CITY MILK SUPPLY

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2997, 7 February 1917, Page 6

CITY MILK SUPPLY

A PUBLIC INQUIRY

EVIDENCE OF THE PRODUCERS

WHY MILK IS DEAR

Recently the Minister of Agriculture promised tho Wellington Dairy Farmers' Association a public inquiry into tho supply, distribution, and price of milk in Wellington and suburbs. Tho association wished to support by evidenco its protest against the action of tho Government in fixing by proclamation the wholesale price for milk for retail sale in Wellington at 10-} d. per gallon. The inquiry was opened 'yesterday before two members of the Board of Trade, Messrs. W. G. il'Donald (acting-chairman), and P. Hallyi Mr. H. A. Ward represented the Wellington Dairy Farmers' Association, and the T'oivn Clerk, Mr. J. 11. I'almor, was present on behalf of the AVellington City Council. The chairman read letters showing that the association had withdrawn its original demand for a Royal Commission' of Inquiry and had accepted the present inquiry. The Board of Trado had received a communication from the Wellington Milk Vendors' Association, an organisation of retailers, sta't-i ing that the retailers had already given evidence before the board and would not be officially represented at the present'inquiry. The chairman added that although the wholesale price of milk had been fixed for the present at lOkl. per gallon, the board was prepared "to recommend an amendment of this order if shown that the price was not fair to the producers. Association's Case. Mr. Ward said that the contention of thtf association was that 10$ d. per gallon was not an adequate price. The suppliers were not exploiters of the public. They had made important, sacrifices in order to maintain tho supply of the milk to the city. Ten days after the declaration of war they had recorded by resolution their willingness to supply milk without charge if the need arose. Their effort now was to obtain one penny per gallon above the price paid to factory suppliers. This margin was a very small one in view of the heavy handicap placed upon the city suppliers as compared with the factory suppliers, hut the association had not-, succeeded in securing ■ the extra penny. He did not. think that it would bo necessary to inquire regarding the cost of production.' The Government had requisitioned butter and cheese at prices that must be regarded as'fair, and the City suppliers were prepared to accept that basis. IJ> was estimated that the dairyman who sent milk to the City secured one-third less from his cows than if he sent the milk to' a factory. That was owing to tho necessity for producing milk all the year round, instead of only during the best part of the year, ihe City supplier had to have "milk in tho worst months of tho winter, and to do that he must make hid arrangements as much as twelve months ahead. He was subjected to a more rigid inspection than the factory supplier, and lie had to work all the year round. Mr. Ward proceeded to say that the carriage of milk to Wellington cost on the average one penny per ballon, and this had to be deducted from the suppliers' price. The prico'of milk had' been increased very slightly since tho beginning of the war, whilo other commodities had gone up by leaps and bounds. The price of butter-fat had risen by sixpence per pound, and if that fact were not taken into consideration by the Government, in dealing with the City ■ suppliers, the dairymen would be forced, as a simple business proposition, to divert their milk to a factory. The cost.of cans for tho town supply was a very serious item, owing to the loss and destruction of cans. Then the town suppliers got no skimmilk, and so.could not raise pigs. They had to catch trains, and they' made a complete loss on milk that went sour in transit. During 1915 the suppliers had charged the retail vendors l|d. per gallon less, than the butter-fat equivalent. This represented a loss of over £spoo to the farmers, and a gain, of over £14,000 to the consumers. It was becoming increasingly difficult to persuade farmers to produce milk for the City at any price. , .

In answer to the chairman, Mr. Ward said ho could not state offhand what he thought would be a fair price for the winter. He would-confer with the directors of his association.

Wellington's Difficulties. In the course of a further statement, Mr. Ward said that the jwsition of Wellington was peculiar, owing to the fact that the milk' had to come from a distance by rail. Christchurch, for example, had the dairy-farms on the outskirts of the City.i In Wellington m;lk was not delivered, generally speaking, for more - than 24 hours after it had left the farm. It somctimqs happened that milk reached the consumers forty-eight ' hours after it had left the producers.' He was strongly of opinion that the first need was a clearing station, and that the. only hopo for a sound system was for the association or the City Council'to havo a monopoly of tlie retail trade. He believed milk could be distributed at a cost of (3d. per gallon, by a. suitable organisation. Tho present cost of distribution was excessive.

Tho Town Clerk said tho Milk Comniittee of tho City Council liad been informed in evidence that a certain supplier was receiving s}d. per gallon. for his milk from a factory, with a bonus that brought the pricc up to a fraction over 6d. per gallon. Yet the price on the truck for Wellington was over 9d. per gallon. Mr. Ward said lie was surprised at tlie statement. The supplier mentioned was within reach of a factory which paid Is. 93. for butter-fat; representing over 9d. per gallon for milk. Suppliers' Difficulties. j When the inquiry was resumed in j the afternoon, the chairman said .lie i would like information as to tho rela- i tive disadvantages of the men who supplied with to the public, the men who supplied tho butter factories and the ' men who dealt witji the cheese factories. All the meta appeared to consider they were at a disadvantage. Mr. "Ward said lie could not believe that tho cheese supplier couKT be at a disadvantage as compared With the town supplier. He might he at a disadvantage as compared with tho butter man, because the butter man could make use of by-products. The actual position was shown by the' fact that tlie factories had plenty of milk, while there was a shortage in the city. • He would supply detailed figures. . . Dairy Farmers' Evidence. Alexander Robertson Oswald, called j>y Mr. Ward, said he supplied milk to® the citv from a farm at Lower Hutt. He minted 38 cows, but could run at least another 12 if he produced for factorv supply. Arthur' Coppin, dairy farmer, Lower Hutt, saitl he could almost double his summer supply by not milkin" in the winter, lie had lost cans. He had seen milk taken from sealed cans. He did not regard sealed cans with favour. Witness emphasised the difficulties of the town supplier. The chairman: I think we lmve a great grip on the disadvantages of.the town supplier. Sealing of Cans. Answering another question by. .tlia

