FROZEN MEAT.

Evening Post, Volume LVI, Issue 79, 30 September 1898, Page 5

FROZEN MEAT.

PIRATING NEW ZEALAND'S GOOD NAME. TIIE BEST TUING TO DO ? nEAVY CLAIMS COMING IN. [FltOM OUE SPECIAL OOKRESPONDENT.] London, 19th August. . Mr. Seddon, so information received lie^ro states, has promised to communicate with Mr. Chamberlain as to the impropriety of Argentine mutton being passed off in Great Britain, as New Zealand meat. This, coming at the same time as the dissolution of the Frozen Meat Trade Committee, led me to call upon Mr. Thomas Mackenzie, for the purpose of having a chat with him on the subject. Such a communication as that suggested on thn part of the Premier of the colony, Mr. Mackzenie at once .said he considered would not be of the slightest use. " The rings here are so strong that no legislation will be undertaken by the British House of Commons that will secure the working and selling of New Zealand meat for what it really is," said Mr. Mackenzie. "It remains for the colony to do all it can in that direction, and the best suggestion that I can make is that our meat should be classified, as it is now, as first and second class, and that there should be no other. It is as well that there should be but these two, and that they should be branded 'prime' and 'second class' respectively, the brand to be small and neat, and put on a good many parts of the sheep." Upon my asking him if they were not all labelled now, and if the shirts in which the carcases come from New Zealand were not clearly marked with their places of origin, Mr. Mackenzie replied, '' Yes, but what is done now is this : If a butcher wishes to sell Australian or Argentine meat as New Zealand, he will buy probably buy ten or twelve prime New Zealand carcases; he will keep the tickets and shirts and use them for his Argentine meat as often as he can, selling all as New Zealand. Of course it is quite possible for such men to imitate our brands ; but if those brands are represented hero we could institute some sort of prosecution for infringement." "Surely Mr. Chamberlain, with the interest he lakes in the colonies, might bo expected to do something ?" "New Zealanders," replied Mr. Mackenzie, " have no conception as to the manner in which institutions in this country are hide-bound. It is simply impossible to move anyone, or anything, and those of us who have realised that simply smile at the innocency which prompts anyone to believe that a mere representation to Mr. Chamberlain of practices resorted to at this end is likely to bring any result. If the colonies were to bother less about Federation, and more about direct representation at Westminiter, we might secure . some degree of remedy for any grievances we may have. The idea of the New Zealand Government interfering I know will shock a good many friends, yet if they only knew how" necessary it is to establish a thorough system of combination, in the interests of the trade, they would press it upon the Government. This is speaking in the absence of a voluntary agreement on the part of those most deeply interested. To those who say that combinations as a rule are not a success, I reply that in the wool market there is combination as to what quantities shall be offered for sale and under what conditions, and the shipping companies combine. The Americans, too, have shown us what can be done by combination. With meat we have nothing to regulate the market at all. A whole lot will come in with a rush, various agents becoming alarmed will cut prices to secure a market, and the astute speculative Sniithfield man will undersell the meat consigned to him, and will force the market down by accepting a low price "for consigned parcels. When he gets to the point at which he thinks he can step in and speculate, he does so. When he imagines that he has brought the market down to the lowest point he will buy largety, form a ' corner/ and send the price up again." In reply to my question as to whether there were any insurance claims coining in in consequence of the hot weather, Mr. Mackenzie said — " Yes, the claims are beginning to be very heavy again. Parcels are arriving, and claims upon them show that three-parts of the cargoes are damaged. That is a large proportion, but I do not believe that any such extent of damage — in a good many cases — really exists. The system of assessment, to my mind, is open to very grave objections. I have approached some of the insurance people, pointed out what I have discovered, and shown them where I think the system improper. The reply is simply that if the present rate will not pay they will increase it. The present system, they say, has been adopted, and they are not going to interfere with it. If the rate is increased it will bo a very serious thing to the shippers. I believe that, with a proper system of handling and distributing the meat in this market, the whole cost of disposal could be covered by what may shortly have to be charged for insuring the meat alone. " Perhaps as good an illustration as I can give you of ' that rather sweeping charge ' (as I termed it) occurred in connection with the disposal of 500 prime sheep. Two hundred of these I sold to a butcher in the North of England, and 300 to the Army and Navy Stores, London. The Northern butcher wanted his sheep quickly, and I agreed to pay him the same damage, should any exist, at the same rate at which the remaining 300 were assessed. Prior to the Army and Navy Stores taking delivery, they examined and went 'through every sheep. This. was rather an unusual thing to do, 10 per cent, being the number ordinarily examined. In the meantime, the market had gone hack slightly. The examination was for quality. The Army and Navy Stores had their representative, and I had my chief stockman there. Some 15 carcases were set aside as not being up to quality, and not a single sheep was set aside on account of damage. A correspondence then ensued on the question of quality with the Army and Navy Stores, which finally resulted in my cancelling the sale to them. I then put the sheep on Sniithfield Market for immediate sale, and after the meat was sold I was astonished to be notified that 78 out of the 300 sheep were declared damaged, had been sold as damaged, and that the underwriters' assessors had given a certificate to the butcher salesmen to that effect Of course I protested, but to no J purpose. However, I wrote to my customer in the North and asked him to let me know exactly how his parcel of sheep had turned out. He replied that his sheep were excellent, that no damage whatever existed, and that a finer lot of sheep — both for quality aud condition — h?:d never arrived in the town. 'In fact, 1 lie added, ' when they were at the station a number of butchers were about, and they remarked on the fine lot of sheep I had bought.' He made no olaim for damages, although his parcel of sheep had to bo taken over 200 miles by rail, whereas the London lot had not more than about four miles to'go. When I afterwards told him what damage was certified to for the remainder, he said, 'Just tho old story.' The sheep in both instances were taken just as they came. " I have stood by many assessments while the sheep were in the cold stores," proceeded Mr. Mackenzie, "aud I have seen many sheep as sound as a bell passed as damaged. This practice 1 continued for a year, until I saw that beyond obtaining a grasp of what was going on I did little good. Other insurance agents would not join in the same work, and my persistence aloue only interfered with the disposal of my meat, because the butchers could buy from agents who would not so molest them, aud why there-

