CHATEAU BREAD CONTRACT

Evening Star, Issue 21656, 27 February 1934, Page 9

CHATEAU BREAD CONTRACT

WHY PRISONS CONTRACT ACCEPTED MINISTER ANSWERS CRITICS [Special to the ' Star.’] WELLINGTON, February 27. Answering criticism regarding the bread contract for Chateau Tongariro being placed with the Prisons Department, Mr Cobbe (Minister of Justice) informed the ‘ Star ’ that the matter was under the direction of the Stores Control Board, which called tenders, accepting the Prisons Department’s quotation. “ There was no price-cutting,’’ continued the Minister, “ the difference being the fractional part of a penny. However, the prisons’ tender gave the decided advantage of daily deliveries, whereas the former contract was held by a baker thirty miles away, who delivered thrice weekly. The Prisons Department has its lorries working on the road; consequently its delivery cost is negligible. “ The principle involved in letting this tender wase carefully considered. The Chateau is a losing proposition to the State, and any means of economy must ho utilised. In nearly all the countries of the world the utilisation of prison labour for productive purposes and the supply of the produce of such labour for State use is recognised as quite fair, this policy being endorsed by the International Labour Office at Gieneva in 1930. It is not to b© overlooked that the New Zealand Prisons Department credits its prisoners with wages and accepts responsibility for the maintenance of their dependents in necessitous cases.