THE CANTERBURY FROZEN MEAT COMPANY.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 12397, 10 January 1906, Page 6

THE CANTERBURY FROZEN MEAT COMPANY.

It is only in exceptional circumstances that a daily newspaper is called upon to comment on the. business operations of a private firm or a joint stock under- . taking, and it is certainly no part of a I, journalists duty to show partiality in i favour of any particular company or < firm. The welfare of this colony is so i i bound up with the success of the frozen i I meat industry, however, -that the pro- ' ceedicEs of ,a company like the Canter- f bury Frozen Meat Company, whos annual meeting is reported in another I column, oannot fail to provo a matter of ] public interest. As regards the * ent condition and prospects of the in- A dustry as a whole, it is satisfactory ] to learn from the statement of Sir Ucorgo Clifford, the cliainnan, that the < ijroccvss of diminution which throatoned ' aur flocks seems to liavo been stayed. <■ rhere has been an increase in tho South. « Island of 850.000 cheep during the past " year, nnd of these no less than 730.000 '■ vero ewes. 460,000 being breeding ewes. « \s 75 per cent, of the increment lias » aken placo in Canterbury, Sir George " Clifford naturally regards these figures " is giving a hopeful prospect for tho n uture of tho meat freezing industry. v iVhother this increase lias been duo to a H leliberato flbstention on tho part of the a arniers from sending their ewe lambs r < 0 bo frozen «s a matter of policy, may tl K3 open to question, but the fall in the d >rice of lambs will at least diminish tho h pniptation to chip them away in euch T iirge proportions as in tho past. I n b ixioking upon this question, Sir George f< Clifford very properly pointed out that t< :• is impossible to lay down hard and b. lust rules to suit everybody in. farming, «} mi that in deciding whether to keep th no lambs or send them to be frozen, in icli farmer must, to a Large ti Ktent, be guided by liis own d< articular circumstances. In regard to G ie petition of the company as disclose<l bt 1 tho .balance-sheet, .wo will only say St iat n hilo there is a gratifying improve- re icnt a« compared -with last year, and la hilo there is good ground on which to en it>e hopes for a still greater improve- m

irent in future, there is need, an Pro fesw Macmillan Brown pointed out foi — a careful and conservative policy on the part, of tJio ciirectors, especially in the matter of putting by adequate reserves. We think there is plenty of room for Loth frozen meat to carry on business in Canterbury, eispeciailv as they onerato on different lines. A iieiiitiiy rivalry between them is an eslS eeilerit tiling fer rhe fanners, and, we ;s believe, for the companies themselves but ;ve ct-rt>ainly agree that a ecnipe>r ' tit:-ui taking tho form of working on an )inrt»mui;erativ«> hasis will h-j bad in the loiip inn for everybody cciicernocl,' in>r eluding fanners. We lioik> that both cKuiKiniets ivili steadily grow in in the future, and that thrir pro'-prrity will reflect the well-being of the farmers as a whole.