MILK CONTROL PROGRESS

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 129, 28 November 1923, Page 4

MILK CONTROL PROGRESS

The difficulties encountered in establishing the Municipal Milk Supply scheme were'possibly never fully appreciated by the public; and many of these difficulties are now forgotten. In his address to the Rotary Club yesterday, Mr. Herron, Manager of the Department, recalled some of the. problems of transport, price, and supply. His address should serve .1 useful purpose in reminding the public of the benefits derived from municipal control. Some people accept these benefits as a matter of _ course, and complain of the price to be paid for them. Mr. Herron's comparison of prices in New Zealand and Australian cities shows that the cost is not excessive. Pure bottled milk of good quality, certainly costs more in Wellington than milk in other New- Zealand towns, but the householders of other towns have not the same guarantee of purity, quality, or quantity. If the comparison is carried beyond New Zealand, it is seen that the Wellington supply, with all its advantages, is less costly than the milk obtainable in Australian towns. But Mr. Herron's address was not a bouquet thrown to himself arid his Department. He showed that there were many problems yet to be solved. There should be a pricedetermination arrangement which would protect producers and consumers. Also, the supply of milk by near-by farmers shoud be placed upon a more satisfactory basis. As it is, these farmers add to the Department's difficulties, because they do not produce their proportionate share of winter milk. These difficulties, however, are not insuperable ; and they may be speedily removed if all parties unite to bring about the removal. The Municipal Milk Department must represent the consumers, but it is anxious, as Mr. Herron showed, to work with the producers so that those who sell as well as those who buy may share in the benefit derived from co-operation in improving the milk supply.