THE CITY'S MILK

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 238, 2 July 1919, Page 9

THE CITY'S MILK

BLOCK SYSTEM COMMENCES JULY 8

DETAILS OF AGREEMENT

The block of the toasio iconomical ideas—in connection with tho City Council's milk scheme is to come Into force on July 8 (Wednesday next), l'his has been rendered possible by an agreement made between tiie City Council and the vending companies, who have taken up tho various blocks (as outlined in au 'advertisement in this issue), and who will purchase their milk.from the citv at-tho central clearing station, Dixon Street. Thus will be brought to fruition one of the biggest sohemes of municipal food supply yet-attempted in Australasia, a scliemo which has met with almost, every form of opposition oil tho part of the vendors since its introduction,- and which iti now approved by all concerned. .Tho coupon system is not to bo adopted for.'tho present, but it has not been lost eight of altogether, and will probably be introduced when milk supplies are nearer normal than they are at present. Under the now ■ arrangement many of the. public may expeot to lose the milkman who has supplied their .wants for years, but the block system will elfec. lively. prevent the overlapping that has been such a costly, factor in the business •of the distributioti"of milk in the past. It is not anticipated that the change of ■next week will be effected without complaint, but if tho public will be a little tolerant, it is said that they will find •that a few- days' experience will see the 'system working satisfactorily.' The new agreement with tho-vendors i 3, according to Councillor Norwood, chairman of tlio.Milk Committee, a comprehensive document, protecting fully the interests of the public. Under it the-City Council, unless prevented by disease, inevitable accident,. or. drought,' shall sell to the licensees'at .the milk station, day by day, the milk nnd cream which they require, for deliveries within' the city, , There will be a warranty over the council that the milk delivered, shall bo of the quality saleable by law. The licensees are required to deliver the milk daily, as received from the station,' and within six hours, except in cases of eniergency or shipping supplies. Councillor Norwood said that the provision for a, daily delivery was'important, for. some of tho vendors had adopted a policy of, delivering tlirc-o times weekly to some of their customers.

Tho. licensees' will purchase, all the milk they require from the corporation at a price to be fixed by the latter. Tho 'price will' depend upon tho cost to the corporation. Tho licensees will'bo allowed to sell to retail consumers (consumers requiring five gallons per day, or less), at a profit of 7d. per gallon (gross). Tlio' prices to wholesale' consumers will be: (1) Those requiring over five gallons, and. less than ten gallons, Gd.. per gallon profit (gross) ; (2) those requiring over ten gallons, and lip to, twenty, 3d. ))er;gallon; (3) over twenty gallons, 2d. On cream a gross profit-of ss. per gallon will be allowed. Under tho block system the council reserves tho following ! rights: (1) To supply niilk and cream to shop vendors'-now.selling in any par-.-ticular block; (2) to; supply, direct consumers requiring more than ten gallons of milk per day: (3) to sell milk from the Dixon Street station. All the drivers are required; to be licensed by the corporation,- and:- persons serving ■ milk must be certified by a medical man to be free from disease. , '

' Under another -clause in' the agreement it is hoped to do away with complaints about. stale milk..: The licensee .is required to deliver, milk ordinarily required, and the milk not disposed of must be rcturned.to the.clearing station at times to bo fixed; .No ■ milk , can be held over from day to ; day,, but tho amount returned, must, not exceed i $ per cent. of. tho output. ' The liceuseo also agrees to deliver, pamphlets and other literature regarding inillr. One other important provision is that oil receipt of a petition, eigned.by thirty bonafide residents..in-any ono locality, tho council may require the licensee to open a shop; in default of. carrying out such ■a reqfi'est,' the council may open a'sliop and sell >milk at the advertised price. There'is .also provision for tho .introduction of: the container system; when the council thinks fit. The rights and duties of any licensee are transferable, and the agreement be •-rescinded by the council on payment of compensation. Under tho-license the licensee in each case has the right to sell in one of the five blocks witli tlireo exceptions—(l) the limitations and exceptions prescribed by tho provisions of the Milk Regulations ;■ (2) the right of sale reserved'to. the council under tho agreement'; (3) the' rights of persons ' producing ' milk at dairies within tho city in quantities of not moro than thirty gallons and under license from the council. The licenses are subject to certain conditions. First; there- is provision for readjustment of the boundaries on tho September output, the Mayor to act as • arbitrator in the event of a dispute (this applies only to Blocks 1, !!, 3, and 4). The sedond condition is daily delivery, the third that the licensees must adhere to the agreement, the fourth that they shall not invado another person's block, tho fifth that the carts and employees should be identified, in sonie way approved by the ..council, the sixth that tho licensee shall observe the'council's by-laws, the seventh that, if he is guilty of any breach lie must he dealt with- within thirty days, with a right to appeal to the senior Stipendiary Magistrate. In reference to the latter condition, it is explained that the council has 110 desire to be- the arbitrator ill a matter in which it is directly interested.".

