STATE MEAT SHOPS

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2986, 25 January 1917, Page 6

STATE MEAT SHOPS

THE BUTCHERS' PROBLEM CAUSES OF HIGH PRICES ANALYSED 1914-1917 Tl)6_ proposal of tho Government to Sslaldisn two retail butchers' shops ia Auokland as a step towards controlling the price of meat to tho public has aroused considerable interest in Wellington. Referring to the Government's action in Auckland, Mr. W. Wolland, formerly president of the defunct Wellington Master Butchers' Association, informed a Dominion reporter yesterday that the action the Government was now talcing was practically what the master butchers of Wellington had urged upon the Government shortly after the-.war broke out. The retail butchers wero .finding it. difficult then to buy stock iu competition with the hig freezing J companies, and still sell at reasonable prices, and as the outcome of a meeting tho Minister (Hon. W. D. S. Mac3onald) was waited upon, and ur'ged to propose to Cabinet that the Government should fix prices for stock, take over at those prices, and sell to the butohers such meat as was required for local consumption. • "We were forced to do something at the time," said Mr. Wolland, "as we were being charged high prices by the farmers, and a freezing company was selling for 3os. wbat we had to pay £2 ss. for in the paddock. Nothing was done in tho matter thai I know of, but the pressure has been going on ever since. No retail butcher today is doing any good, and yet the public talks about tho high prices. The prices are high—too high—but the retail butchers are not to blame." Same Here as in Auckland. "The retailers in Auckland are blameless in the matter, _ too. Six weeks ago the wholesale prices of stock were about on a par there to what we were paying here, and the retail prices frore. perhaps Jd. per lb. more there, owing to the greater risk of meat going bad. ' Since then the prices for beef have scarad in Auckland, % and there has been an outcry. It would have been tho same hero, but for all this talk. It was rumoured that another substantial rise in beef was to have been made this week. "Evcry_ butcher in Wellington would be glad if the Government would buy the stock at fixed prices, aiud sell to the butchers at fixed prices. • Thca wo could sell to the public at fixed prices. But not frozen meat. We could not handle frozen meat in this weather. It can't be done here, and I'm sure they can't handle frozen meat in Auckland. In the winter it would be possible, but it's out of tho question just now. Then, if it came from tho freezer, we would have to pay tho freezing charges and pass them on to the public. What tho Government should do is to buy on tho hoof, and sell us fresh meat at schedule rates. Let the Government buy from the farmer, as we aTO doing to-day, and take the risks wo have' to take. One week you might buy twenty head of cattle, and get them through all right; tho next week you may buy another twenty head, and have three or four of them condemned. In the case of tho Government, they could work out the percentage of loss through condemnation, and spread it over the lot. If the Government would step in the whole thing would work automatically—the farmer, the butcher, and the public would all know exactly where they were." Plenty of Shops for the Covernment. On it being pointed out to Mr. AVol- ; land that the Government hardly proposed to sell to butchers, hut were establishing shops of their own in Auckland, and appointing managers to them, lie said that lie would he very 'pleased to hand over his business to the Government and aw-e.pt a salary ,ns manager, and said 1 , further, that tbere- was. not a retail butcher in Wellington at the present time who would not be delighted to db the same. Tho conditions of late years had been like a closing net round them, and yet they had heeii blamed. "It seems to me." said Mr. Wolland, "that the wholesaler is allowed to do what he likes, hut the retailer must not move a hand. Only this last month the retailers have been asked! to pay nmmpt cash for all purchases. No credit is given now, yet tho public still cxnect credit. Another instanco occurred to me onlv a few days ago when a cask' of casings arrived that I never ordered. I sent them hack, asking them to keep the casings on my account. A day or so later. I hear that c»siii"s have advnncerl. and get the cask, hut instead of being charged the original invoice pric", £5 16s. Bd'., the firm ch'nrce' me with the increase, £7 14s. Vet the public expects to buy sausages at the same old price." The Rise in Prices. To give one an idea of the rise in prices, Mr. Wolland gave the following range of wholesale prices, covering the faill period of the war:— Beef.—l9l4: 325. 6d. 1001b.; 1915: £2; To-day: £2 4s. Mutton.—l9l4: 4}d. to 4?/l. lh. ; 1915: sd. to oid.; To-day: 5Jd. to 53d. . These are prices of dead meat from the freezing company. To buy "on the hoof," as some butchers have to> do, would cost them to-day at least ss. per 1001b. more than the_ abovo figures. The public will appreciate the position when it is pointed out that the prico of standard linos of meat have really only advanced Id. per lh. fronl July, 1914, to January, 1917. The prices (cash over tho counter) are as follow: 1914. 191.7. Mutton chops 6d. 7d. Rump steak Hd. lOd. Beef steak 6d. 7d. Sirloin beef 7d. BJd. Ribs beef 5Jd. 7d. Legs mutton 6tl. 7d. Sausages sd. 3d. • Ono of our .informants pointed Out that sausages remained tho same, although casings had advanced, and seasonings had gone up from 50 to 100 per cent. It was further pointed out that tho butcher paid SJd. per lb. for 1501b. of Fat and bono (on average carcass of beef) for which he only received 4/1. per lb. At one time they used'to get £1 Is. per 1001b, for fat; now it is reduced to 10s. 63.—while meat has gone up in price, tho "rough stuff" has gone down'. Then on top of all their worries the Government brings tho Bank of England to tho farmer's gate. The local butchers looked to the Government for salvation. The Auckland Shops. . The Government's venturo into the retail meat trade will be inaugurafed in Auckland to-day. The Hon. W. D. S. ~*aci*onald, President of the Board of Trade, stated yesterday that two shops in the northern 'city would undertake tiio retail salo of meat supplied by the Government from the freezing works. One shop is in tho centro of tho city, and the other on tho main street in a populous suburb. The business will be conducted on a cash basis, and at present there will bo no delivery. The cash prices fixed in Auckland by the Master Association are as follow: —Rump sto'ak, Is. per lb.; beefsteak, 9d. per lb.; sirloin beef. 9}d.; prime rib, Sd.; wins* rib, B}d.; topside, Bd.; mutton, leg Bd., shoulder 7<L, loin chops lOd. For some time past tnere has been an additional j

