The sun., 1916-08-26
Wicks Committee to Examine
Distributors Books to See
II Boost Is Justified.
INDUSTRY IN DANGER
Counsel Ward Says Inquiry
Shows Farmers Are Being
Driven INTO Poverty.

OF the Increase In the retail price Of milk,
the WIcks Legislative Committee. sitting
yesterday At City Hail. subpGnaed nifty
representative distributing concerns and
announced that expert accountants would
examine the firms books to determine
the truth Of their statements that they
are operating on narrow margins OF
proht. II the findings Of the committee
warrant. legislation regulating the prices
Of dairy products will b introduced at
Albany.
Investigations also were in progress
conducted by Commissioner John ]. Dill
Ion Of the State Department Of Foods
and Markets. n COMMISSIONS Joseph
Hartigan Of the Bureau Of Weights and
Measures. Mr.. Dillon was In Orange
county interviewing dairymen as to the
actual cost Of milk production and the
prices paid for the milk.
COMMISSIONS Hartisan obtained an
estimate hat the raise Of one cent .
quart to the milk consumer. means an
extra daily expense Of 325.0 600 to the peo-
pie Of the city. He will confer in Al
bany to-day with large milk producers
None Of the agencies investigating the
milk situation has found justification for
the raise In price to the consumer. they
declare. Members Of the Wicks commit
tee. however. agreed that their survey Of
sixteen counties In the State. demon
strated that the dairymen should receive
-a~A -o,>, 20 tHn k,Arnss L. " ~
maintained and the dairymen Kept from
poverty.
No Reason for Raise
George W. Ward. counsel for the COM
hittee. said Of the raise:
SHOULD the distributing concerns pay
the farmer. say, a cent a quart more for
milk. there might be justification for the
raise In the price to the consumer. Our
investigation has not taken US that far
yet. But unless the farmer is paid more
there certainly Is no excuse to burden
the consumer more heavily. II the con-
sumner is forced to pay more. II follows
that all the increase should be used to
pay the farmer. II the milk companies
In New Yosk charge one cent more for
. quart Of milk. the producer should
get that extra amount.
There is no doubt that the farmer IL
selling milk for less than II costs him
20 produce. II the State Is to save its
dairy industry some means must be
found to give the producer a larger re-
turn. Farmers and their families are
n poverty because Of the low price they
get for milk and the constantly increas-
ing cost of feed and labor
Representatives Of the milk companies
at the hearing yesterday, with one ex-
ception. conceded the farmers should re-
ceive more money for their milk. but II
was argued that there was no way to
grant the Increase except by raising the
price to the consumer. The milk con-
cerns. they said. had brought their plants
to q high standard of efficiency. and were
operating them on the narrowest sort of
a profit margin, They did not know how
any Improvement m ight be made which
would decrease their expenses and allow
q to pay the farmer more.
Denies Trust Exists.
Senator Charles W. Wicks. Chairman.
Of the committee. called on Henry ~.
Hallock. vice-president of Borden's Con-
densed MIX Company. for an expression
Of the attitude Of the distributors. Mr..
Hallock at once disputed the charge tina.
q milk trust exists.
$50 far as my own institution IL con-
cerned," he said, "t has grown large, but
It is dependent upon It's own resources {:
II is not connected with any other con-
Germ.
81 am unable TO suggest any way to
improve the methods of distributor.
These have been perfected 70 meet the
demands Of economy as we'll as OF SER
vice to the public"
Mr.. Ward asked the milk expert
whether, Il there were an increase of
one cent TO the consumer. the company
would give the farmer one-fourth o. the
cent and keep the three-fourths for It.
self. or would make q more generous
division.
Mr.. Hallock replied that he could no;
speak for the future. He admitted a
serious condition would result II dairy
herds throughout the State were cut SO
per cent. because Of the Improbable
ness OF the business, but he was unable
TO sugges any preventive which did not
increase the price to the consumer as
well as the farmer.
]. G. Jennings OF 1859 East Eighteenth
street. Brooklyn. formerly secretary OF
the Clover Farms. Inc. was the one
speaker without sympathy for the as
sertion that the farmers should get more
money. He declared that the farmers
except those inexcusably inefficient were
making money, lie tnOuBnt tne OlstTlD-
utors should not he made to pay the
penalty OF the farmers in Efficiency. and
regarded the proposition 20 pay the
formers a cent more a quart as pre-
posterous."
Mr.. Ward interrupted to say the COM
mission had searched sixteen counties
for dairymen who were getting rich
and had encountered great difficulty In
finding them.
Jennings made the assertion that sc
per cent. OF the milk in New York was
sold for 5 and 6 cents a quart. and
that the hospitals bought milk last
summer, without regard for its sanitary
condition. for prices ranging from I
to 6 cents.
W. L. Richardson. former State Sena.
tor from Goshen and several years presi,
dent of the Orange County Farmer,
Association, said that at one time hi.
dairy produced 1000 quarts a day. bu'
was greatly reduced. as the more COW,
a farmer had the worse of he was. since
the business was conducted at "A loss.
The committee will conduct a hearing
next Tuesday In Cooperstown and will
return to New York In October for al
extended session. In the interval &C
countants will investigate the books o.
The distributing concerns In New York
The members of the committee are
Senators Charles w. Wicks. Morris s
Holiday. n, NJ. Marshall and Daniel J
Carroll, and Assemblymen II, f. Mac