'l'lie agreement is dated for two years from July 8.

PUBLIC HEALTH VIEWPOINT, ' . UNREGISTERED .SUPPLIERS? The Minister of Public Health mado a statement regarding the operations of the Wellington City Council's milk supply scheme. Ho said that although the question of the-milk supply of Wellington had been handed ever to the City Council the Public Health Department was closely 'interested, nnd had watched developments very keenly, not only because of tho health of the peoplo of Wellington, and particularly of infants, but also because the now departure which had taken place was likely to be adopted in other places if (lie schomo proved a - success. "Consequently tho Department ,as. keenly interested in seeing that at every step safety with regard to quality is ; ,secured. Wo aro not interested in the finanaial results of tho scheme, which , is a matter, for tho corporation and the •Wellington ratepayers. On May 5 I called for a complete report from the Department as to tho working of the Bchcme. Tho report has now been re ceivcd, dated Juno 20, nnd is on tho whole satisfactory, except that the District Health Officer reports that there is a susnicion that ihe City Council isdraw•liiK part of its supply, from unregistered persons. While tho Department has not attempted to prove this it is- a matter that demands the immediate consideration'of tho .Wellington City Council, as in such cases tho precautions taken by the Agricultural Department do not obtain. and there is no guarantee as to sanitary conditions at such places being un to the standards required by tho Agricultural Department. "Questions aro also raised as to Ihe timo of day at which tho inilk is collected and tho system of washing the cans. -The Health Officers report, as regards the measures adopted at tho depot, that everything is satisfactory. Tho milk question is, however, so delicate a matter that thoso who are in control of tho supply must be in a position t<s follow up t.h<s treatment of .the milk, and especially of the receptacles, throughout the whole progress, not only before the milk is placed in the cans, but right onward in order tn securo absolute safety, Tho Health Officer points out that tiie purchase of milk 'by weight is 'ipen.to criticism, inasmuch as it encourages the salo of milk cf as low grade as possible consistent with the regulations under the Sale of Food and Drugs Act. This being the case, them is a tendency for suppliers to use those classes of cows which give quantities of mill; irrespective of the quality or butter-fat content of the milk itsolf.' The suggestion that the council should pay according to . percentage of

milk-fat would, -in my opinion, go ft long way towards meeting this position. I'lio regulations require, of.course, that milk must lie of the standard of 3.25 pur cent, of butter-fot in order io bo an articlo nf diet.

■ "The Health 'Officer recommends that tho councili should be given eiyjry opportunity to develop its scheme upon its' own lines, and with this I am in hearty agreement. The main question, however, and which I am satisfied demands innnodinto attention on tho part of the council, is of the undue shortage of the milk supply. There is, in my opinion, a responsibility 01. the part ,oi' the council not. only to scq that its' scheme- is working as regards the quality of the .milk, but that it further has now or in immediate .prospcct'tlio practical certainty of an adequate supply, for the city, and, on.< this point I have requested the Department to obtain an immediate report from tho council.' The shortage which wo all kuow has existed for some time past cannot be allowed to continue, and if the present methods do not provido for a full supply'of milk of'satisfactory quality the matter will require most grave and careful consideration as to whether any other means cannot be devised by which the present position can be remedied."