The Evening Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, and Echo. TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 1894.

Auckland Star, Volume XXV, Issue 145, 19 June 1894, Page 4

The Evening Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, and Echo.

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 1894.

For the causa that lacks a3sistanc3, Fer the wrons that noed» risifltano*, Tor %ht fnture iv the (Ustanc*. Ani the good that we can ao. .

New Zealand owes so much of her prosperity of late years to the develop- | merit of the frozen meat industry, that it is only natural her people should watch with intense interest the movements of various rivals to secure a footing in the London market. For a long time our annually-increasing shipments of frozen meat attracted little attention in the neighbouring colonies, and it was only when the trade reached dimensions that constituted it a most important factor in our national progresSj that our friends across the Tasman Sea were roused to a spirit of eager competition. The Australians suddenly found themselves overtaken by a financial hurricane, and in their anxiety to repair their shattered fortunes, they began to count up their resources. Their eyes naturally turned to the flocks and herds that dotted their plains. Surely there was a source of untold • wealth. What more easy than for a great sheep-producing country to engage in the frozen meat trade, and if only suitable foreign markets could be opened the Australians would reap a harvest compared to which that produced by other lines of export would be insignificant. If New Zealand, with her small territory, could in a few years, accomplish- so much, what might not be done in a country like Australia with almost boundless capacities for stock-carrying purposes, and numbering among the capitalists who were interested in developing the frozen meat trade some of the wealthiest sheep farmers in the world. It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that our pastpralists heard of the intention of their neighbours to vigorously push the frozen meat trade with considerable anxiety. The Australians, having once become imbued with the idea, lost no time in giving it effect. But they are beginning to realise that the difficulties in the way of establishing a frozen meat trade of such magnitude as they contemplated are by no means inconsiderable. The Governments of New South Wales and Victoria have done everything in their power to encourage the movement. The Victorian Government has spent large sums of money on the erection of works. In both colonies liberal concessions are made by the Railway Commissioners, and sheep and cattle yards, fitted with every convenience, are erected by the Government or the corporations. So far, however, as they have gone the Australians hardly find the success of the venture reach their expectations. One very serious obstacle is caused by the quality of the meat which they have placed on the London market. This is so decidedly inferior to the New Zealand article, that unless in Australia they change the breed of sheep, there is no chance of their meat shipments commanding a high figure. Nor have the efforts to open foreign markets met generally with a favourable response. Agents who have been despatched from Australia to Europe and India to open up a trade in frozen carcases have met with indifferent success. The French and Germans do not view the project very cordially, and the delegates to India found that fresh meat can be obtained there at

much less cost locally than the frozen article.' One very important consideration for us is whether we can continue to bold our own in the English markets. A recent cable, message implied that there is an increasing difficulty in finding cold storage accommodation in London, and that the market is glutted with meat. This being the case, only a colony that can send the finest quality of meat can hope at present to find purchasers at a payable figure. We believe "that it is here that the superiority of her frozen carcases will give New Zealand thfe advantage, and our judgment is confirmed by the opinion of an expert that has just come under our notice. Mr Waymouth, the Secretary of the Belfast Freezing Company, who has been on a' visit to Australia, has recently returned to his home in Canterbury, and in the course of an interview with the representative of a Christchurch journal he gave some interesting information as to the extent to which the competition of our neighbours is likely to affect our frozen meat trade. The opinion of Mr Wentworth is that notwithstanding the encouragement given by the. Australian Governments that country is not likely, at any rate for a*yery long time, to prove a formidable rival to New Zealand in the frozen meat market. To begin .with, he does not think that, outside a limited circfe, there is any great interest taken in the development of the trade. The financial companies, who for years valued their pastoral securities at an extravagant, figure, are anxious to encourage the frozen meat industry with a view of prospective benefit, but, in many cases, squatters whose properties are mortgaged to more than their value are inclined to hang back. The Pastoralists' Freezing Company was started with a capital of in £1 shares; but, notwithstanding energetic touting and lecturing, less than 40,000 shares have been taken up. At present, too, the industry is handicapped by causes some of which we think might be remedied. In some cases the works are at such a distance that the railage to the port of shipment presents a serious difficulty. Carcases from the works at Deniliquin, in the Riverina, for instance, have to be brought a distance of 200 miles to port. One thing that struck Mr Wentworth forcibly was the primitive nature of the Australian freezing works, whose appliances, he says, compare unfavourably with those in use in this colony. But the great drawback at present to the expansion of the Australian meat trade, as we stated before, is the breed of sheep, which is totally unfit to furnish first-class meat for export purposes. The conclusion Mr Wentworth arrives at is that we have practically the game in our hands. We are not sure, however, that he has accurately guaged the position. If the Australians find "there is money ink" many of the difficulties in the way of developing the trade will be overcome. Mr Wentworth speaks as if want of capital is a serious obstacle, but he surely forgets that taking the Australian pastoralists as a whole they are an exceedingly wealthy body, and that many of them are enthusiastic supporters of the frozen meat industry. It must be remembered too that there is great variety ot climate in Australia, and squatters are not by any means shut up to one particular breed of sheep. It is, however, gratifying to know that even if our neighbours show much greater activity than they have in the past, we are likely not only to hold our own, but to largely increase our export of frozen meat.