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Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 93, 13 January 1908, Page 2

y At; the last Manawatu show some informal „ preliminary talks took placo among tho men engaged in the frozen , meat industry in different parts , of. the Dominion with reference to a proposod annual conforenCo. The talks 5 were privato, and all that could bo subse--3: quently.'; ascertained-was■: that.' >tho ' idea i emanated, from Auckland, and.hadfor- its .' Object the, annual comparing- of notes in re- • gard to improvements in machinery-and • fliethods, arid the consideration of;other.mattors °f detail ; in , wMch economy might bo effected. .No whisper of any startling revolu-' tionary schemes was heard at that time, and the secret, if any such proposals wire,l'.diS- .. -oussed at •;the meetings, . was ; exceptionally •*'. yoU kopt.;; -■& hint,- however,- contained -in an Auckland " lierald " leading article—a' paper that. no doubt enjoys the .' conti-jenco of the Auckland freezing community. ... to reflect , tho events which occurred at the: Manawatu gathering. -, ' The.- suggestion lis I that, the New Zealand frozen meat:companies shojlld eombino for—among other purposes— selling Now Zealand.meat direct to, the;coii-- ' sumers in The schertie is-orie which; ' j,, t a^e a , do6p-hold ,upon the imaginiitioii. , of tho man in the street" in thiß country, and if.it be found practicable, and result in the prime products of this, country reaching ■ J' 10 -British consumer uuder a pr&per label, it may greatly benefit' our frozo'ri '■ meat industry, aVd in turn also ho good: for the ~ producing farmers.. The, New Zealand householder warmly cherishes the belief that New ; Zealand meat is Sold at a lower price .in London than in our own 'cities; ..and lie naturally feols aggrieved'- in' Oii, the other hand) allegations are, frequent that i much of. the cheap: "New., Zealand" meat sold in England comes in reality froni' some other country more celebrated than we are for .tough meat; and that New Zealand meat more favourably , marketed ,- v'ould realise higher prices.: Apparently the freezing men subscribe to th<s latter view. 'Developments of the interesting'rumour will be watched with keen interest. : ' ■ THE AUCKLAND SUGGESTION. ! The references ih the 'New Zoalarii "Herald (as telegraphed by our special coirrospondent) '.arenas follow:; —"The scnome ' suggested by . the representatives of the -Nortli island freezing companies for the formation of an association to include all New Zealand xroezipg companies, hasL much, tti/conimend it. Ihat it would help; forward the frozen ineat, trade no one can. doubt, aild that.in doing this it would benefit stock raisers and tho country it large, is equally, certain.'.New Zealand has undoubtedly led the way to the rest of the world in the quality, of its meat • oxportsj fend to a ; large extent in the Construction; and organisation - ef : its' varioiis freezing factories, and-in. this;.respect farmers -and stock;, breeders havo reason to be proud. \ But tlii fact mrist riot be Overlooked that this country hps strong rivals, who; are working hard to drive us out of the best, of. the wdrld's markets. Argentina is 5 pouring out money in a. tremendous stream to ob- i tain the best stud sheep arid the finest pedi-

gree cattle.' Australia,', to6j .is spending hundreds'of thousands of pounds in inaugurating | irrigation works, so• as.to overcome in some degree the disadvantaged of a dry. climate. : v!d hoed not suppose, however, that New Zealand 1 has reached its highest level. In the future, mutton and lamb and beef will bo raised horo as superior to tlio presont article: as- the present .article .is superior/to that of our..competitors;*'• • ; After suggesting that the freezing companies could assist tnS farmers iii the improvement of their stock", tho "Herald", continues"The inidin. point for improvement in the New; Zealand frozen'meat industry is unquestionably' in its general . organisation, and this, we recognise can .only be accomplished by. such, an association' is is proposed .by -the North Island representatives of the industry. If all the freezing factories or even the bulk of' theiii, associated themselves oh biisihess 'lines, they could undoubtedly benefitv,themselves aiid 'their farmijr clients considerably. This could be done in several waysj but chiefly in the dircctioii of ecouomising in the matter of handling meat cargoes in. New Zealand, of Securing i-educed freights to the markets overseas, and ill lessening the charges for distribution in tho Old ' It is true that , a very large proportion of our 'meat is sold before it leaves the Dominion, and therefore the risk and cost of distribution are borne by tlio British dealers, but it might bo worth while for this country to handle this class of produce until it reaches tho retailer, or, ■ perhaps, i even the consumer. Such an innova l tion would be a very ■ important one, and would involvo great risks, l)ut it would-also meah great gam, though under no circumstances should it be tried unless such an association as is proposed is soundly established and unanimous in its support of the reform."