REPLY GIVEN

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 80, 5 April 1939, Page 6

REPLY GIVEN

MILK PRICE RISE.

CHAIRMAN STATES CASE.

REASONS FOR INCREASE.

"A statement by Mr. J. Purtell, secretary of the Auckland Milk Roundsmen's Union, in Saturday's issue, demands a prompt answer as Mr. Purtell makee statements which are contrary to fact and which if permitted to go unchallenged are likely to mislead the public of this city," writes Mr. I. J. Grold&tine, chairman of the Auckland Metropolitan Milk 'Council. Mr. Goldmine continues:—

"Had jVIt. Purtea rnquired from the proper quarter, the Milk Council, "before expressing his opinion, he would have received information which would have shown him that his opinion wae based on wrong premises. As, it is, ft Is •dbvious that 'he 'lacks the knowledge off *he milk position in Auckland, which ore would have expected tJhe secretary of the Milk Roundsmen's Union for a number of years, to possess. It is of course quite 'easy to talk alid say that ten increase »h sprice is not warranted ntithout <a tftfll lcnbw>'tedge of the various factors -which aiJßTect the position. Perhaps, -•h6* i E*S»r- 1 , I 'can enlighten Mir. Purtell as to the true position, and supply him. with .information, which will be of assistance to him in ; the future, and which I would have been onjy too Ihaiyjipy nad ?he fcxpressed <a; desire tb obtain it. . .... ■ ~ ~ „ ,19* Increase. the first place, the small increase j of id per quart was made solely for the! benen't 'of fflte 'dairymen The vendors do -not benefit in any way ws is assumed Vy Mr. Purtell, and their margin reftra'ine unaltered. Mr. Purtell' s/hbnld be aWa+e that the Act administered by the Milk Council provides that ttihe council shall, in fixing the prices' fr<nh time to time, have regard to the •costs of "production, distribution, and, all other relevant circumstances. Tlisf. : is jtls't what the council has done in this instance. Having''been satisfied hy irrefutable evidence that, by. reason of eczema epidemic, the bad winter, the ipreeeht " imprecedented dry spell, and a generM increase in all round costs, that dairymen's of production bad. increased, the council had no option 'but to 'increase 'the iprice for the 'wrntet; months. Iti doing this, tfae council has i nothing nidre tnan properly admihw-! terecL the Act by having 'fee regard %bj the costs of production. In this connection, perhaps it may toe as well W

remind Mr. Purtell, though, of course, it is weM known to him, that the iprict of practically all «om>.tnodities / has increased during the past two or three years, due tb increased Wages -and other costs. Milk is one -of the very few commodities the price of which has not been increased before this, as Tt Ss a fact that the iprice has been constant for the last 2J years; and this notwithstanding a general increase in costs, including a not inconsiderable rise in the wages of rmmdßmen and the operation of the five;dav week-

"Mr. IPurteH, as secretary of the Roundsnien's Union, must surely foe aware of this, as he conducted the roundsmen's case before the Arbitration Court. The Milk Council, however, due to various economies instituted fcy it in connection with the system of distribution, has been afole to counteract these increases. Now, by reason of the abnormal weather conditions and the various otlier factors mentioned, and over which it ceTtarrily cannot be said to have any control, the council has been compelled to tatoporari'ly increase the price by a small ainotmt in order to allow the farmeT a reasonable margin. Above all things, an adequate supply of good quality milk must be ensured to the spublic of Auckland, and tmless seasonal and other conditions are taken into account from time to time, the council would be failing in its duty not only to the farmer, tout also to the public. Supply Decreased. "ft is probably only a coincidence that in the column next to Mt. Purtell'e statement re an article headed 'Third Driest Month of March —Bad Effect on f"a-sttrres. 5 -at -this time of the year, .the supply from the council's reiri£ter%d suppliers is nrore than ade'cfSaife' to the _ Owing to the exceptional dryness, this supply ha^'dropped fcy at least 1000 gallcnie fitfiiy. In "to TOfeet the shortage, thre quantity of milk is being brought <in from dairymen not licensed with the council, and whose farms are some distance from the city. The Milk Council does Jiot, under the Act, purchase any milk, nor can it direct a vendor as to I the quantity he is to purchase or from whom he must obtain his supply. It was for this reason, and in order to; meet such a contingency as is being experienced at present, that the council '. sought to have the Act amended. It will therefore readily be eeen that' under ite present powers, all that the council can do is to endeavour to arrange for as many dairymen as pds- : eible to take out seasonal licenses so that their milk Wky foe available 5n times of stress. Ivo Trnhjeeflient in the shape of a bonus can be offered to such dairymen nnfiet ■&& M*t. These facts «re, >0r at least should be, weH known *b Mr. ParteJl. "A further matter mentioned ty 'him is the deßirWbnjty of municipalisation. Each ef +h% "tljree cbunciTs e'iffcfe the

inception of the Act has given earnest consideration to this question, and teach has cast it aside ae being not wily unwarranted but impracticable. ■ based on the goodwill oif a vendor's rottnd at £6 iper gallon, as mentioned t»y iSirtell, r it is estimated the cost to municipalise Ant-Wand's milk supply would be Loan money would be required to finance such a scheme, and a loan poll would be necessary. Does Mr. Purtell consider that the public of Auckland would sanction such a loan when investigation has shown that all the main advantages of munieipalisation can be achieved without such an enormous capital expenditure? I for one have more regard for the interests of ratepayers of Auckland than to attempt to* saddle them with this tremendous burden, which would, be unjustified, and I have no doubt that the wisdom of the tiovernTuent would lead it to veto any such proposal were it to be brought forward at the present time. Wellington's Increase. "Finally, in this connection I would like to direct Mt. Purtell'e attention to the fact that in Wellington the municipal milk department have already found it necessary to increase the price of milk to 7d per quart, such increase coming into effect on-Murch 23 last, some weeks before Auckland's increase to Hid per quart for loose milk will come into force. "Mr. Ptfrtell's concluding, remark was that the public in Auckland was given ■no say in what the council dM. This, of course, i« incorrect, for, as Mr. tell well knows, the council consists of two dairymen representatives, two ve*rdors. and five consumers. This preponderance of consumer representatives ensures that the .public's interests always teceive the fullest consideration." V \