NEARLY A MILKFAMINE
POSITION SAVED BY THE MILK SCHEME
ADDRESS BY COUNCILLOR
NORWOOD
In his address at Halaitai last evening, Councillor C. J. B, "Norwood (chairman of tho Slilk Committee), speaking of the efforts made to reform tho milk supply' of the city, said tho result of his com-, mitteo's investigations exposed three indisputable barriers that must confront the committee in arranging a proper supply of this all-important food to the inhabitants of the cif.v.' Olio was the.geographical position of "Wellington to the milk-raising nrca, necessitating the supply of milk having ""to be brought long distances with very inadequate provision on. the railways for its "transit, and with no Sunday train?, which involved the necessity of bringing milk in on Saturday and keeping until Monday for the supply to 'the public. The second Milncuity was the, high prices paid bv tho Imperial Government for butter and ' I'li'-'esc. which afforded : ;greater inducements to the farmers, who had hitherto been dairying for'city purposes, to send their milk to the nearby factory, and to ' escape the drudgery of winter milking. Further, the high prices paid by the tin. perial Government for ineat hall induced a largo number of. farmers throughout Now Zealand, who had hitherto' been •dairying for city supply,' to turn their holdings into fattening paddocks for, tlio production of meat, and thousands of acres of land hitherto used for milking was now purely grazing and fattening paddocks, while the farmers enjoyed nil equal or better financial rAturn with'a great deal more comfort. The latter was far more serious than might appear 'on the surface, inasmuch as a farm that had once changed from a milk farm to that of growing meat for tlie butcher could uot bo replaced for three years, as the herds could not be raised from tho calving period to that .of milking in less, ' ■ lime. The third difficulty was that the' cost of feed was .so high, and it was physically impossible to raise milk ill tho winter time without feeding tho cattle, which feeding, at the present cost, would not be made to give tho farmer an adeqnnto return without a materially increased winter price., , "Having investigated the matter very
thoroughly from the farmer's point of view," Mr. Norwood raid, "careful inquiry was -made in tho vending, and in / (his deportment there " was great need for reform. I would like to say here that there 'were vendors in 'Wellington who deserved the host thanks <f the public for the careful way they were deliver, ine their product, but, unfortunately, this was tlio exception rather than the rule. The vending was done l>y a. largo number of small vendors, who were not in a financial position and.could not purchase , largely .enough to warrant contracts being 'made from the country year by year to assure a sufficient supply to tiio public, and in June of -101-7-there..wail not less than a shortage of 30,000 gallons cempnred with the corresponding: period of the year before, notwithstanding the shortage for tho same montli of the previous year, and as there was evidence that a great many farmers were diverting their supplies for factory purposesTt'.waf) not difficult for my committee to see'that' a very severe milk famine threatened Wellington during the months of February, March, and from the middle'of June to'tho end of July, and-my committeo came to the unanimous opinion that timo should not be lost in entering into at least that measure of the milk business that would Bccnre tlie maximum to ■Wellington during the minimum supply period, and to control it, having regard to transit difficulties, in such a .way as to produce for the public as pure a food as tlio circumstances under which they had to work immediately would permit, with the firm resolve to bring about such conditions as early as practicable ai would secure an absolutely pure milk supply to Wellington. I would like to say hero that Wellington is not alone in her difficulties over the milk problem. In most of all the largo cities of the world ' to-day reform in tho_ milk supply is receiving careful attention, and I trust the I'schehie inaugurated bv my colnmittee v ill bo such that ' Wellington ratepayers will bo justly proud of the position they hold of being tho first city in tho world to municipalise the milk business, and that' it may be so good as to be a pattern for imitation by the largest cities, elsewhore. I feci coiiiidonl; that if I coiilu only impart to the public a full knowledge. of the' importance of milk as a food, cost for cost over other products, they would become so obsessed with tlio importance of the milk department that my committee would have their full weight behind it in carrying out this important undertaking." / ■ Summarising the abovo points, Mr. Norwood said, with to tlio shortage of milk, that tlio committee had made arrangements with the Railway Department for the better handling of tlio milk iu transit. The conimittee had gathered up for the winter period tho wliolo of the available milk from Taranaki on the one side to Napier on the other, and although it contemplated • shortage the shortage would -be greatly minimisedas the result of the work t'ono by the committee. Tho committeo had had to arrange better winter prices for the farmer than had hitherto been tlio case, and to protect the residents against this higher price for a short period in tho year, when to them milk was jt/st as important as any other period,_ tho committee was considering seriousl" 'equalising tho price all tho year round. Mr. Norwood said the residents were not paying more for their milk this year than they had been at any .'.similar previous | period of the year, while the cost of the milk, which in tho: ordinary way . would havo been passed .on. to 1 the public, had' increased to the extent of twopence in tho shilling, or approximately 15 per cent.
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Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 180, 25 April 1919, Page 5
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995NEARLY A MILKFAMINE Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 180, 25 April 1919, Page 5
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