THE FROZEN MEAT INDUSTRY.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 114, 6 February 1908, Page 2

THE FROZEN MEAT INDUSTRY.

AMERICAN INVASION THREATENED. WILL THE BEEF TRUST COME ?. , There are distinct - of ' tfew Zealand having to face competition with an American beef trust over the frozen meat industry) writes our Wairarapa correspondent).' The danger of a movoment'of 'this description. has not'yet "appeared 011 our horizon, but a prominent 'Wairarapa sheep farmer, who keeps a close watch on developments; says it is something that Zealand'will havo to' contend with in the near futuro. The fight is to; commence in the Argentine, where : the big American 'firing 'are said to have already attempted to buy up some of the South American meat companies.' A saving factor in the whole business is the amount of i' IS L ca P'^. a ' invested in the .Argentine, and the great controlling business interest exercised by this. But. .that there is looming in the distance both for New Zealand and Australia'is amply exemplified by the following.statement. Von the subject,: •made by the London correspondent, of the' I astoralists' Review," Under the heading, ''Ah American Invasion," he says:— ahis month by niouth supplies most, import,int news for' my letter. First," I will give the' gist.' of an int-orview I had lastweek with a big Smithfield man. Swifts are there,; said he, and Armours are. bound to follow ; where Swifts and Armours are, there will be the Nelson-Morris interest, shortly. If: Swifts let the other members of the. Trust in, well and good; if not, they will force them- | selves into a share in the. ; Argentine pie. .Therefore we may- take it for granted tliat the Big Six, or a. goodly number of the sextet, .will shortly be: operating in South America'. They'go there, to get".hold .of' the chillod beef trade, and, incidentally, mutton When the Argentine meat companies started shipping'chilled ,beef on a large scale 1 the Americans made the mistake of sending horo a,:lot of inferior beef, hoping to $wamp tho' Plate stuff. But it didn t; it firmod it up, and simply .established, three grades. ,The other Plate works, mj f friend suggests, will either be 'roped in or squeezed out' Signs are appareut already of two companies being tackled; the American notion is to work 1 things so that, they may be able to get' hold pjo, u« uo oupuaSjy Jotpo oqj jo iron?, basis; it is to the'interest of all .of us that .this, pious effort may . he frustrated. '■Well,'bavirig established themselves in South i America, what will happen The Trust then having got possession of-all tho chilled-beef, ■ and enough frozen mutton to control that part, will proceed to work the wholesale and retail English meat business, as thoy have ill North America. Thcy wiH force the briyeps to take mutton, from' them, under penalty of, refusing to soil them (the absolutely necessary) chilled beef. . New Zealand mutton will >he heavily . depreciated,''and Plate mutton brought up to, a level with it, possibly over. This; of course, won't come .'about ,in : a year, ! - but that it will come unless something dras-, tic .is douo is certain as.'the duy;' It is worth whilo for Australasian meat men to .' study the position; for their.meat; cxport'.is,wrapped up in ' tho matter. There., is ione thing- to do./ 'The formation_of a Yankee trust (a development of the* North American one, or 'a/fresh ono on the same iines) in/Argentina must be prevonted at all hazards. .There is.no time to be mealy-mouthed about the matter. Once let' these ■ companies 'get -firmly- placed' in Buenos Aires —firm enough to dominato \thq positionr—and it - is all up with the frozen meat trade as at 1 present existing:" ; .. v