THE CALL FOR SHIPS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVI, Issue 144, 18 June 1915, Page 2

THE CALL FOR SHIPS.

c I--PQB.TANT MEETING IN AUCKLAND. M.I"- \N"D COMMERCIAL MEN* ACT. REPIU.-ENTATIONS Tn BE MADE TU fARLI.VMKVT. PREMIER'S ACTb'N CRITICISED. I As the result of an iuiportitnl meeting of members oi PaiTi.tinoiil and others interested in the commercial welfare of 1" ought lo bear on the Government lo lake more eIT-.-s-tiv,- action in relieving tilt) diflicultie- aris.n,; ~;tt of the -hurth.'c of ..hips. The meeting was held at tin- Chamber of Commerce, ur.ler the presidency of .Mr. Robert Hums, and those wjii took part ill the debate were nio=L outspoken in regard to lite urgency of the .a-.-, rcrtinent questions mac asked a- Io the eoiistitittion of the committee wbi.h the li.ivernment had set up to allocate the space avail- j Sonic of the speakers pointed out that I mitlci' l'.'prcsi-uted shipping conipanios | Close of freezing companies can* ing on I'tisitir-s iv other parts of the Dominion., Thi.. was regarded by sonic as being the' explanation of the itiifiiii proportion oi space being gitinti'd to Auckland. A strong plea for direct representation on the committee was put forward. An-I other mailer dwelt upon was the need for more itisitis.tcl dor-age space, but doubts were expressed its to whether , increases could be rtTWt-nl in time to l>c of u-e during the present season The opinions e/f the conference are to be "brought into prominence at the seat of , Government without delay. ', MR. MANIA'S I'IC.ntKS. In the course of an interview in Wellington, tiie Prime Minister said that in addition to the '.'WO carcases to be taken by the Waiwera. an allotment of an additional 5..00 ea reason was given in the Tongariro for the end of June, or the beginning of duly, so that Auckland gets space for IS.-100 carcase*, in- - stead of for It.TOO as stated. | When this statement wi'.s brought under the notice of the president of the | Chamber of Commerce (Mr. Hubert Hums) he said that Mr. Massey must I have heen misinformed, r.s the Tonga | riro had all along been reckoned as bo i inu- a .lune loading, an.l not duly. The Tongariro is still due to load here in: .lune. What has been pointed out in these columns in the course of inter-' views with Mr. Rums is that Ain-k----land has only heen allotted one-sixtieth of the totaJ space available in duly for j the export, of fro/.cn produce —9,">00 out j of 572.001) oi reuses. It is merely jug- • gling with figures to add together our allocutions for Tune and duly. MP. MYERS ON THE POSITION. Mr. Arthur M. My ent, M.P., stated to a representative ot the "Msir" this afternoon that, after going into the -,'i-tioii of insulated space, it appeared j to luai that there were Burnt- lift v-font | steamers engaged in the New Zealand fro/.cn meat trade prior to the war. On the outbreak ol war. twelve of t!n-se had been requisitioned by the Imperial authorities, two I the Ixaijwtia _nd To 1: -anil had been sunk by the enemy, three had been transferred to the Argentine trade by the Board ot Trine, and lie also understood that some four steamers were luting diverted to IJriss'.iane, to load meat there. In all there ii.ul been a decrease of twenty-one steamers, although two steamers--La Blanca and El Cordobe_—were being sent to New Zealand ■by the Hoard of Trade, thus making a not decrease of nineteen in tiie number of vessels available. Side by .-ride with tins, we had to fu-.e -in enormous in-e.-.-i-e in our frown meat trade since the outbreak of war,. APPROACH IMPERIAL AUTHORITIES. Th" loss and inconvenience sulTene.l throughout the Dominion, said Mr. Myers, would have been lessened had .-..■ average detention of the vessels in England not been so 1 ,n_-. Stroll', rerest ritatinns were irate in this con jet-thin hy the Shi; pin,: ' ,'t:panii-s Cot;tnittee. set up hy Parliament last year, ursring special attent'on to this matte:-. IVr.« fri Ily. hr Telvvcd that further ► trent' represent i- : oiv should be made t"_ti:,- Imperial authorities to release every transport shit, with insulated r-'ite« wh:.-' til :be spared, and also that an en iestv ,:: shoiil 1 be made to free insulated ship- now being uscl by the \dmiralty as --,:-,■ s!,i|»-. The que.', tion of inti rni-d Gcriiitin ships with infrozen neal trade was. one which should nl-" be urged upon the Imperial Government.

ONE PAR VMOCNT IWEIT. Aii our rei|iiiieiiiciit-s, added Mr. ' M\c,-,. bud, oi coin-,., to be sul-.-rv icn l j to the one p.in,in unit v ijeet -i he |.r i- ! sedition of the present war to a Ml cc in] coii.-liision. but lie believed that, with th:i= aim in view. ,t was p. --il, 1 " f,.- ;- ---■action to be taken winch would relieve j the serious position which now- obtained in tin- Dominion, an I specially in Am-k- ! land, in regard to the export of frozen i meat. Mr. Myers Rtuteil that, owing to the large increase .in the Auckland j district, it wart dcjirtible tint increased storage accommod-..tion he re-ted, which, be uit-lcivtoi d. was receiving lip. attention of those inter, ted. b-.il would nut nlf-.-M materially the prc-cti! season. \tijct-: of nn-: kahmkivv Speaking- on behalf of the Farmers' Lnion, the pr.iviu:-i.i| mv rotary iMr. A. S, hn,if. i said that, in tiie opinion of I his members, it was essential 1,, first j ascertain whal insulate-1 ships would: be available between no-,-.- and the end 1 of September for llie purpose of clearing | up accumulations. He thonglt thai lirst I be tiu-e of its pi-ri.-ihiilik' i|iiiiliii.'s, jirtl I :., M the pi..!.;,-:ii ot clearing up the n inml,,li..ti of ir,. it sin,,ild be tackled. T.ie -'ofage cipticily for meat in Ancleliiti ! .v.i- approximately equal to bifid .'.as ..univalent to tiO.tlOO boxes of '. i'ti-:-. 11l the interests of the ■) lirying iti-l'i-liy it was most impofttint lo place j themselves in the position of lieing able to assure dairymen that (lie sloio. and' tin- sliijrs would bo available frit their: products. Mr. Sehmitt considered that, Auckland should most certainly lie given representation on t.he committee sel up for the allocation of space in order 'hat the claims of the province to in I c liberal treatment might be .-licet iv.-ly voiced. He hoped that ag the outcome nf this afternoon's meeting the interests of Auckland would be more efficiently guarded, j