charge of Id. per lb. upon all meat booked or delivered. These prices are substantially higher than those prevailing in most other centres, and tho Government's scheme will place meat at the disposal of tho Auckland public at something like twopence a pound less all round if it is carried into full effect. "The thing has been sprung on us like a bonrfjfllicll," said Mr. R. H. Johnson, president of tho Auckland Master Butchers' Association, when questioned in reference to the proposal to start State retail shops in Auckland; ' and if tho scheme is carried into effect, as apparently it' will be, it will simply mean that the small butchers in Auckland may as well close up. As a matter dHffCc, they will probably bo compelled to, there will not be a Jiving in it for them. On the admission of the Board of Trado itself," he continued "we have not been exploiting tho public in the past, nor are wo now with the increase m prices. Why, therefore, the need of State retail sTiops? Under the circumstances there fs fiardlv a butcher in Auckland who would not be pleased to sell out to the State. Since the war we have simply been existing, and the man who runs away with the idea that wo are making big profits is a long way out in his calculations. The rise in prices was made absolutely necessary by the rise in wholcsalo prices." The official reply to this statement is that the Board of Trade wishes merely to help the butchers to sell at lower prices by providing them with comparatively cheap meat in wholesale quantities. The butchers admit that they are paying more for meat wholesale than they would do if they took their stocks from the Government. The general public suffers accordingly, wfcereas the Board of Trade is in a position to reduce wholesale costs. The small butcher as well as the large butcher is offered the advantage of the scheme, and the board will undertake to arrange for the delivery of the moat in the' quantities required day by day.