foro, they argued, should they buy from me ? Occupying, however, as I did, the dual position of salesman and also manager of an insurance company that had to pay the loss, this placed me in a good position for obtaining a thorough insight into what was done. While the assessments were going on I had not the power to interfere, because the assessors act for the underwriters and arc appointed by them ; but I afterwards emphatically discussed tho position with them." In continuation, Mr. Mackenzie said, in answer to my direct question, that if he returned to the colony he would be able to give New Zealanders the benefit of his practical experiences. The sj'stem of assessment may account for the heavy insurance premiums. The risk insurance offices take just now is n6t the damage which may occur in transit, but the amount which may be claimed by buyers here and awarded by underwriters' assessors. Asked whether he confined his attention solely to Sniithfield, Mr. Mackenzie said :— " Not entirely, although Sniithfield is the great channel of trade ; it is hard to open new channels in a conservative country like this. But my directors are alive to the propriety of pushing the trade in the proviuces, aud we shall probably take the thing in hand shortly." Concluding, I asked if Mr. Mackenzie I found the same damage exist in all the stores. His reply was — " No. For instance, to-day I have two claims sent in for damage to meat delivered from the s.s. Duke of Devonshire. In one store the damage' is less than on a quarter of the parcel ; in the other it is fully three-fourths of the parcel. There are lines of sheep iv the latter case in which there is not one sheep returned sound. From the Waimale shipment I am just notified that the latter store will show heav,y damage against the shipment, while from meat stored in the former store I placed some on the market for sale and there was no word of damage. Of course I don't say that the cause of the damage is the store, because meat has been taken up the river in barges. I simply give my experience." THE COLLAPSE OF THE FROZEN MEAT TRADE COMMITTEE. London, 19th August. Last Monday a meeting of the Australasian Frozen Meat Committee — a body so successfully formed by Mr. R. E. N. Twope'n y — was held at the Bank of New South Wales. The meeting was originally called to take into consideration an important communication from Lloyds' Register of Shipping, but after the meeting had been summoned the following letter was sent out to members :—: — ''Sydney, 10th J uly, 1898.— 1 am directed by the Australian Meat Export Association to inform you that, as the four freezing companies iv Sydney have signified their inteutidn not to rejoin this Association, and as it also lacks the support of Mr. John Cooke aud the Riverina Frozen Meat Compauy, it has become impossible to organise the Association effectively, and it has therefore been decided to dissolve it. I am to convey to you the Association's sincere thanks for the trouble you have taken on their behalf as a member of their London Committee, and lam specially to thank you for the service your Committee has rendered in inducing Lloyds' to undertake the survey of refrigerated ships, which, it is hoped, will be the means of reducing the trouble from damaged cargoes to a minimum. — Yours, faithfully, R. E. N. Twopeny, Hou. Secretary." Of course, nothing more could be done thau dissolve tho Committee, the representative character of which may he gathered from the names of those \,comprisiug it — Bank of New South Wales (D. George), Bank of Australasia (R. W. Jeans), Union Bank of Australia ( W. JL. Mewburn), Commercial Bankiug Company of Syduey (N. Cord), London Bauk of Australia, Queensland National Bank (J. W. Dickinson), English, Scottish, and Australian Bank (T.Paterson), Bank of New Zealand, Bank of Adelaide (Percy Arnold), Da^gety & Co. (E. T. Doxat), Sauderson, Murray & Co. (J. Sanderson), Goldsbrough, Mort & Co. (R. Buchanan), Leishman, Inglis & Co. (J. Eadie), Australasian Mortgage and Agency Company, Elder, Smith & Co., W. Weddel and Co. (W. Weddel), Danger, Grant aud Co. (11. Grant), Hon. W. P. Reeves (AgentGeueral for New Zealand), C.C. &, D. Co. (Sir Montague Nelson), .T. Mackenzie, Christchurch Meat Company, G. S. Yuill & Co. (H. Miskin), M'llwraith, M'Eaoharn and Co., Union Mortgage and Agency Company of Australia (Oscar de Satge'j, New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Compauy (H. M. Paul), Australian and New Zealand Mortgage Compauy (H. S. Lynn), National Mpj tgage and Agency Company of New Zealand (VV. Brodie aud J. N. Newman), and Scottish Australian Investment Company (1?. W. Turner). I learn that the letter from Lloyds' Insurance, which may possibly be transmitted to the colony for discussion, contained views on the proper cooling down of the ships, the inspection of the insulators and their machinery, the handling of the mea'j after being received on board a vessel, and, in fact, everything to do with the meat till its delivery in England. Those present considered the letter most important.