounds. Small Towns. (17) Passing from the larger to the smaller towns, we find that while as a rule there is no scarcity of milk in the summer, there is a partial scarcity more or less acute during the winter season, e.g., from November to March. 'NcuLs Milk Depot.—Speaking generally, where the population is concentrated the difficulty of obtaining milk is due either to financial inability to buy or to lack of organised means of distribution. The story of the Naas milk depot illustrates this. It having come to the knowledge of Lady Mayo that two babies in Naas were dying because they could not get milk, and that in other cases it was found to be impossible to get a supply, a milk depot was opened in the town by the Women's National Health Association. First, the local suppliers were asked if they would increase their supply to meet the necessities of the poor and the answer was a refusal. It was next ascertained that the poor people were really anxious to procure a milk supply. A house was taken, the rent of which is partly paid by letting some of the rooms, and a contract was entered into for a supply of milk of good quality. No attempt is made to undersell other dealers; the price current in the town is charged, and all purchases are for cash. Thus, all persons with money are now able to procure milk, and for the necessitous the St. Vincent de Paul Society and the Women's National Health Association buy books of tickets, which entitle the very poor to a pint of milk for each ticket given. This benevolent enterprise seems to us an ideal one, worthy of imitation. It is managed on strictly business principles and is free from taint of pauperism. At the same time it has a philanthropic side, and, not least important, an educational effect in inculcating habits of clean- liness; because not only is everything in the depot scrupulously clean, but also, for example, milk is not sold to a person bringing a dirty jug. Private interests are not injured by competition, because in this, as in other instances which have come under our notice, the increased facilities for purchasing milk have led to an increased demand for it. As to the results, the nurse in the district reported that after three months' working of the depot she saw a great improvement m the appearance of the children. (18) It may reasonably be expected that what has been done in Naas can be done elsewhere, where the need exists. It cannot be said that the conditions in Naas are 4908-10. favourable, because the town is in a beef producing area; there is not much dairy farming, and there are no creameries. What has been done has been to bring 4862. together the producer who is willing to sell and the consumer who is willing to buy. 4921. The depot is a commercial concern, inasmuch as it pays its expenses; and by creating 4896. a steady demand it offers sufficient inducement to the farmer to produce a steady Lady Mayo, 4844. 4873. 4887. 4847. 4878. 4889, 4899. 4887. 4875. 4856. 4879. 4880. 4892. 4855.