The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1938-10-22
BEHIND THE SCENES IN WASHINGTON
New York And Boston Milk Plans Tip0ff
To How Two-Price System Might Work Out
BY RODNEY BUTCHER
Waterbury emocrat Washington
Corresuondent

Correspondent
washington, Oct. 22.-New York
has two-price system. Boston has
another. In each city milk Is sold
to poor people at much less than
the regular retail price.
Both systems are based on recog-
milton Of the fact that families with
very low incomes cannot buy the
minimum amount Of milk required
for good health-plus the fact that
surplusages Of milk are an ever
present problem for farmers.
The Boston plan, under which
WPA families buy milk at two
cents q quart while most Boston
families pay IL or 10 cents quart,
operates ON q substantial federal
subsidy. The New York plan in
Wolves no subsidy except the mu-
nicipal contribution Of supervision,
which In effect d . protection for
retail stores against the possibility
that others than the very poor
might be able to buy milk 1T eight
cents o quart at the city milk
depots.
Although neither plan can be
said to be a model on which the
department Of agriculture Is sure
to base O two-price system for any
specific farm product, both are
usually mentioned In any discus
sion Of the two-price idea by the
two-price thinkers. Each Is sep
arate from plans under which mum
inequalities give free milk to desti-
tute families.
TWO CENTS
IN BOSTON
In Boston, the Federal Surplus
Commodities Corporation, which Or
dinarily only buys surplus commod-
tiles from farmers to give them away
through state and local agencies to
those on direct relief, buys milk at
the Glass price-which means most
of 1t at z Ia cents a quart-and
gives it to the city. The city pays
two cents q quart to commercial milk
companies for pasteurizing and bot
ting, whereupon the milk Is avail
able-to WPA families only-at two
cents. Behind all this Is federal
effort to hold up the Glass I fluid
milk price for New England farmers.
Milk classed under federal order as
"surplus"-the same kind Of milk
Is sold at less than three cents o
quart. Theoretically this milk
might be bought at such q price
and sold to the poor at that price
plus a possible three cents for proc
essing and distribution cost.
In New York the formal deliv-
cred price for milk Is Is ia cents
q quart and the store price runs
between IL and Is cents, usually
settling at IL. But IL you have q
certain blue Identification card,
you can 20 to one Of the Ito city
milk depots and buy practically
the same quart--a shade less but
terfat-at eight cents. This also
is Glass I fluid milk. Farmers get
5.3 cents q quart for IL, which
means 6.25 or SIS cents delivered
In the city. Milk distributing cor
porations buy it and deliver It to
the depots for sale at eight cents
to the blue card holders.
To get q card, the head of a
family must sign q statement that
he is unable to buy milk at the
regular store price, state the num-
Der Of people In his family and the
number on welfare or home relief.
The way 1t works out. most of the
depot customers are persons on d.
rect relief or WPA. Cards must
be renewed every three months.
DEPOTs OPEN
TWO HOURS
Depots open at $3.50 a. m. and re-
main open until $3.50. A truck drives
up and unloads trays of milk bot
ties. An attendant passes out the
milk to the people standing In line.
Another checks milk cards to see
how much each customer Is entitled
to. Cards are punched. The man
who sells the milk works for the
company. The man who checks and
punches cards usually is O WPA
worker provided by the city. Depots
usually are vacant stores or baby
health centers. Thus the city In
ours no extra cost for handling,
refrigeration, rent and so on. Pre-
sumably the milk companies lose
no money on the deal. They dis
patch one truck only TO q given