SERVICES PRAISED

Evening Post, Volume CXL, Issue 54, 1 September 1945, Page 8

SERVICES PRAISED

MEAT BOARD FUNCTION

Tributes to the services they had given in the interests of the meat producers of the Dominion since the inception of the Meat Producers'' Board in 1922 were paid to Mr. T. A. Duncan and Mr. John Fraser at a function held in their honour yesterday afternoon by the board and its electoral college. The opportunity was also taken to convey the best wishes of meat producers to Mr. G. C. Smith, secretary of the board, on his impending retirement, and to welcome his successor, Mr. L. Vogtherr. Presentations of illuminated addresses were made by the chairman of the board, Mr. G. H. Grigg (Hororata), who spoke of Mr. Duncan's services to the industry and to New Zealand, particularly during the eight years he had served as chairman of the board, and of Mr. Fraser's sterling work as general manager until his retirement a year ago. Mr. James Begg, producers' representative on the board, and members oi the electoral college, joined in the tributes to the guests of honour. Replying, Mr. Duncan spoke of the chaotic state which had existed in the meat industry when the board came into being and of the . progressive emergence into orderly marketing which had followed. He paid a warm tribute to the team work of those with whom he had been associated, particularly Messrs. Fraser and Smith, and went on to emphasise the importance of the good will which had been established in the Old Country. He warned against permitting the. further inroads of big interests in the meat industry in New Zealand, and urged that it was sound policy to have competition spread as much as possible and not let any companies get too big a hold. There was no doubt, he said, of the benefits to the industry if the business was kept well spread and under control. Speaking of the development of the chilled beef industry, Mr. Duncan, stressed the need for modern methods of transport and maintenance of quality which would ensure a tremendous expansion of the trade. He expressed the opinion that the problems ahead of the meat industry were just as great as those which had confronted the board at its inception, but that they would be overcome without unUMr Fraser' expressed his pleasure at having been associated with Mr. Duncan and Mr. Smith, and with the meat industry of New Zealand. Mr. Smith also spoke.