NO WARRANTY

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 62, 6 December 1917, Page 9

NO WARRANTY

[ POSITION OF MILKMEN | I INTERVENTION OF MINISTER | SOUGHT | Recently the Wellington ilk Vnn--5 dors' Association, through il.n secretary ; (Mr. A. .1. J'olherick), submitted a ; series of questions to I,ho, City Council. ; through tho Town Clork, with regard j to conditions that urn to govern tho 5 milk clearing-house, now lining r.rect- '• c d -it Thorndon. Tlio answers to the j questions have boon published, liut do •! not meet with the approval of I,ho milk j vendors of Wellington. For instance, jj all milk to he vended ban l<> pawn a. i tost at tho clearing-house, yet having ; undergono the tost the council does not ; intend to give tho vendors any wars rany that the milk has boon inspected £ and tested. So unsatisfactory do tho ; vendors .consider their position in reJ spect to tho proposed clearing-house j .that they liavo forwarded tho following \ letter to the Minister of Public Health I (Hon. G. W. Russell) \ "Sir, —On October 17 last, by direci tion of my executive, I forwarded a i letter to tho Town Clork, Wellington, requesting certain information on the i subject of the temporary milk clenring- ■ station.. A copy of the reply hy the ' Town Clerk is attached hereto, and is submitted for your perusal.' My executive now desires to submit a request for information which it is in your | power to supply, and trusts you will see your way clear to do .so. "1, The site for and plans of a milk station havebeon submitted by the City Council for your approval. Did your approval apply to tho temporary milk | station now being orected or to the milk station which tho council some time ago thought of erecting? "2-. Vendors nndorstand that in tho plans prepared by tho City Engineer's department no internal equipment was shown, only tho exterior walls and covering walls of 'lie ' building which _it was proposed to erect, and for which tenders were ..callcd and a contract let. Have you approved of the plans for the internal equipment which it is the intention of the City Council to provide ? ...... "3. On completion of the milk station to your satisfaction the City Council must notify by public advertisement that the milk station will he available for testing milk, and it. shall be the duty of the City Council to have such milk station available and thereafter to so maintain it. Section 2 of the "Wellington City Milk Supply Act, 1900, states that 'testing' means and includes analysis .for detection of added water, preservatives, or other adulter* ants, examination for percentage of butter-fat contents and for purity, and the adoption of such other processes as may be from time to time proscribed. Will you require, boforc your approval is given under Section 7 of the above Act, to ho satisfied that 'testing' under Section 2 will be performed before delivery of supplies to a vendor is made, or will you be content to permit • a 'sample' to bo taken from tocli oonBignmcnt, such 'sample' to he tested when opportunity offers, that tho hulk of the consignment 'may,, he released with as little delay as possible and delivery given to tho vendor ? "4. Section 8 prohibits the sale _ of milk which (subject to the provisions of Section !)) has not been tested and passed at tho milk station. Section 10 states that no milk shall be passed at the milk station which does not como within tho definition of or reach the standard prescribed by the regulations made under the Sale of Food aud Drills Aft, 1908. Tho Town Clerk, in his letter, states that no warranty of any kind will be given to a vendor when ho takes delivery of his supplies at the letter, states that no warranty bo implied under Sections 7 and 8, and will a vendor on receiving his supplies lit tho milk station be correct in assuming that tho milk ho receives do eg complv with tho Sale of Food and Drugs Act, 1908? "5. Section 10 pre-supposos that milk up to tho time of testing belongs to the farmer. In actual practice tho vendor is tho. owner before tho railed, and beforo it reaches the milk station, and whilo it is subjected to tests tlierein. Tho Town Clerk in his reply states that tho coiihcil will not bo responsible for loss of milk during milk station handling, nor will' it accept responsibility for any differences between tho quantity consigned by the farmer and tfto quantity delivered to the vendor.; - . .*■ "Is it part of your duty to be satisfied that in approving of the milk station such injustices shall not bo permitted and to sea that obvious rights to which the vendor is entitled aro safeguarded ? "Throughout the Town Clerk b reply it is evident the City Council only intends to placate the farmer. "It would appear that the cost of running tho milk station is to be homo by the vendor; ho.has to submit to interference and delay by the City Council ; he must not expect to receive a warranty that the articlo ho is given complies with the Act. "Tho A r ondors' Association has never been approached b.v the City Council en the subject of milk station management. When asked for information the City Council directs the Town Clerk to roply that such information will he available when the manager takes up his duties. The inference is ?hat the City Council itself does not know what is to bo done when sunplios come to hand for treatment at the milk station. My executive requests that as far as possible you will endeavour to ensure that tho City Council in embarking on : its experiment will at least conform to ' the provisions of the Wellington City Milk Supply Act, 1910, and will not make the responsibility of tho vendor one of greater hardship and expense than it is at present his misfortune to bear."