Hutt City Milk

Hutt News, Volume 18, Issue 12, 23 August 1944, Page 5

Hutt City Milk

e THIS POSITION IX TIIK lIUTI v .-ill air a THREL; ARTICLES BY J. V. jjuhton i ——- :i i ii. i -j Tin.- nature oi' milk is such thai, u j ensure quality, scientific aiui duiij r if' it mmst bo made. Tin • equipment., li.ackuiovy, ami buii dings - necessary for proper treatment an i too oxi-i.ii.sive for the small vendor it , instaiJ. Nor is he in a position u: • engage ike necessary ox pi n't staff. • The only adequate and economic . method is that there should be for each centre of population ono receiving and treating station. , Other methods involving duplication of plant would involve waste which must, ultiinatoly react against the consumer. Lav-re yeale operation allows oi' small overhead costs per gallon, and makes the engaging of the required technical stall with high qualification:;;. It might .be asked whether increased inspections by the Health Department might not oe a solution —allowing at the same time»the existing, organisation of the industry \q continue. The number of inspectors who would be nece.ssa.ry to ace thai: the milk delivered to every door each day was satisfactory, would be so groat as to be impossible. Further, inspection of this kind detects substandard miik after it is on its way to the consumer. In an efficient system, such, milk is detected on the day of delivery to the station,., further supplies from the producer concerned not used unt'l quality is restored, while in the meanLimt hrsuffoiT, immediately a financial loss. Tn any case, practical experience h<n: clearly shown that increased inspections have had very doubtful efficacy of improving milk standards bc<yond a certain point. Evidence placet} before the Milk Commission showed that this was so, and that where Milk Control authorities did not have the power to treat and vend the mtik, tey were comparatively helpless to securc regular high quality., The Auckland Milk Council had; made efforts to improve quality but these efforts had failed to obtain the desired results. The Auckland Mill: Council's found that over a period of 10 months 70 c /,- of the 201 samples tested for. addled. water, revealed" the presence of added water. In a period of 12 months ending in June, 1942, the Wellington Milk Department found thai only .002% of the 173 <1 samples -water contained any ■ trace dof water. ' v •- f ' The figures, from ise. analyst seem' so, high suggest that special may have been operating in' to.. But the T f©al ( h' <'j?opartmeril'r figures, show, AuckWmh-to the greatest percentage. 45f $&fr-stajuw ard samples. And on p. 17 the He port Concludes that "The combination of high standards and frequent, testing, with due warning and occasional prosecutions, seems insufficient to secure a high standard in practice." , What then of. iiie proposal n> ajlov; a private cofepaity or group of panies to have ;> mononly of milk treatment and Something like this Jias been proposed for Lower Hutt. The Milk Commission hill very definite views on the point ot ,ho should exercise control, ii proposed' that a Central Milk Authority should be set up ior the whole Dominion. Then in the Metropolitan areas should be some form of "organisation and authoritative control over the treatment and distribution" of milk. "One controlling body for treatment and distribution is just as essential as a similar body dealing with production, and collection. Such a body imist Incompletely divorced I'i'om the commercial interests in tlie trade, although under proper circumstances it may need'to take an active part in the processes involved." (p. 45). The Commission then recommended that "in the absence of a municipal milk scliemc" Metropolitan Miik Councils should be set u,p. And let it be repeated that the words of the Commission are that* such a bod> should be "completely divorced" from the commercial interests in the liquid milk industry. But by saying 'in the absence of a municipal milk scheme' the Commission infers pretty clearly that a municipal scheme was the best, and any other could be only a second best. There is not space to traverse the evidence which led to this conclusion. Hut anyone who thinks that it is wrong must show that either tiie Commission reached wrong conclusions on the evidence 1 - f ore it or that the evidence wa: incomplete. I!*, however, consume!'; do accept the conclusions oi. the Commission thoy could not tolerate ths type of commercial interest control which has .been suggested for the Valley, and which is in fact, almost the complete reverse of what the Commission advocated. i . The final question then seems to be whether we should have an independent Milk Council for the Valley to control commercial interests, or whether wo should set up our own Milk Department and treat all milk for Hutt consumers. What is the reasonable conclusion? But first, let it. be said that to set up a Milk De- ' partment here would not necessarily ! put existing vendors out ot business. - They might continue their distribut- . ing business but instead of drawfhs their milk from the present bulking

