THE CLAW OF THE TRUST.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1019, 7 January 1911, Page 8

THE CLAW OF THE TRUST.

CLUTCHING ARGENTINE MEAT BUSINESS. ' ; • , Tho hold of American trusts on, tho .';. i ''-ineat.'. l bu6ihoss\of.'tho'Argentine is a matter'of concern to Nc-w Zealand, and ■ . the subject has boen studied with interest by-our producers aad shippers for .•••' several'years'.,.. The'position occupied by American packing interests in tho . V Argentine is discussed at soine length : ■' by: Jiimes' D'. 'Whelplcy in a'review • o'f •/ • tnb nioat.p'rbduetipn and'export business, . of ,tho Argentine. i! ''From the 'international standpoint," Bays. Mr.' AYhelplev, "£he : most import- ,. ; ftnt and recent development 111 the', meat : industry ; of' thoArgenfc'no - republic •' is tHe. entrance and growing Ascendancy of ■P. 'North American interests. 1 Chicago meat .entered this', field-only seven ■<> >years"ago, • but have .already attained •• such a. position that they are a dccided N-' 'if-not a, dominating influence.in the pro- '. gress of the trade and the control of '.'■'•prices; './The extent of their interests 'is ; only partially known .to the public ■either o! Argentina., or the' Unitecl (States, but they admittedly hold two of the seven companies engaged in tho' production • and export of cold storage" .. . : .jrieat,.and,aro believed to have at least ■ .ja .working understanding' with several •••: °f jthe otfiers. The.v have also secured -land for purposes, it'; is believed, of : establishing new plants. "The two avowedly North American .. enterprises are the .La Plata Cold Storage Company and tho La Blanca Com- ; ,pany. ' The former, . since coming ■ un- ' -der its present control; has risen from ..., '.aistatp of insignificance to : that of tho V> largest single produoer in the Argentine fieldl .y A sensation was created by.-this >. ; V company at the recent fat stock show - :in Buenos Ayresl'by the : extraordinary ~ :/.prices'; paid in'order.; to show breeders ' : what it wanted and encourage, them to ■ develop. a breed of animals." For five steers the company gave-'11,500 pesos,. about 5000 dollar's .apiece, and iior ,a; total of, 177 head gave , 310.600. peso's, . about 771 dollars each, in .United States'currency.. -It , was estimated • that the'available beef on the,five steers ' that .brought ton prices, cost the com- . pany about s.dollars; dVpound/ '.Taken ; together the L.i Plata ami La Blanca , companies last year , produced a .third of : ; Argentina's.total'.ouiput of cold storage .'beei as large a'proportion of tmutton and lamb:- Their rapid, expan;:sion!is.indicated by.tho fact; that joint- ".. . Have chartered all tho ; space in nineteen now. steamships. Ordered'by the ' Nelson -'line,'for- the River ; Plate fresh . meat trade.' ' . J •. ."But.most important of , all, perhaps; as'. showing, the influence of tho Am'eri- .. can companies;in .the Argentine .is tho fact- that, they are , generally credited ■ with' haring. "stimulated tho industry ;v'thrpugh. the. introduction of'progressive : methods', .particularly' in. tlm develop'j. -: ment of clilled beef; '' Chilled beef—tho ,V: t;kiiid.to which United' States consumers ... : are accustbmed.'aud regarded as superior vtoLfrozen. beof—has been brought into ; • commercial nniportance .lwithin the last . ■ . year 6r; more .by 'the' North . American ''i'X.'Mjiqteiiies; and se.emsidestine'd to 'supersedo m importance tho frozen product. 1n,1903, the La Plata' Cold Storage Com- ! pany produced moro than twice as much chilled beef as any other company, and, >; ;>Yr together with :tho.;La Blanca Company,; more than SO .jjer cent, .of the' entire output of tho article.' Tho importance of the position of the Chicago > .companies in the. Argentine; is, that, 1 ap-- > patently, it i>uts tbe meat; industry of ■ *';:: the .two principal 'countries .in, the samo ■ hands';;-'.' Argentina is'' the. largest beef ::f exporter iri.the world, 'and, next'to Now. Zealand, the largest 'shipper ;of mutton. '. Argentina now occupies the' place for- • merly held by, tlie United States as pur/vey'or of beef to Europe, the increase in • tho home consumption having cut down our exports in'marked .degree. . "Argentina lias been,looked "upon as - ■ a competitor of 'the United States in the beef industry, and has even been considercd' by somoas.a possible soUrce of. ' cheaper meat', for ..tlm .countryTho '' •".present, out'ook there lends tio colour.to •U-. ' vsuch supposition. Shipments of '. beef . . • •fi'om"'' .'the:.. River: Plate-.to 1 the' 'United • JvyStates'.-inay.- come: shortly; but they will 7" probably bo directed by the' same ihterr,. ' ' eSts which_ supply the' market .here,' not" ,in-opposition to. :them. , So : far 'as ;' Aiiiericaii packers are concerned, their V ; ■present 'operations in tho. Argentino '.field'have nothing to do with the meat . . .supply of the United States; The im.j 'Eiediat'e object. is' to obtain supplies iwhicli can no longer be seoured at homo, ifor their English^market;.-'."They have l. i 'inot given up. their, foreign business, as ;the diminishing export figures of the jUnited States might, lead one' to supPose, but have, simply, transferred their ■i; ■ base of operations from tho Mississippi : .Valley to tho .River' Plate."Just how . Argentina's meat export vl'/;busine'ss is growing is shown in'comr.: > parativo tables, '"-in 1909 tlie beef 'and ..mutton exports from Argentina ,:were : valued at 27,720,412' dollars. Tlio : Uriitwl . States . .exports in 1909 ' were . . 12,840,048 dollars. In 1900 tho United . ;'States exported beef and mutton'to tho value of 29,052,123 dollars, and tlie Ar- .' geritine exports that'.year. were valued ; at: 9,951/187 dollars, ■ .In weight Argentina's exports , ton. years ago were ;• : ..equal, to 25,000 tons,-'compared with 150,000 tons from the Uiiited States initho.samo year. Five years later:her exports of beef passed those of-..the , States, and in 1909 they amounted t-o '. .210,657 tons, whilo those of the United States bad fallen to 55,746 tons.