MEAT PRICES.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVIII, Issue 35, 9 February 1917, Page 9

MEAT PRICES.

about one-sixth. Seeing that very large; numbers of the workers engaged on munitions or doing- other arduous work upon under an increased strain require more cha the normal allowance of meat food, it may be further inferred that the reduced consumption by citizens not so situated has been so considerable aa to keep prices lower than they would otherwise have been.

11 aO W THEY EAVE KISEN IN „ EUROPE, i _3B__ISH OFFICIAL REPOKT. * ■Tie British Departmental Committee's hterim report on meat prices is ot inSostoekoaners. The report states] , rZtf that during the present year. LTw a continuous r_e in the retail . of British meat until June, and! S__wA there has been slight change, ~L then, retail prices at Ist September,: Si _.vera_ed about s_d per lb above j I ilea of July, 19H- To a certain extent ; , _Sin-ease can be at once accounted | tela terms oi cost of production, which ■ • jL=te_ditv risen. The number or cattle - - the United Kin-doru remained prac-1 Lru-the same after a year of war. the : being 12.154.000 in June. 1914. and £171000 in 1915; and the provisional Safer the present year shows an in- ; of about 250.000 over that tor--1913. With a view to keeping up supplies of | __! _d__i, the Government at an early JLg <jf the war put restrictions on the | 'esrirt of feeding stuffs, including oil- , maize, barley, aud oats, and also „, fertilise--, and the Department ot", and Technical Instruction; __J Ireland appealed to the rarmers to , _j_j_j_.ii the numbers of the breeding | md voting animals in that conn__t Nevertheless the price of feeding £& and fertilisers has risen greatly, • js shown hy the particulars given in the ij-EBdis. __ric-ltaral wages have also ____~ in consequence of the shortage of laiotn-, so that some rise in British meat -rices was to be expected even if there i i_ie not an advance in those of im- j sort-i meat, which normally forms over , IB per cent, of the nation's consumption. | 3_jt-n_h. an advance has concurrently i jjjsa place; the main reason in this , gse being I

IHE ABXOB_AL DEMAND FOR FROZEN" MEAT j fur tie armies of the Allies. Before the ! wrthe main and almost the only Eurocan market for frozen and chilled meat to the British. >~ot only, however, did tie War Office, on the outbreak of war.; dase a larse new demand tor frozen S,"*s ; i!ich"ha= progressively increased. hit the French and Italian Governments j TOS cow compelled to follow rhe e*sa.m-1 pie of this country, and to supply their 1 caies with imported frozen meat. j la tie raii&e of 1915 the French ! nttle herd iad been rednoed by -2.300.000 "neai, partly owing to the ravages oi war., ssipartlv'to the""de___ of the French . uav. Foreign imports thus became a jeesitj*. The greatly inci-eased demand us made upon the world's stocks lEally available for British consirmpciffl has led. under existing conditions, to a neat general advance in price. Xot only _ the new British armies in the i_a_ in home training: consume very nnrimore per head than was the case ii time of peace, but the French and Ttnlisw armies also make a new demand rat the extia-European supply. Consepeatly WAT PRICES HAVE RISES IX S-OTRAI. COUNTRIES in *-inier--d, as well as among the belligerents of the Entente. In the Central Bipins they-have risen very much more. Bis indicated by the following fixures. wmeh show the percentage rise in retail pass from the beginning of the war up to the end of July. 1916 .the latest date air ""rhicii comparable figures are availi_h — Bee£—Berlin. 19?: Vienna. 344: United —siom (larae towns I. 75 (frozen meat 100}? Mutton.—Berlin. 179; Vienna, nil: t*aited Kingdom ilarge towns), 75 (frozen meat 1001. The British rise becomes at once fully intelligible when we note

ISE iIOVE3IEN"T OF SUPPLY. _ Tie United Kingdom statistics of Sipoitation tor the last five years are * follows:— Chined Beef.—l9ll, 196.652 tons: 191*2. K3S3 tons: 1913. 262.400 tons; 1914, Hum tons; 1915. 130J927 tons. Frozen BeeL—l9ll. 170,936 tons; 1912. tons; 1913, 197,644 tons; 1914. 201355 tons; 1915, 299.052 tons. Frozen Mutton.—l9ll. 260.645 tons: 1912, toes; 1913. 260.213 tons; 1914.252,4© tons; 1915. 232.946 tons. ill the above.—l9ll. 625.233 tons; 1312, 642j3S tons; 1913. 720.257 tons; 1914,694,42S tons: 1915. 662.925 tons. In 1915 the imported frozen beef was •test entirely used tor consumption *"? the Allied forces, and the eonsumppo*" of the armies (including the direct ■Bportaiions of frozen beef to the ContijjHrt for military purposes I was so great «at not only was there A EEDUCTIOX OF ABOUT OXE-HALF X THE SUPPLY OF CHILLED BEEF wr the British civilian population, but j*_ **""> necessary to increase the total K^* 011 of frozen aßd chilled meat in mm America. The demand was so roong that the imports of chilled and ™*» beef from the United States to ™c untel Kingdom 'formerly considerih_f redaced froni 190 ~" onwards ™JH to the vanishing point) recovered __J n *L*'*? tons. On the other ■jß"Vthe imports of frozen mutton from £■£?_■»_ »»* nearly 25 per cent, lower ?j*__ ™» in 1913. on account of the "ffitrnctive drought. At the same time *HB HOME-GROWX SUPPLY OF BEEF AND MLTTOX

SJ??-** ___ y a slieht ■ mcTeAse ___' * imports of live and fresh-killed stock Sh^j s toE * •*» 19 13 to 2552 ££» "»* In 1916 the growing army , lave still further reduced the »hk f M beef aDd mv "on avail-eor-ia, + = eneral consumption. Ac*_A7_ f° one expert calculation, J2s*™"- imported supply formerly lt now constitutes rather "ailrtiS -rS er Ceflt of the civiHail con " This statement furnishes the *sli5 li _ la!:ioQ oi the fact that while meat trade has greatly iSSSY BDX*QR_DS OF SHOP* BETVG CLOSED -2\^. COn * :nne *° be maintained, i°! the one hand - °* the •ttotC w' he . im supplies and '"and. of fu price =* and * on th e o th er lament t„ + \ a? P eak made by «"» GovtaQ t___! toe c in general to cur&4T US %.° l mea *~ it is estimated confil -niption of beef mttaa *« Utterly been reduced by