chairman, Mr. Ward said tho scaling of cans would prevent the milk being tampered 'with in transit. But the sealing systom would put tho farmers to a lot of trouble and would not affect tho quality of tile milk, since there was no real danger of anything being added to the milk in transit. The seals would not prevent milk being abstracted from cans.

Councillor T. Bush said the übo of seals would give a- guarantee that tho milk loft the farm in good order.

Mr. Ward: If a dairyman puts water in his milk he will not leavo the seal off.

Councillor T. Bush: That will be attended to at this end. Som'o of tho cans will be examined every day by the inspectors.

Mr. Ward said the farmers would strenuously object to- sealing tho cans. Tho system would be merely, a makeshift to avoid the necessity of a clearing house in Wellington. The farmers had no timo to seal the cans, and in any case they were not willing to accept any arrangement that would delay the erection of a clearing-house; . Further Evidence. James Joseph Mahon, dairy farmer, of Mangaroa, said he had 29 dry cows on his place at the present time, in order to secure a supply of winter milk. He had lost nearly 30 cows during tho last two years. Since the issue of the proclamation ho had been offered Is. per gallon for millc landed at Mangaroa, equivalent to Is. Id. in Wellington. This offer, in defiance of the regulation fixing the price at 10Jd., had been made by one of the biggest dairying firms in Wellington. It would not be profitable to send milk into town ill winter at 10£ d. per gallon. Mr. Halle.v asked why witness did not send his milk to factories if they offered more profit than the city did. Witness said a supplier could not alter his at a moment's notice. He had made his arrangements for tile coming winter's supply already and was already planning for the winter after that. But he believed that at present prices it would pay him to turn to the factories.

No Milk for Wellington. Mi• Waul said that unless tlje prices and conditions were improved the suppliers undoubtedly would consider the advisability of sending ihoir milk' to the lactones. Then the City would have no milk. That was not a threat. It was a sitople matter of business. The suppliers were sending mill; to Wellington at less than the factory prices and unless something was doiie Wellington's milk would be turned into cheese. The chairman: It is a question of price? Mr. Ward: Price and conditions. In the course of further discussion, Mr. Ward said that' a rise in the price of milk was necessary owing to shortage of supplies. The .chairman: How will a rise in price increase supplies? Mr. Ward said an improved prico would enable farmers to buy additional stock and feod. He mentioned that the distribution of the milk in Wellington was costing as much as its production. The farmer's price was doubled by the time the milk reached the consumer. ■ * Councillor Busli: What is the remedy? Mr. Ward said lie could distribute Wellington's milk at fid. per gallon." if he had the 'whole area to covej. The work of distribution required organisation. The present system was absolutely wrong. Milk was taken from Ijambton Station at 9 a.m. and held by the vendors until the following morning before it reached the 'consumer!!. Why was it not delivered the same day? Councillor Bush raised the of casli pavmcnts by consumers. The' loss on bad debts had a bearing upon the price of distribution. . Mr. Ward said a ticket system was feasible. Consumers would buy tickets in sheets ami place, one in the milk can every morning, thus placing the trade 011 a cash basis. Retailers' Evidence. Henry Bodley, milk vendor, Wellington,.was called by Mr. Ward. He said ho had not intended to raise the retail prico of milk if tlio suppliers' .price had been increased from to Hid. per gallon.. The chairman: If you could afford to lose that penny, why not lower the prico now? Somebody must be getting a penny lie is not entitled to. Witness said tho lowering of prices was a difficult matter. The vendor liad to take tho year as a whole, and balance one month against another. He had paid moiro for milk than he receiyed for it recently in order to maintain supplies. The incentive was a desiro to serve the public. The vendors bore much expense that never readied tlio public in order to provide for the needs of the consumers. _ If the City Council controlled the distribution, the consumers would often be without milk. Paid officials would not ma,ke tho efforts and sacrifices that private vendors were willing to make. Witness made a long" statement in support of a contention tliat the town suppliers were in a worse position than factory suppliers. He knew of twelve vendors who had not intended to pass the extra penny on to the public. Mr. Ward expressed his regret tliat tho vendors, who had been invited to attend the conference, had practically ignored it. The suppliers had not been given an opportunity to get any information regarding the cost of distribution, which ivas a very sore point with them.

The chairman said that a letter had been' received from the Vendors' Association.

The Boar 3 of Trade met, the, directors of the association in committee.