depot, or from farms they would have to obtain it li'oui the Milk Departljleht. Similarly would .be ,i'6r they,lAvouhi- euhtrac. fo niiipiy the DoL.uirth:;-ni at pa j•• iil> 11' prices. The only reason foi producing milk hi [hat. it is to bo consumed. Therefore, th.e consum'.n't; interest if.; paramount, but hever-thok'.-.s no reasonable person would de-.ure to boo the legitimate interests o!' the producer* damaged. A'ov; it is just this consumer inteiv est (hat makes for a decisive answer. to tin- question asked above. The consumer's 'interest is in a reliable ji:oducf at a just price to ail concerned. Hut the commercial interests arc eon earned will', high quality mainly incidentally in so far as it aids in the making of'a profit out of the business Anyone with a knowledge of ! a business kno'.vs what the pull of the prolife motive is.' -In the milk industry it could very concern itself with making inferior milk palatable rather tiian with rejecting all milk which was delivered froni;'" i the'l farms. A treating- station should -accept only the highest quality milk ii'oin the farms, and then treat this so that it is rendered safe l'or consumption. This is the policy followed with such conspicuous success by the Wellington Milk Department. The milk, it receives from the farms is the best received anywhere where the Commission carried out its investigations. Readers will not need to be given any further possible ways in which commercial interests might sac rifice consumer interest l'or profit. In a general way this kind of thing is well understood in modern life. No one will, of course, make the mistake of thinking that every business would do this kind of thing inevitably. There are men of the highest integrity connected with the Hutt milk trade. It is the system mainly which is at fault. The position in New Zealand to-day is that the only completely satisfactory milk supply system is the publicly owned arid operated Wellington Milk Department. Not even in Auckland where a Milk Council has been operating for a. considerable number of years, have comparable results been obtained. The Health Depart-, ment's figures presented to the Milk Commission showed that for the year ending 01/'l2/42, Auckland had the greatest percentage of sub-standard samples {VWc) in all the metropolitan areas. The Wellington Milk. Department had absolutely none. As to the business efficiency of the Wellington "Department, along with the highest quality product it had the lowest costs, much lower than those 1 of any of tiie big companies operat- 1 ing in the milk business. It made an excellent profit, after setting aside, 1 full financial provision for replace-' _ mentis, depreeiatioA, interest, sinking funds; etc. Further, it treats the producers who supply, it with ter, iri; .general, than any other ' •cern •in-.45h.e....mi1k trade in, the •' Cities, and these producers get a, bet- ■. tor-«price than do -producers: for the ;; Mother- large -cities. In addition'^.-the , employees of the Wellington Department are the best treated employees in the liquid milk trade in New Zealand. They get the highest rates of pay, they have a sick benefit fund, there 'is provision for their ritirement they are provided with uniforms and there is a bonus system for efficient work. All these facts may be found in the Milk Commission's report or in the evidence tended to the Commission. The Wellington scheme is run by men with no interest in the milk trade, and who, while seeing tin\t the people concerned with production get a proper deal, make the interest of the consumer their prime concern. Whether . from the . viewpoint of the consumer,'the producer or the employee, the Wellington scheme surpasses anything else the Commission found 'in its investigations. Is not then the case conclusive for the establishment of a similar type of concern in the Hutt Valley? . It is extremely difficult to see how any unbiassed consideration can lead to any . other judgment. We are not merely considering pleasant theories. We have before our eyes the-results of actual experience to guide us. A publicly owned and operated treatment station could give us the highest quality milk at probably no advance in present prices to us, and any profit made would belong, as in Wellington, to the consumers. Is it difficult to see why certain interests should oppose such a schema? Let us not through ignorance or apathy, allow a situation to be created which we shall permanently regret. Men from this Valley have fought, and many have died for a better world than they left.. They fought for democracy. But democracy becomes a reality and lives not merely by actions on battlefields. It lives and grows when the rank and file citizen exerts himself to make the life o! his community a better one. And a better community is not made by lipservice to high-sounding phrases. It comes when we turn'our hand to just such problems as have been discussed in theaev.articles. As citizens we are charged with building a better order of things in the everyday life and needs of the Valley. Let it not be , said that we were unworthy of the . task that lay to our hand to do.