THE DOMINION'S PRODUCE.

Clutha Leader, Volume XXXIX, Issue 53, 14 February 1913, Page 6

THE DOMINION'S PRODUCE.

-~—*■♦ . - HANDLING AT HOME. MR LYSNAR'FOBSERVATIONS. m GISK)RNE, Feb. 10. i Mr W. D. Lysnar, who hn« 'dust ro-' turned from a vis.t to "England on be- ! halt of tiie New Zeaianders' Produie i Association, in the course of a lecture I under the auspices of the association j in order to give a practical demonstration of the way in wlrch New Zcland ' prices were kept at a low ebb, produced ! and quoted from charts of prices is-1 sued by tho different London firms for I 1909-10-11. New Zealand mutton, ho! said, was better than; Scotch mutton. I hi 1909 Scotch nnuton was up to 7id ! while Now Zealand was down below 3d. ' In 1910 Scotch mutton was up to BJd per lb and New Zealand 3Jd, and for one day only 4|d, In 1911 Scotch mut-1 ton averaged 6|d and New Zealand 4sd. j During all this period the retail price remained practically the same. "The 1 reason is," said Mr Lysnar. "that the ' Scotchman is there to look alter his ! lights and the New Zealander is not." ! Tho Smithfield market prices wore fixed ', by tho weakest holder. The objection raised by tho speculator that nearly all the meat was sold at this end and that therefore the producers should not interfere was not well founded. Figures showed that over 50 per cent, oi the meat in the North Island whs shipped on owners' account. He asked, "Are not those who do ship and would ship. if better facilities are available, entitled to consideration?" He claimed that the dairy and other producers were entitled to some consideration. The meat buyers had not a total monopoly of the export trade. This yoar the great bulk of the dairy produce was being shipped on factories' account. These factory-: owners should not be denied better faei- I lities because the meat speculator objects. The conditions under which wool was j handled most unsatisafctory. Bales ' were dumped on the wharves and left! J for days and sometimes weeks with tarpaulins on them. The dumps were broken and the wool remained in that condition waiting for barges. The producers thus got a reduced price hs a result and did not know it. Ho had 43 bales for sale in London while he was there and was curious to see them and satisfy himself that they were not in good condition. He was advised that they were, all right, but when lie insisted he was told that lie could not see them as they did not. know where they were. He told Mr Shelton to look at the bales and see whether there was anything wrong. He had samples of wool with him now and had a note signed by the head salesman to say that it was damaged bv barge water in going up the Thames, t/he bottom of the hold was sodden. He found that he had got 3d per lb less on the bale that was damaged as compared with the undamaged bales of the same brand. Tho agents said that it was an inferior class of wool, but he knew that it was clean fleece, all of it. The charges on wool in London wore almost, as great as the freight from New Zealand to London. Last year the wool brokers raised their charges by 50 per cent., as many would find out when they got their accounts in. The producers could not do better than utilise Liverpool for their l wool. The consolidated charge was 4s 4d and 5s 6d for London and 2s 4d for Liverpool. They had facilities to show 20,000 bales at a sale in) Liverpool, and sell it in a day. They were prepared to put Wapping Dock shed at the disposal of New Zealand. There was a depth of 29ft of water there and there would b« no charge for carting or hand trucking, and it was connected by rail to Bradford.

Mr Lvsnar quoted Hon. T. Mackenzie's (High Commissioner) opinion upon the relative merits of London and Bristol. Mr Mackenz'e's opinion was that he could not sufficiently express dissatisfaction with the handling of the meat handled as some of the Port of London stores. The condition of the meat was far from what ic ought to he, to use no more severe a term. He could not refer to the attitude of the dock authorities regarding the construction of stores and the improvement to shipping required at the South-West India dock, which undoubtedly was the most convenient for tha Smithfield market. In addition to the Albert and Victoria docks being much further away the traffic was far more congested. It was almost impossible at times for the vans to make any progress at all. The handling of the meat was done in a way that could not bo other than detrimental. Speaking on behalf of the New Zealand producers, he would say that conditions there would not be much longer put up with. Referring to the facilities at Avon mouth and Bristol, the High Commissioner stated that he was much impressed with the advantages Avonmouth offered for the handling and distributing of refrigerated and cool chambered produce. He was particularly well satisfied with the dock equipments'and the cold storage available, and was apparently conv : nced that so far as the distributing of New Zealand produce is concerned much of the Midlands and more still of the West Country could be, covered with advantage from Avonmouth. Referring to the question of insurance, Mr Mackenzie stated that as far at any rate as Avonmouth is concerned he is of opinion that shippers ought to rest content with insurance against total loss and breakdown in the shins' refrigerating machinery, which could be done, he says, at one-fifth of the present rate.