The Hawaiian gazette., 1917-11-02
FOOD Commission
. WILL STOP RAISE
in PRICE or MILK
Proposed Rate Of Fifteen Cents a
Quart Is Unreasonable, De- !.
clares A. L. Castle ap
DELIVERY COST roo
HIGH IS CONCLUSION
Manager Of Dairymen's Associa-
ton Asserts No Profit In Bust
ness Under Present Conditions

uOoo OttuCt ItCocitt OUttuiuOiiS
"The raise to s6ftce1 cents quart
fori, milk Is ,pntedsehhble, and il is my
Intention 70 nse every means IN the
power Of the food commission TO pre-.
vent IT," said A. l.. Castle yesterday
after the first public meeting Of the
commission with the milk producers
and representatives Of the Dairymen s
Association.
cit is possible that fourteen.cent
rate may be called for-by the increased
price demanded by the producers, but
even that has not yet been proved, and
the commission does not 20 on record
as approving even one cent raise until
it knows all there Is TO know about the
milk conditions at the present time
| he continued
The conclusion reached by the com
mission yesterday was that the cost of
delivering milk, as Il Is done at present
1 by the Dairymen's Association, is too
high. The delivery cost is about six
cents quart, according TO the state
ment of 8. w. Smith, manager Of the
association. This includes pastnrization
and the expense Of maintaining the
association. t D..
of dairymen, representing small and
large dairies that the producer at
present could not make any money un
less he received nine cents quart for
his milk.
There are further facts TO be brought
out before the investigation is com
plcte, but on the evidence Of the facts
submitted yesterday the commission be
lieves that delivery cost of between
FIVE and six cents is unreasonably high,
and that even If the producer must re.
eeive nine cents per quart to make a
profit, the delivery cost should be les
sened so that the price to the retail
consumer need not be raised.
wastefpI Methods 4,
In this connection Julius Bayer, pri.
yate secretary and business man for d.
p. R. Isenberg, largest stakeholder Of
| the association, stated that the organi-
zation had been conducted in an un.
businesslike and wasteful manner as
far as the bookkeeping end of il was
concerned. He said that Incompetent
bookkeeper had been engaged by him a
week ago, and II was expected that the
costs could be more closely and accu.
] rately estimated in future and perhaps
reduced. No promises of reduction in
the price Of milk were made unless in
| the distant future. .E.'1
| A., l.. Castle, executive officer Of the
| food commission, was in the chair. j..
r.. Child, federal food administrator,
was. present in an unofficial capacity.
Other members of the commission pres
ent were John Waterhouse, A. w.
| Neely, Robbins Anderson and G. r.
\ Hemenway. S. w. Smith, manager of
the. Dairymen = Association, and two of
the large stockholders, ID. p. r. Isen.
berg and Frank Andrade, were there
There were about thirty others, largely
Portuguese and Japanese, who own
small diaries and sell their milk
through the association, '-
A. l.. Castle opened the meeting with
the statement that the commission wish.
ed to work together with the dairymen
on the milk investigation, but that II
necessary subpoenas would be issued to
obtain the desired information, in ease
it was not brought out in the friendly
]
not to take drastic action, but would do
so if it were needed.
Producers Want Raise
81 am personally opposed to raising
the price of milk to the public" said
d. p. r. Isenberg, 'but the producer
must be protected. If the public thinks
the producer is making money, they are
mistaken.
Although owning the controlling
stock in the association, l have taken
absolutely no part in their decision. ]
win not use my control TO set the price
of milk at any time, but ii the time has
come when the producer must have nine
cents for his milk then think it should
be given him" '...
"Could the Dairymen 5 Association
pay the producer nine cents and still
not raise the price to the pubhei"
Frank Andrade asked. w.. - s.#..
"No" Isenberg answered. The as.
ISOLATION is now paying eight CENTS
for milk. - =, y
A formal report from the Dairy.
men 3 Association was read by s. w.
smith. Sanitary requirements, bottle
deliveries, with consequent loss by
breskage, pasteprization, and a flpc-
tuating supply, Of milk were given as
the reasons for the high cost of han.
ding by the association.
1t would seem, according to Smiths
report, that an oversupply of milk
would tend directly to raise the price
Of milk to the consumer, Instead Of
endeavoring TO increase the supply of
milk permanently in order to lower
the price, which would probably in
crease the demand, they seem TO pre-
they have s NO 'u Surplus to BE- disposed ose
Of. E>I ~
Smith in hiS report brought in the
fact that butter could I'D made by the
association from the surplus only at a
loss When the commission sought by
questions to determine the amount Of
loss he admitted that for some
months past no butter had been made,