DIRECT TRADE BETWEEN N.Z. AND MANCHESTER.

Evening Post, Volume LVI, Issue 157, 31 December 1898, Page 2

DIRECT TRADE BETWEEN N.Z. AND MANCHESTER.

INTERVIEW WITH MR. PEASE, I [from ottb special correspondent.] London, lltb. November. Much has been heard from time to time of the strong desire felt by Manchester for direct trade with Australia and New Zealand by way of the Ship Canal. But these aspirations so far have never assumed a definite shape. ' The question, however, has just been revived by Mr. Alfred J. Pease, of the firm of M'Kerrow and Pease, colonial brokers and merchants, of Manchester. Both Mr. M'Kerrow and Mr. Pease were, it will be remembered, formerly New Zealand colonists, and they are well acquainted with all the circumstances and requirements of the Anglocolonial trade. On the motion of Sir. Pease, the Manchester Chamber of Commerce has apointed a committee to consider the best means of attaining the desired object. Mr. Pease's action in the matter has led to his being interviewed by the representative of a Manchester paper, who sayf Mr. Pease " is Very well qualified to speak i of the resouroes and prospects of the coloI nists and the chances of a direct trade with this part of the country which shall be mutually remunerative. He knows Australasia well. He spent 15 years in the South Island of New Zealand, where he was highly esteemed — so highly, in fact, that the people in his locality asked him to stand for the House of Representatives, and gave him a unique ' send-off ' when he left for England four or five years ago. Interrogated by his interviewer, Mr. Pease spoke very freely. He pointed out that his firm, in connection with Messrs. W. Weddel and Co , of London, were the first to bring frozen meat and rabbits and wheat and oats and tinned meats direct to Manchester. " The meat salesmen," he said, " supported us strongly by purchasing liberally of the carcases before they arrived, but the River Plate importer.* promptly dropped prices in order to strangle the trade. ' You keep to London,' they said, in effect ; • ' leave us Manchester and Liverpool, and we won't fight you.' What was to be done ? Neither the salesmen nor we could be expected to go on dropping money. Since then very little mutton has been imported into Manchester direct." Being asked what course he suggested, Mr. Pease replied : "I still see no reason why the communication should not be established. Look for a moment at the circumstances and opportunities. Within' a radius of 50 miles of Manchester there is a population much larger than within a similar v radius of London. This city is x he centre of perhaps the largest consuming locality in the world The population is ready to take the products of the Antipodes to a far greater extent than is the case in the South of England, where there are more of the leisured classes, and where the, manufacturing: element does not exist to the same extent. Here we have people who want to be decently fed at small cost, and the New Zealand frozen mutton and lamb supples a want which cannot be met by the English farmer. At one time people hardly tasted animal food from one year's end to another. Now they can have it every day, and the best cuts at that. The mutton which comes over is thoroughly wholesome. Sheep in the colonies have not inherited the ills to which the Home animal is heir. In the colonies there is a better climate, and not so much artificial feeding. The animals -~ve natural grass, English pasturage, or turnips — no oil cake or chemical preparations. Even if there were any semof tuberculosis or foot and mouth disease — which we do not believe — I hold that the intense cold used in the freezing process would destroy all the germs. Modern methods of handling, and the system of refrigerating, leave no room for doubt as to the condition in which the meat arrives. By the way, it is always interesting to me to recall that it was in the Timaru, which brought over 16,000 carcases, that I went out to New Zealand in 1880." The interviewer next asked Mr. Pease what other products would be likely to yield a good return. '"Nearly everything," said Mr. Pease. "The colonies can send us cheese and butter, canned meats, and raw hides, and there is no reason why the wool which Yorkshire needs should not come here instead of to London. The Yorkshire manufacturer now, almost without exception, is buying in the colonies direct, so that there is no longer any necessity for the wool to be offered at auction in London. I believe that the Gulf Line is to be re-established, and that would mean a fair amount of loading with ore for the smelting works on the Canal. Iron and earthenware from Staffordshire^ not to mention manufactured textile goods from Lancashire and Yorkshire, ought to be exported by way of the Canal. To sum up, practically everything is made in this district to meet the needs of the colonies. " The thing is to divert the shipments from London," continued Mr. Pease. "If the Manchester merchant had his way he would no doubt show his loyalty to the Canal, but the colonial importers have existing arrangements in London, and in many cases it is really out of the Manchester merchants' power. Surely it is the teaching of commercial economics to bring producer and consumer together, and to buy, in the cheapest and sell in the dearest market ? To attain that end you must avoid all unnecessary cost on the article by way of freight, and so forth. There is no reason why a man here in the North should pay the railage to London if he can get his stuff taken as cheaply from his own doors as from the Thames." " What do you think would be the best method of setting about the promotion of a direct steamship service i" was next asked. " How are the funds to be provided ? What would be the attitude of the colonies V" ' You can have no doubt about the attitude of the colonies," Mr. Pease replied. " The initiative would have to come from this side, because the colonists are not so wealthy as we are, and, moreover, have their money locked up in land or kind. But any movement here would be warmly supported there. For a start, we have a warm supporter in Mr. Reid, and the different Australian and New Zealand Premiers have already expressed their willingness to co-operate in any way. You must remember that we should not be going to strangers, but to our brothers. I The Manchester Chamber of Commerce might do a good deal by opening up communication, so that we might be better informed as to the class of goods the Aus tralians require, and the}' as to the products most useful to us. From conversations I have had with bankers and others, I have no doubt they are quite prepared to give facilities for developing traih similar to those given in London and elsewhere, l^n my mind there is no doubt that a scheme could be successfully set on foot. It is a matter which the Chamber might very well take in hand. My sympathies are keenly with the colonies, hur it should be borne in mind as well that this interchange of commodities would bo mutually advantageous, because a saving in the cost of purchase would be effected on either side." On my putting the question to him, Mr. Mackenzie at once conceded that opponents of his suggestions could find plenty of arguments to reply to him. But, he said, he had gone fully into the matter, and could answer all that could be brought against his contentions. In proof of the statements in his circular he gave me an instance. When the market had fallen Id, a buyer went to him and said he wanted

a survey for faulty assessment, afterward offering to take Id off all round. Mr. Mackenzie declined, saying that the principle was wrong, and he would employ an expert to assess against the buyer. The seller's assessor was, of course, a salesman — no one else could be got. Tho result was that he gave 89 per cent, of tho parcel at 2d allowance against his own employer. The reduction for quality assessment is not the only thing, be it remembered. The meat has already been assessed for damage Two men are employed on each occasion, and their fees in the aggregate come to 8 or 12 guineas, all of which comes out of the pockets of the producers. And the system extends. I learned of a man who does a large business in mutton, and who, 18 months ago, neither claimed for faulty grading nor insurance damage, and who, a few carcases came little wrong , would accept them for an agreed-upon difference in value. Now, he demands his assessments. And if he didn't, he would soon be starved out of his business by those who do. In the Sydney Morning Herald of the sth October there ia an interview with Mr. Gilbert Anderson, Manager of. the Christchurch Freezing Works, in which he states that insurance companies have no assessors to act for them when claims are being made on damaged meat. "Mr. Anderson has been mis-informed or misreported," said Mr. Mackenzie ; " because the underwriters always have assessors to act for them."