THE MEAT TRADE

Press, Volume LI, Issue 15222, 9 March 1915, Page 3

THE MEAT TRADE

SOME CRITICISMS ANSWERED

A certain section of. the farming community still appears to be rather unsatisfied* with certain phases of the scheme at present in force., whereby tlie Imperial Government is taking all tho exportable meat of the Dominion, and a representative of "The Press had a chat with a well-known representative of tho trade to see what his views on the matter were. It was pointed out that an alleged •'weak spot" in tho scheme was the fact that at present tho big exporters had all tho 'pulF" over the space available in the works, and that therefore they could coerce the farmer into wiling his stock, hy the throat of having nothing to do with him unless he accepted the values offered by tho exporter, values which would leave a larjre margin of profit to the "middle-

man. "Thoeiwcft que-tion. ,, was the reply, •'lias a.-tuolly nothing to do with the s-.-hemV.- at all, ami the portion ni reiiard to it is due eniiroly to the hick of Sloping fn-ieht. The same space uwrt.lowa.siu existence P"or to the formulating of any .scheme at all. and while tho shipping shortage oxl « l? - tllo trouble w-.1l exist hope however that with the Imperial Government at tho back of the present <cberne. the trouble with regard to ship, will be overcome, and when tnat happens, the space difficulty w>ll automatically right iteelf. 1. cannot too .strongly emphasise the point that the space difficulty was the inevitable roMiit of tlie shortage of ship*. iiormai conditions the killing facilities „.- "bo works iv the Dominion are so <rre:it thai the farmer hardly knows and ocrtt.inlv rarely worries about space, but now. of.ootmtt, a is ben.g Ih ought homo to him. ~ "In spite of all that h:w been said about the fanners wishing to deal direct with tho Government, 1 may nomt Tttha in normal times the "idmdujj farmers who availed thenise.™ of the,, opportunity of dealing direct w ' !* |° n ' ■lon through tho works were infanitewrual: thrv nreterrifd to use the exportinsr'firm* "it lias also become a c-us-m now to u>ll these exporters alll sorts of names, 'middlemen; and opportunists- among them but tho wxporting hrnw, I eonlend. , arc not middlemen. They are uarta and necessary parts, of. liugc which exists to dmtnbute th J Dominion's product*, and m almost rv-rv case tho colonial buyers aro the direct representatives of the great d,r.ticucies at Home. Hie WJIK i" bo fame™ rc 7 gnieo.the «««* of the exporting firms, whoro organised work tonus to keep the market steadj and values high. There would be a big differenco noticeable yory quickly it every small farmer tried to run his «eat imsinU off his own bat or nohin- upsets- a market so quick y and completely as to have a number ot fi m O ll individual traders all workup for their own hands with no cohesion in their nl "l°am euro that the great majority of the farmers are well satisfied .to work witlj the exportera, who in normal times take such a huge risk off the producers' shoulders. The farmers arc now getting- top value for ,their produce at a price which is absolute]} jruarnntced ■at ' present. The overall prices authorised to-tlay are equivalent to 6-Vd )b for prime lambs up to 421b Weight, and to the best of my knowledge such a price has rarely, it ever been authorised before. As an example I may state that., tho an- , thorised buying prico this' time last year was 5Jd. and only on a few occasions at the beginning of the-present season, has the prico gone above- tho present value." ' , "What are tho fatal objections to the farmers dealing direct with tho Imperial Government.-low? ' said the reporter. "Apparently what pome fanners want is for the Imperial Government to get their meat at the lowest price,, consistent with • a rair value to the producer, and they claim that the exporters' or middlemen's j nrofits are co much cost to the ! Imwrial Government." ■ ~ "Well, there is no fatal objection, wa3 t!io reply. "It conld lie carried throush. Almost any tiling can be done if peonle «?t their minds on it, b"* it would undoubtedly be a very .■ifucnlt bv.siness. and it bris+le s wifcn nTir.RCi'.ssnrv r-omplications. Coirparcd with the simple proews of n fanner celling his «tock on tho farm or in the raleyard.-, direct to the exporter, and incidentally getting his money practically i.t onco, i*v is not. very attractive. In the first place, presuming that the farmer wants to deal directly with th-o Government, he would have to take out an insu-ance cover on rm meat in the works; secondly, tlie meat at present in " the _ works will naturally haye priority of shipment, and there irould be no prospect of tho farmors , stuff getting . away for some months; thirdly, tho Government will on?y pay for the rnent when it is on bwird, and so tlio farmer would have'to waifc ;i good long time for his monoy. The farmer would also have to make all his own arrangements to sell his wool, skins, etc., and. dealing in little lots as he would do, ho would not get the benefits of tlie market that a man in a big way of business would do. He would also probably have to get an advance on his stock in tho works'from his agents, and pay. interest for it. not to mention the timo ho would waste coming into town to look after all these affairs. It seems to mc that, taking all this into consideration, the action of the majority of tho farmers in electing to carry on tinder existing conditions is good business from tlieii point of view. "It would be a gross injustice to now try and ignore the exporting firms who in* the pait have done so much to build up tho trade for the certain benefit of tho farmer, and the Imperial Government- evidently recognises this, hence the instructions to carry on with as little dislocation of the normal state of

affairs as possible. ■ The big meat firme have patiently got together a largo and complex organisation, and it- seems unreasonable to grudee them the very «m.ill margin of profit they will get, and need, to enable them to keep their business together until normal times. "No, you take it from mc, tho people who are 'on velvet' now are the producers, and the great majority of them recognise this. A few are certainly making some noise about tho matter, hut the great silent majority are undoubtedly satisfied with the existing state of affairs, so far as the Government's scheme is concerned."