Evening star., 1951-07-03
D. T.. Diaries Get
Permits 10 Sell
In Richmond
Firms Told to Abide
By City's Price Lows;
Dispute Still Unsettled


Two Washington dairies today
have the Virginia Milk Commits
sion's permission to sell on the
Richmond market, but they must
abide by minimum price regula-
tions.
Licenses were granted by the
commissioner yesterday to South
ern and Lucerne Diaries of Wash
lngton, and to the Virginia, Rich
mond, Clover Leaf and Curles Neck
Diaries in Richmond.
Granting of the licenses was q
routine matter, and was about the
first uncontested move of the Milk
Commission since it took over the
Richmond market two and a half
months ago.
Battle Still Unsettled.
But yesterdays formality was
not likely to settle the city's milk
battle and there are indications
that efforts may be made to out
law the commission at the next
session of the General Assembly.
The row started in April when
Lucerne and Southern announced
plans to ship milk to the Rich
mond market.
Immediately, local producers
banded together and decided to
ask the milk commission to ex-
tend its Jurisdiction into the
Richmond area. The milk COM
mission was established in 1884
as a regulatory body to fix mini
mum milk prices, but had never
exercised any control over the
Richmond market because local
producers and distributors had
not invited it to do so.
No one protested the commits
sion moving into the market at
the first public hearing on the
matter.
The first outcry arose when the
commission ordered Lucern Diaries
TO raise its price from 20 cents
to % cents a quart.
Richmond Producers Complain,
Richmond producers had COM
planned that Lucerne was under
cutting home deliveries.
The fight gained momentum
when housewives learned that
commission rules would not allow
customer to receive deliveries
from two dairies. Some families
were accustomed to buying from
one dairy one day and another
the next because the city's dairies
delivered only on alternate days.
This prompted some housewives
Ito band together in a milk boy
colt. Israel Steingold, candidate
for the State Legislature, suggest
ed a referendum to drive the
commission out of the city.
The City Council adopted a
resolution requesting the commits
sion to hold new public hearing
on the possibility of withdrawing
from the Richmond market. At
its meeting yesterday the milk
commission decided to pass the
councils resolution on to the
Richmond Milk Board for action,
Regulation Rescinded.
The commission has decided.
however, to rescind the unpopular
regulation against dual deliveries.
But the minimum price regu-
lations and other rulings of the
Commission that came under fire
in Richmond during the recent
hearings remain.
To meet one of the regulations,
Southern Diaries yesterday said
it would distribute on the Rich
mond market only as much milk
as it bought fro ma Spottsylvania
farmer within the Richmond milk
shed. Actually, the farmer sells
to Chestnut Farms Dairy in
Washington.
Southern is selling Chestnut
Farms milk in Richmond until
Southern completes its own pas
teurization plant at Norfolk, which
will handle milk produced on the
Richmond market. Southern and
Chestnut Farms are subidiairies of
the National Dairy Products Co.