AUSTRALIA'S CATTLE KING

Evening Star, Issue 15607, 25 September 1914, Page 10

AUSTRALIA'S CATTLE KING

MAN WITH 30,782,400 ACRES AND A QUARTER OF A MILLION HEAD OF CATTLE. Mr Sidney Kidman, tho equatter king, who owns pastoral properties in Queensland, Northern Territory, South Australia, and New South Wales, was last week a witness before the Commission inquiring into the meat supply and the operations of the Meat Trust (says a Sydney paper). Mr Justice Street presided.

An astonishing list of stations owned by him and properties in which ho is interested as a partner or a shareholder was given by Mr Kidman. He created some amusement by occasionally remarking : "' Let me see, that is a dry place of about 700 square miles. I don't think it is necessary to put that down in the list." 'I suppose you forget occasionally a. little property of 1,000 miles':" said Mr Bevan.

"Well, yes," said Mr Kidman, nonclialantly, "until I have to pay the rent." The area and rental of Crown leaseholds held by Mr Sidney Kidman in Australia are as follows: —Queensland, 28,406j square miles (18,180,160 acres), rental £10,403 0s 3d; South Australia, 16,111-J square miles (9,711,200 acres), renta' £2,875 7s; New South Wales, 4,5171 square miles (2,891,040 acres), rental £864 8s 9d. Total, 49,035 square, miles (30,782,400 acres), rental £14,142 16s.

Further evidence revealed the fact that Mr Kidman owns on his own account 250,000 to 260,000 head of cattle. "01 course," he remarked, " I cannot tell how many I own to within 20,000 or 50,000. We do not muster them to count them. In a dry year a lot may die. I lost over 20,000 one year. The seasons regulate the whole position in pastoral pursuits." He added that he was not a large owner of sheep, only having about 150,000 to 190,000, and he had about another 70,000 or 100,000 in partnerships. He could not tell the number of cattle or sheep on the stations in which ha was a shareholder, but at Victoria Downs, owned by Bovril Australian Estates, in which he had 15,000 shares, there were 111,273 head of cattle last year. This estate he, with others. had purchased for £27,000, and had sold for £IBO,OOO, but it had been well stocked up.

" I have read in the papers that I am supposed to be the agent of Armour and Co. in Australia, and have taken up propery on their behalf,"' said Mr Kidman. " I am not. an agent for Armour. I'm an agent for myself only. I did try to sell a station to them, but they said they were not interested in buying properties. lam not interested in -Swifts even to the price of a postage stamp. When, Armour's representative, Mr Hoffmann, came here about three years ago he visited all the States, but he did; not tell me what his business was. T 77ev©r had a threepenny piece of a deal with them in property. When they were not buyers I did not attempt to force a property on them." Mr Kidman went to to say that he had exported meat on his own account from Adelaide only, and had tried numerous sources of shipment, including the Government. He had a contract with Armour andi Co. for the supply of 5,000 head of cattle to be killed and passed through the Government depot in South Australia. These cattle were to be supplied at the rate of 400 a month. It was an open sort of an agreement, and the contract had never been signed, for it had to go to America. He was a bit behind in the delivery, owing to the class of cattle not being available, but he would have to make them good. That was the only transaction he had with Armours. "The meat is branded for Armour at the Government depot at Adelaide," said Mr Kidman. "Everybody knew that 1 had sold meat to Armour. I made no secret of it. The meat is shipped to London. When T made the contract I wanted to get rid of 1,500 head of cattle, and agreed to let them have them at 2os per cwt, but at that time I could not have got £1 a cwt for them. I was glad to get rid of them."