THE MILK SCHEME

Evening Post, Volume C, Issue 86, 8 October 1920, Page 8

THE MILK SCHEME

TO WIDEN, SCOPE OF CITY

VENTURE

IMPORTANT RECOMMENDATIONS

NEW CLEARING STATION

REQUIRED.

The Wellington City Council has the credit of being the only municipality in the world which has a monopoly of the milk supply. Though the development of the milk department has been a feature of the council's activities', there is still much to be done before the scheme is 'perfect. Realising the need of settling the future policy of the council before the municipal elections in Aprij next, the chairman of the Milk.Committee has drawn. up a special report, 'which has been adopted by the Milk Committee, and forwarded io the council for endorsement or otherwise. . The report contains many important recommendations, which are briefly summarised as.follow :—

1. That the committed recommends t.he council to confirm its original proposal re a board of management, and requests the committee to submit names for such board. ' <

_2. That the council be> asked to sanction the immefdiatfi preparation of plans for the erection io&vnew station on ,a site to be decided upon, to be complete, if possible, at the expiration of the vendors' term. * i

3. In the ovent oi No. 2 recommendation being carried, the council be asked to sanction the d.?sign which would enable the whole distribution to be cai<ried out, by the department at the expiration of the vendors' term.

• 4. That the council be recommended | to adopt the. delivery in sealed glass con- i tamers, labelled with the date of filling. , S. That for the purpose of obtaining the council's .decision on the advisability or otherwise if including cold storage, ■ the chairman be asked to formally move i. that the council provide in addition to >he milk station cool storage for public -services. < ADVANTAGES OF BOARD CONTBOL. In a detailed report covering the various heads referred to above, Councillor Norwood reminds the council of the fact that the original scheme which "was adopted provided 'for control of a, separ- : ate board, appointed by the council, and to' hold office at "the pleasure of the council. The time hae now come for the council to endorse that decision or decide that the department shall continue under the direction of a committee. In urging a decision in favour of a board, Councillor Norwood desires that the f olio wings, facts should be" 1 kept in mind : —(a) The importance of the continuance of a policy; (b) the effect that an almost entire change of personnel of the committee, which is possible at an. election, may have upon the economic running of the department; (c) as the board would be subject to retirement only at the will of the council, it should become ■more and more competent year by year |to manage the department; (d) the board would be free from political influence j of any kind, and would be accordingly free from outside influence in the management of the department; (c) the cost of a board would be, say, £1000 per annum—£6oo for the professional man and £200 each for the honorarium of the commercial men—this equals .042 d per quart; (f) I have assumed in setting out "c" that two commercial men of high standing could be found who would regard their duty.more in a. philanthropic sense., and who would not regard the honorarium as a primarj means; (g) the medical officer would be a young man who has just completed his training, and is capable of general supervision. It. .would be hi? duty to write up pamph-^ lets on health, speciallj appertaining to the food value and the proper keeping of., milk, and generally to advise and bring about co-operation with the Plunket system for the protection of the child life of the city. .- XEW STATION. In emphasising the need of erecting a new dealing station, Councillor Norwood stresses the fact that the Dixonstreet property was'fitted up as a temporary station only. After stating in detail its disabilities and disadvantages, the report recommends the council to proceed forthwith with the designing and erection of a new station. According to the report, the matter of financing the erection of a new station is not a serious problem. The total assets of the department are set out at £45,926. Assets not required for the new station are valued at £28,112, and the saleable assets at £21,760, -leaving a loss of £6352 to be made up by the special reserve now.accumulating as the result of a small fraction of a penny which-ia being charged or each quart of milk. It is proposed that the machinery now ir use shall be shipped to the new station and used as a stand-by. It is pointed out that extensive alterations would have to lie made to bring it. up to date and make it possible to deliver milk in containers, should the council to decide. Should the council decide at the expiration of the vendors' agreement to undertake the delivery of milk, the congestion at the present station and :n the narrow street would be si great as to affect the economic working of the department. It is estimated that the cost'of a new station would be about £40,000, meaning that fresh capital to the extent of about £20,000 would have to be provided to place the city in possession of an up-to-date milk clearing station that would suit the requirements of the ■ city for years to come. It is recommended that the council should consider the erection of an up-to-dato cold storage plant in conjunction with the new milk station. The present facilities provided bj» the council in that respect are wholly inadequate. DISTEIBUTION AND POSITION OF VENDORS. . Regarding the council's future policy so far as it concerns distribution, Councillor Norwood makes the following comments: —"I must frankly admit that I have been disappointed that the vendors have not entered more fully into the spirit of the council's milk scheme. I hod hoped that the blocking system of the city v.-ouH bring about economies that -would make it possible in the interests of the public to enable the council to keep the milk vendors inremunerative employment indefinitely. The increased cost* of labour, horse feed, etc., has certainly deprived the vendor of the full profit that he would *aye obtained under his contract. However, as against this, Parliament extended the term of his contract for a further year, and I have not had- .in opportunity of in any way finding out whether this is sufficient to make up for the increased cost. Ho%vever, the treatment meted, out to the public by the vendors has not been such as t:> induce the council to go far out of its way to meet tl^m, inasmuch as it must always be the' sole object of the ■ committee. to* cater for the, citizens, and consideration for them must come before the vendors. At the present time I am only asking the committee to make provir.ion. and their final d?-:irion can be arrived at a yeav hence, and I recommend the- council to proceed as if it had absolutely decided to take over tha distribution and make provision accordingly

in the design and erection of new buildings." BOTTLE DELIVERY FAVOURED. ' After having an opportunity of studying the methods employed in other parts of. the world, Councillor. Norwood strongly recommends, the council to adopt a scheme whereby milk would be delivered in sealed containers—glass botties in preference to paper containers. He states that the present system is quite unsatisfactory, as the milk is likely to become contaminated to an extent which is likely to neutralise the careful treatment it receives at the station. He continues : "I have inspected milk cans after a round, and found considerable amount of sediment at -the bottom of the ; cans, and I am quite confident that this is not due to carelessness on the part of the men, but to conditions unavoidable under the present method of distribution ; but, even worse than this, there is the want j^f certainty that thi milk will reach tne consumer without wilful adulteration." Additional reasons for the :n----.troduction of containers are given as fujlow :—1: The health authorities all over the world consider the dipping system an insanitary method. 2. That delivery'in properly sealed containers almost entirely eliminates the necessity for inspection. 3. That human hands do not touch the milk from the time it is tipped at the station until it is received at the customer's house. 4. That in, all cities and towns that have made any effort worthy of the name they • have "started with the introduction of the container. Councillor Norwood concludes his report' by giving the reasons why he favours llass bottles instead of paper containers. The report is to be discussed at a. special meeting of the City Council, which was fixed for 4 o'clock this afternoon. \ ■