Evening star., 1942-02-17
College Park
Club Opposes
Milk Price Hike
Shortage Artificial
Agricultural Hearing
Witness Charges

The Milk Buyers Club of College
Park, entered the Federal milk price
hearing in the Agriculture Depart
ment today to oppose any increase
in the price of milk for the WASH
ington area.
Objection to the Maryland and
Virginia Milk Producers AsSocia-
tion's proposal to raise their price Of
milk to dairies came from Mrs.
Georgia K. Benjamin, who testified
on behalf of the buyers club and
the College Park Branch of the
American Association of University
Women.
Maryland consumers, she said. OBJ
ject ito being tied to an artificial
milk shortage" She added that
consumers there did not want re-
striction" placed on milk in the
Washington market area by the
District Health Department.
Imposes Larger mHkSneu.
Mrs. Benjamin also registered Oh
jections to the producers proposal
to extend the Washington milkshed
into virtually all of Prince Georges
County. Some smaller dairies in
the county, she added, would go out
of business under the present mar
keting regulations, which, she said,
amount to trade barriers"
DR.. William De Kleine, member Of
the Nutrition Committee of the Dis
trict of Columbia Defense Council,
testified that everything should be
done to make milk available to the
public at the lowest possible cost" A
former medical director of the
American Red Cross. he added that
unless the price of milk is kept down
to a minimum, you will interfere
with the nutrition of the people"
In cross-examining a statistician
testifying on behalf of a SKINNED
milk differential proposal of the as
sociation. Coleman Gore, repre-
sentative of Embassy-Fairfax Dairy,
attempted to bring out that the as
sociation was creating a monopoly
on surplus milk.
2-cent Increase Seen.
In a day-long session yesterday
marked by verbal clashes of dairy
representatives and consumer in
terests of the Department, the indi-
cations grew that Washington will
pay at least 2 cents more for milk
per quart should the Secretary OF
Agriculture act in favor of the pro-
ducers' proposal
The association has asked for an
increase of IL per cent. This boost. It
developed at yesterdays hearing,
would be passed on to the consumer,
who now pays about Is cents for a
quart of milk.
Consumer Chief Heard.
At the outset of the afternoon
session, the o. P. A. entered the
hearing for the first time with testi-
mony by Dan A. West, director of
the o. P. A. consumer division, that
the price administrator vigorously
opposed" the proposal and felt that
current price should be reduced on
the basis of farm prices in effect
before last September.
Should the petition be granted,
the price of milk here would be
lone of the highest prices paid to
producers in any part of the coun-
try" Mr.. West said, and added that
the present price is already high
and burdensome to many families" !"
He warned that there were thou
sands of consumers in this area for
whom an increase in price will mean
decrease in fresh milk consump-
ton because they simply do not
have any room in their total budgets
for the additional expenditure which
would be necessary for continuance
Of milk purchases at higher price,"
Health Threat Seen.
Mr.. West added that "in the alb
sence of substantial revisions of op-
Grating practices in the local milk
distributing industry, the price in
ASooS WSbAN NC WAAOl4y edoSCu 0lk
to the consumer"
A similar stand was taken by Mrs.
Beatrice Schalet, acting chairman
of the District Consumers Milk
Committee, who testified the in
crease would be "a threat to the
health of the community, unjustified
on the basis of costs and unwise and
ill-considered for its proclaimed pur-
pose of increasing production"
Mrs. Schalet claimed the increase,
if granted, would not go to the far
mer but to the milk producers as
sociation, and would be felt only
indirectly by the member-farmers
to the degree that the association,
through its arbitrary and mysterious
system of paying its members, per-
mitS it."
Under the milk producers pro-
posal, the price of cream supplied
dairieS would be increased also.
Both price increases would become
effective May /, at which time a
Federal order regulating the cur
rent price of milk expires.