The Milk Dispute The milk distributors' committee may or may
not have been wrong in objecting to the prices fixed by the Milk Marketing Board, but it will certainly be in the wrong if it attempts to hold up a public service by refusing to distribute milk in the interim period between the expiry of the present contracts (October 1st) and the decision of the Committee of Investigation. The representative of the Minister of Agriculture is satisfied with the offer made by the Board that any decision arrived at by the Minister as a result of the investigation will be made retrospective. There is therefore no need to refuse to sign the new contracts, and no excuse whatever to threaten action which, if this were an ordinary trade union matter, would quite simply be called a strike—one directly damaging to the public. Nor does the average observei' .feel that the distributors have a strong case. The Consumer is paying heavilyfOr his milk, and the farmers can only just make both ends meet ; yet the big dis- tributing firms are paying huge dividends, and in one case —that of 'United Dairies-141 shares were recently quoted at 68s. Many of the small distributors, Of course, are not doing so well. But it is beyond question a fact t hat the costs of distribution in the milk trade are far too high, and if they are not reduced it will be great injustice to producers and consumers.
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