MILK FAMINE THREAT

Evening Star, Issue 22621, 13 April 1937, Page 7

MILK FAMINE THREAT

MUNICIPALISATION OF SUPPLY IMMEDIATE ACTION URGED EXPERT'S REPORT TO BE OBTAINED The urgent need for the municipalisation ot the city’s milk supply was stressed by several councillors last night when the General Committee recommended, as a preliminary step, that the Wellington City Council be approached with a view to obtaining its permission for the general manager of the Wellington municipal milk department (Mr Herron) to furnish a report on the system of control and distribution of milk best suited to the requirements of Dunedin, such report to also contain estimates of the cost of establishing and operating any scheme which may be recommended.

Cr Allen, in moving the adoption of the report, said that under the recent scheme for the supply of milk to school children, an additional 500 gallons a day was required, and as there had not been more than sufficient milk available to the city for some considerable time, the matter was one which required the immediate attention of the council. It was also known that if milk producers did not receive an increase in price for their milk many of them would give up milk production, and the city’s supply would be seriously affected. The council was faced with the question of what form of control should be adopted and whether that control should be of a municipal nature. The committee was of the opinion that Mr Herron’s Hews should be received before the council arrived at a decision. Mr Herron, he said, was one of the leading authorities on milk and its distribution in New Zealand, if not in the Southern _ Hemisphere. His views should assist the council in adopting a scheme which would give the most satisfactory supply to the consumers and a fair price to* the producers. It was also necessary to know what such a scheme would cost.

Mr Allen went on to say that the Auckland Milk Council was experiencing considerable difficulty in the execution of its scheme and the tendency appeared to be to turn towards munieipalisation as in Wellington. On the other hand, Christchurch was seeking the advice of Mr Herron on the same question.

Or J. W. Munro, M.P., said that the time had arrived when the council had to face the muuicipalisation of the milk supply in Dunedin. Delay in the matter was probably due, he said, to their being a little bit conservative and not liking to face the expenditure involved. But, he would like to point out, during the last session of Parliament he had been chairman of the Bills Committee, and, during a discussion involving the adoption of a municipal milk supply in Auckland, he had been convinced that such control was a necessity. If something was not done in the immediate future he was afraid there was going to be a milk famine in Dunedin. Auckland suppliers had demanded a certain price for their milk, and had adopted a boycott to achieve their aims. He did not blame them in view of the price they got for their milk and the price paid by the consumers. He admitted that the difference in price was due to enormous overhead expenses which, he thought, could he eliminated only by. a municipal milk supply. He had also been informed that local producers were already considering sending more milk and cream to dairy factories near Dunedin, where they, received more satisfactory prices than from milk vendors. After paying a compliment to the' work undertaken by Cr Allen in securing information on the subject, he urged the council to recognise its importance and face up to the matter in the immediate future.

Cr F. Jones, M.P., said that Mr Herron was an expert. A number of local body representatives from Australia visited "Wellington to examine the municipal milk scheme. As one who lived in Wellington for a good part of the year, he was satisfied that the milk supplied was of a very high standard, and that an enormous saving was made in the cost of distribution. The service was excellent, and the employees, were working under better conditions. He also believed that the producers would .get a better price and the city a purer milk supply by the municipalisation of Dunedin’s milk. The facing of the problem might be costly, but the health of the people was their first consideration. Ultimately the four centres would have municipal milk departments, he predicted. Cr Allen said that he had been pointing out for the past four months the possibility of a milk shortage, because of the small price producers were receiving. His views now might seem strange, as ho favoured private enterprise as against public control, hut one had to be reasonable. Milk was a public utility, and had to be placed on a different footing to an ordinary business. He was, therefore, inclined to think that the corporation would soon have to take full control of the milk industry. The report was adopted.