CITY MILK SULPLY

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIV, Issue 10210, 21 February 1919, Page 10

CITY MILK SULPLY

ME GEEVILLR'S CRITICISM. After some severe preliminary remarks at the outset of his criticism of the city s new milk scheme, Mr Greville said to a "Times" representative yesterday—- " When the council's milk scheme was first proposed I .pointe dout that everybody was being considered except the people who weTe going to pay, the milk consumers; and the matured plans of the milk committee has this up to the hilt. The agitation for a municipal milk supply, if it had any sound foundation at all, was based on three things—that it would mean (1) cheaper milk; (2) fresher milk; and (3) (purer milk. A COMPLETE FAILURE. "Now that the committee have put all their cards on the table, we find in regard to the first point, the best they are able to do after twelve months' work is to express the hope that the milk will not be any dearer 1 As to fresher milk, the chairman of the committee (Mr Norwood) mr.de a RTeat point in the press a few days ago of the fact that the council was going to deliver Thursday night's milk on Friday morning. But he carefully concealed from, the public that it was going to deliver Thursday morning's milk also cm Friday morning. Very possibly Thursday night's and Thursday morning's milk mixed up together ! The milk, therefore, will be no cheaper. Indeed, it may be dearer; and it will be no fresher. "There is left only the third plank of their platform—purer milk. Their claim that the milk will be.purer is based chiefly on- the process of olarifination. But, in regard to this claim, I want the public to understand quite clearlv and definitely that clarification of milk, as far as freeing it from, bacteria injurious to health is concerned, is an absolute and complete failure. Dirt is certainly removevd by the process. That is to say. the visible dirt. But the invisible dirt, which is really the ereater danger, s stills in the milk; and during such weather ns we are experiencing at present the evil that this invisible dirt .works may be considerable. FAULTY MILK CANS. "One of the chief evils of the present supply system is totally unsuitable milk cans used both in transit and distribution. If any interested milk consumer in the city doubts this statement let him take up a position at Lambton or Thorndon stations when the milk trains come in. Then he will see, a large percentage of the cans that any inspector in the world would declare to be utterly unfit for the 'purposo for which they are used. I am going to say that none of these faulty cans would bo allowed to be used at any butter or cheese factory one moment after tlrey had been seen by tho factory manager. If the milk were brought to them, as it is to the oity consumers every factory manager in New Zealand would say: 'You had better not bring milk to me again lilre that. If you do you will havev to take it all back again.' But these cans have been considered good enough for years for th" Wellington milk supply: and it is from these that the bottle-fed infants get tho whole of their sustenance. I have not personally made an investigation of the cans .at close quarters recently, but it will bo remembered that I -was able to produce to a Parliamentary Committee a few years ago a selection of cans, one of which wi*s puttied up with soap!