THE MEAT POOL.

Press, Volume LIX, Issue 17812, 11 July 1923, Page 10

THE MEAT POOL.

WORK OF CONTROL BOARD. ADDRESS BY MR DAVID JONES. Mr David Jones, chairman of the New Zealand Meat Producers' Board, delivered an address on the work of the Board at Kaiapoi last evening, under the auspices of the Ivaiapoi branch of the Farmers' Union. Mr W. J. Heney presided over a fair attendance. Mr Jones said that the Meat Board was snxious to let the farmers know what they were doing. The report and balance-sheet of the .Board would be issued and published in the newspapers about the end of this week. He traversed briefly the events leading up to the formation of the Meat Pool and the setting up of the Board, lhe Boaid was brought about by the farmers uniting in regard to the expbrt of their meat. It was felt in the House at the time, and 'it, had subsequently been proved to be the case, that somebody was going to control the meat trade of the Dominion. It was either going to be tJie farmers of New Zealand or some overseas exporters. Tne Board set about securing a reduction in ireigiits and alter rejecting two otiers by uie shipping companies, they linaily accepted an offer tnat" resulted in a saving of £575,000 on. the goods carried during the season just ending. That was the eitect of placing the whole of the meat export in the hands of _one board. Knowing as he ciici tlic financial position of many freezing companies in tne Dominion, winch were very weak, he was satisfied that if it had not been for the action of the Board they would have been- a prey to the shipping companies. The butter industry was just as much, entitled to reductions as the meat intustry, but no reductions were' made for butter and all they got was a.reduction of one-sixteenth of a penny per lb on cheese. The Board had appointed its travelling graders, and inspectors also visited the New Zealand ports, with the result that there had been a decided improvement in the handling of meat in New Zealand. Regarding grade marks the Board came to the conclusion that what wa6 "wanted was to standardise the grade marks and that was carried out. But the grading had not been standardised. When Mr J. S. Jessep'went to London he found a great deal of grave dissatisfaction regarding the grading ot meat in New Zealand. They found that many of the English buyers were refusing to buy their meat on the New Zealand grading, so the Board set about improving the grading. It was the desire of the Board to keep the grading on a very high standard. The aim of the Board was that the lamb should be sold on the grader's certificate; that would mean a very large sum of money to New Zealand annually. But. he wanted to say that there were far too many second-class lambs going into the factories. The average New Zealand! fanner sold his lambs about three weeks too soon. They should endeavour to turn out a better quality of lambs, especially in the South' Island, where v-hcv could make their lambs heavier. Then the board came to the decision that caused such a. great stir in Canterbury, and that was to leave the kidneys in the lambs under 4Hiu. In the face of opposition the board went right ahead and right through the present season that decision "had been carried out, and they had not heard a single/ word of complaint. That could only have been done under the board's compulsory powers, and he claimed that the board had done the farmers of the Dominion a valuable service by its action. The board had come to the conclusion that the New Zealand meat trade should belong, as far as possible, to the New Zealand people. The result was that the board passed a resolution that there should be no further purchases of additional freezing works or erection of works by overseas interests. That decision could only be effective under the board's compulsory powers. _ Early in the board's existence enquir- 1 ies were made, with the object of developing the pork industry in New Zealand. The freight on pork was reduced through the efforts of the board from l|d_plus 2£ pep cent., to Id per lb net. The export of pork had been increased from 632,0001b in the rear ended in June, 1922, to 3,471,0001b in the year ended last month, and in addition there was about half a million pounds in store ready for export. Ho was very glad to hear that the matter was being taken up enthusiastically in North Canterbury. But if they were going into the pig trade they must improve the quality of the pigs. Some years ago there were paddocks full of pigs to be seen throughout Canterbury, but the trade fell away owing to the uncertain markot. He was satisfied that what was needed to stabilise the pig industry in New Zealand was to' create an export trade. Canterbury could, and should, produce tho best pigs in the Dominion. One of the handicaps that farmers had been up against in the past was the lack of ■ information, and it usually happened that the other, fellow got the information first. The . Meat Board aimed to give the fanhers first-class information. He believed that one of the great functions of the Board wa3 to give the information, organisation, and, if necessary, finance, to the pr) ducers in a manner equal to their com petitors. Ho was satisfied that the Board did right in waiting and ultimately appointing a New Zealander— Mr JR. S. Forsyth, of Timarti—to the position of London manager, and he believed that next year the Board would be able to supply the best possible information to the producers. Another very important matter that had been engaging tho Board's attention was the regulation of shipments, and that was one of the things for which the Board was most severely criticised when it was first formed. In January last the Board was receiving information as to the number of shipments of meat going into England from all countries. It saw that unless something was done to regulate shipments a serious glut was likely to be caused. Accordingly the Board regulated the shipments, and the result had been most beneficial to the New Zealand producers. The Board had regulated the shipments, right through the present year, and it intended to continua doing so. The result was that lamb in Canterbury finished the .highest prices in the whole of the season. There again compulsory powers had to bo used, and he wished to say to thoswho objected to those compulsory powers, that unless the Board had such powers it might just as well not exist. They were wide powers, but the Board had exercised them with care and discretion. The annual report and bal-ance-sheet would be issued this week, and would be sent, together with a voting paper for the election of members of the Board, to every farmer in New Zealand who owned one hundred sheep. The balance-sheet would be found to he very satisfactory. A levy of on? penny for every carcase exported from New Zealand had been mado, but the total cost of running the board had been well under one half-penny per carcase. He was satisfied that the Meat Board had come to stay, and that the meat producers would never allow the industry to be controlled, as it was before, by exporting firms. In reply to questions Mr Jonea said that as chairman of the board he would be filad to co-operate with the Department of Agriculture with the object

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of developing the pork industry in Canterbury. The board had secured a reduction of -20 per cent, in the railage charges oh frozen produce in New Zealand and also a substantial reduction in the freights on beef. Mr J. H. Blnckwell said that if the sound advice given by Mr Jones in- regard to the park industry were followed, there was no reason why Canterbury pork should not gain the same high reputation as Canterbury lamb. On the motion of Mr "W. H. Stark, seconded, by Mr A. Rich, Mr Jones was accorded a hearty vote of thanks.