TRANSFER OF STOCK

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 50, 27 August 1924, Page 4

TRANSFER OF STOCK

INJURY TO FROZEN MEAT TRADE: " " ■-.-• A REMEDY ASKED FOR. .. <BI TELEORAPB.—SPECIAt TO THE POST.) ; • •V ■-■'..,■'"■ ■ DUNEDIN, .This Day. ; "'The secretary of the' Chamber of Comniercehas forwarded the following let-; ter to the chairmai^of the Meat Board:.' 'i am directed by my council to bring! under your notice-'the-matter 'of; -loss' sustained, by producers aud-.harm done1 to. the reputatioiA of. jS Te\v'Zealand frozen meat in the-Home markets by the: transfer of fat stock from one part of tho; Dominion to- another. For example:; Every season large numbers' -of fat: l?.mbs are. sent by rail from Otago to Canterbury works for immediate freezing there,. The long, raifTvay journey.': has the result''of causing loss in weight I (estimated'at from,lib to I^-lb), and also' considerable "decline' hi condition and' quality. The effect of these transfer operations, which are being carried on ail over the Dominion,' must be detrimental to the good name of our product, and my council will'be glad if you can take the matter into consideration with a view to finding some remedy. Ithas been suggested-that the difficulty might be partly overcoriie by-means of the -zone system of railway charges, whereby stock carried-more than a certain distance1 would ' have-■, to bear higher'freight rates'; or it might be possible to provide that i';all meat mu^t be branded with the province of origin, irrespective of1 the works from which it is shipped. . My council recognises - th.at the question is not an "easy one^ to deal .with, but considers that it comes within .the province of your board,-which is _ the controlling body in connection with the frozen-meat industry, and hopes that you might be able to take some action that will have the effect, of meeting the ■'difficulty."-