COLD STORAGE

Evening Post, Volume XCV, Issue 23, 26 January 1918, Page 5

COLD STORAGE

SHORTAGE IN ENGLAND

NO ROOM FOR FOOD STOCKS

(PKOa Ol'R OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

LONDON, 13th November.

Mr. Gilbert Anderson made a, most interesting statement at the dinner of the Cold Storage and Ice Association on the present position of the frozen meat trade. Proposing the health of Mr. John Wardle, Director of Cold Storage and Inland Transport of Pood, Mr, Anj derson said: "Wo are pleased to find ithat. the Government has made a new departure by an appointment which I may designate as of'a constructive and helpful character. It is now over three years since the war broke out, and it is to bo regretted that this appointment should not have been made earlier, and that the whole question of the food supply of this country had not been taken 'into serious consideration then. It should have been patent that the very fact of war, with the disturbances in (production and in freight, would be a matter requiring very serious, careful, and prompt attention. STORAGE NOT INCREASED. _ x "The available refrigerated accommodation of this country when the war broke out was some 30,000,000 cubic feet, one-third of this storage capacity being in the London area. Not only has there been no addition to the storage capacity since the war broke out, but the refrigerated storage wihch was in process of being completed, and various stores at different centres which were projected, were not allowed to be carried out. The 30,000,000 cubic feet of storage represents the capacity for only a very limited reserve of stock, and it is variously estimated that this capacity is only equal to something like six. weeks' supply. NEW ZEALAND'S EXAMPLE. "Refrigerated storage has to be used not only for frozen meat, but also for butter, cheese, bacon, and other commodities. The yearly imports of frozen meat amount to 30,000,000 of 601b freight carcases, besides large quaitities of sundries, 100,000 tons of butter, cheese, and fruit. That was the capacity in normal times, and it should have been i apparent that the provision should have ' been made for the adverse conditions which would be caused by the war. To give you. a contrast : The Dominion of New Zealand, a large/ meat-producing district, from which we draw annual supplies of frozen meat of some 7,000,000 carcases, depended on the regular despatch of steamers to keep her works clear so as to enable production to go on j unchecked. The storage capacity in New Zealand when war broke out was 2,400,000 freight carcases, but, early recognising that the war would interfere with the regular shipments, the storage capacity was steadily increased to I 4,400,000, and further additions are now being made which will bring this up to a capacity of 5,000,000 freight carcases available for next season. "This is excellent from the New Zealand point of view, but from the point of view of the requirements of this country the extra storage should have been here, so that supplies would have been available on the spot and provision made for any contingency. Meat on the other side of the world is not available for the working man's dinner. • VALUE OP REFRIGERATION. "It is scarcely realised how much refrigeration has made it possible for this country to take its place alongside our Allies in this great war for liberty, and but for the supplies of refrigerated meat to our large armies and those of the Allies in the field, it would have been impossible to have carried on the war. Instead of that, we have the largest armies the world has ever known well fed and in excellent health mainly through the supplies which have been provided by the refrigerated products of meat, butter, and cheese. This country could not have kept its annies s in the field on home-grown meat, and refrigerated meat has been largely responsible for the fact that in this country wo have not only maintained but increased our flocks and herds. But while we have maintained the armies in the field, naturally large supplies of meat which •have hitherto come to this country for the working classes have been diverted or left in the country of origin instead of being stored here. It is wisdom, therefore, to have much larger refrigerated storage for the reserve stocks of meat coming beyond the seas and for the conserving of home-grown supplies. There is no country in the world that has derived so much advantage from refrigeration as this, and We can only hope that now the Government has seen its way to appoint a Director of Cold Storage and Inland Food Transport, we shall have a Researoh department to assist and extend its benefits." GOVERNMENT BLUNDERS. "The Food Controller instead of quickly calling together the recognised and constituted associations of the numerous sections, representing all trades, and placing before them the necessity of controlling prices to the public and the best and quickest moans of obtaining the large supplies essential for this end, set up a department of Government officials with no experience of markets and supplies. Attention was concentrated on securing at a low price the limited supplies on the spot; altogether ignoring the fact that supplies on the spot were of the least importance, while quick and speedy control of the future was what would dominate .the position. We see the same mistake made in" dealing j with Home-grown resSvt supplies instead of simply fixing the price* of meat to the public. We have," in a year when the flocks and herds were never more numerous, the whole of the agricultural interests distrustful arid . alarmed, iiYimature stock killed and rushed on the market, high rates of profit Tegulated by Government, and an elaborate and costly department set up which will not produce—rhuch less BaVe—one pound of meat. In normal times this country has produced 65 per cent, of all the meat consumed. It may be taken that we have withdrawn something like ?5 per cent, of our male .population—the large meat eaters—for military purposes, and aro feeding them on frozen meat; yet, owing to so-called fJovernmeni control, w» are disturbing if not destroying the on« assured source of food supply which should have been sufficient for the nation's needs, especially as these supplies would be supplemented by the frozen meat in excess of the requirements of the Army and Navy." DIFFICULTIES OF THE* POSITION. Mr. Wardle, who listened attentively to Mr. Anderson's remarks, said that after being informed that it should be decided to hold at least a three months' supply of food in the- country, he felt that, for the safety of the nation, 10,000,000 cubic feet additional cold storage space should be provided at the earliest possible moment. Then v tlie difficulties arose. Of the new space already* arranged for, the cost of which approximated to about half a million pounds sterling, not one penny of this had been, or would be, provided by the Government. There had been, msmy , easerof^rivate..enterprise.(thojigh quite;

as patriotic as in those other cases mentioned) where the finance of the firms would not allow capital to be raised for extension purposes, and in these cases the Government had come to the assistance of the firms mentioned, and lent j money at a fixed rate of interest, the whole amount to be repaid at the end of the war. With regard to tho question of "control," he had taken what, in his opinion, was the proper stand for a business man to take—viz., that if the ! Government could get what was necessary in the interests of the nation without taking over any business with a possible risk of loss, everything had been done that was necessary. He did not hesitate, however, to say that it behoved every cold storage proprietor to look closely into the question of charges made for the storage of foodstuffs, so that if the time should come when it is found necessary to look into this question it may bo found that if any additional charge was made over what existed previously, it could be fully shown to bs the result of increased labour, power or other charges beyond their control. NEW ZEALAND'S PART. I must not close my reference to the gathering without referring to the President of the Cold Storage and Ice Association, who is Sir Thomas Mackenzie, the High Commissioner Although he had just risen from a bed of sickness, he made an excellent speech, and showed well the splendid role New Zealand had played in this great struggle. • He also had a cogent word to say about the unfairness of the present varying prices for butter. At present in the butter and other markets, he said, by State regulation, they saw Empire loyalty plead at a discount, latent disloyalty at a premium, and neutrality .blessed with a bontta.