MR. T. R. LEES.

Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 130, 2 June 1923, Page 15

MR. T. R. LEES.

MEAT PRODUCERS BOARD

THE mOTTCCI'LTIES TO BE

FACED. (H.v our Special Correspondent.. LONDON. A,„il .... It Mas been very difficult i„ ...., 1„.1,| v ; y , ' iKf*' who is repres.'iiiiu s the > «•« /"en la mi .Meat Producers Board in London until the arrival of th,. p,. nlm . nent London manager, as he spends a l«rgc amount of time at the London nocks ami meat markets, ami is hard to get to talk for publication. I have, however, now hail an interview with him. Mr Lees considers that while considerable improvements had been made in late years in the conditions under wnieti .New Zealand meat was distributed by barges, railway trucks and motor vans, and these conveyances were now fairly satisfactory, the'usual methods of discharge from steamers on to open wharves was probably just the same as was in operation at the initiation of the meat trade sixty J ears ago. There is only one berth for discharge of New Zealand meat at the London Docks where up-to-date facilities arc provided I here the meat passes by covered electric conveyers from the ship's deck into a cool store for sorting, and thence by covered conveyers into cold store for storage and final delivery when required. tnfortnnately, only one ship can discharge there at one time, and as five or six ships with frozen produce from New Zealand are usually discharging at the London Docks at the same time during the season, the bulk have to dump their cargoes of perishable produce on to trestles on the open quay, to be there sorted and delivered to barges, vans or railway trucks. As the months of January to March have been almost continuously wet, the conditions under which the meat is handled on wharves stick v with mud, and trundled for chains oil hand barrows to barges and van.-, with their hatchways and doors necessarily open to the weather until they receive their complement, can be imagined. Mr Lees is pressing hard for an extension of the facilities given by the cool sorting store sufficient for all New Zealand refrigerated ships to discharge in this way. and is convinced that this must come in tlie near future, if not hy the Port Authority, then New Zealand must herself take steps to provide these facilities.

The presence of a representative of the Meat Hoard at the docks during the discharge of produce has had a very goTd effect in removing disabilities and also in preventing damage, but the great question of providing improved facilities is one that cannot be overcome by the shipping companies, but only by the authorities controlling tlie wharves. It must not be considered that London is. alone in these methods. Liverpool, Manchester and Hull have also the same system of open Iquay-side delivery and subsequent carriage to cold store. London, indeed, has. as before mentioued. the one cold sorting store at the docks, and the discharge of New Zealand meat will not be satisfactory until it is all handled in this way.

Smithfield Meat Market. Mi- Lees declares to be a fascinating study, with the conditions changing from day to day, and almost from hour to hour, according as supplies are plentiful or the reverse. The salesmen and butchers know their jobs, he says, right down to the ground. and are the keenest men alive: and they need to be, as the competition is very great.

It is the opinion of many that Smithfield tends more and more to become solely a London market, and the trend of trade is to divert supplies direct from ship and cold store to depots to serve the provinces. In Mr. Lees' view this is as it should be. It is not an economical proceeding to cart meat into the heart of London which is ultimately required many miles away. Smithfield will always, owing to the population of London, be the great market, but elimination of costs- and excessive handling is effected by supplying the provincial centres from tlie cold storage depots established at those centres. Whether those depots will themselves be supplied from London, Bristol, Hull, Manchester, Liverpool, or Southampton is partly a question of port and railway facilities, but a great deal more a question of salesmanship: and. .so far London is pre-eminent in the latter.

Mr Lees spoke very highly of the High Commissioner, Sir James Allen, who, he said, was one of the hardest working men in London. His activities in the interests of New Zealand were unceasing, aud he .was never too busy to assist in furthering a desired improve in cut in the conditions under which New Zealand trade 'was carried on in the United Kingdom.