The Gisborne Standard AND COOK COUNTY Published every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday Morning. Saturday, May 2, 1891. FROZEN MEAT INDUSTRY.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume IV, Issue 602, 2 May 1891, Page 2

The Gisborne Standard AND COOK COUNTY Published every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday Morning.

Saturday, May 2, 1891. FROZEN MEAT INDUSTRY.

Be just and fear not; Let all the ends thou aim’st at be thy country's, Thy God’s, and truth’s.;

A little commercial bombshell has been thrown into the district, and hopes have been created that opposition freezing works will be established. Nothing would please us better than to see keen competition of the kind if the settlers were to reap a benefit from it, but there are some considerations which cannot be ignored. Messrs Nelson Bros, have not only shown an enterprise for which the district must feel grateful, but they have been liberal in all their dealings with the farmers, and other things being equal they are entitled to a first consideration. But other things are not by any means equal, and without offering discouragement of any kind to the introduction of competition, we would advise farmers who have not already signed the guarantee to Messrs Nelson Bros, to carefully think over the position in which they will be placed if they indulge in illusory hopes, and neglect to look after their own interests. Recently Messrs Nelson Bros., and others interested in the trade, have been successful in getting a reduction of freights, and they are now offering to make terms which are over 30 per cent, better than what they have been able to give hitherto. That means not only an increased value for sheep, but will also considerably heighten the value of property in country and town. To secure this, however, a guarantee is necessary, as shipping companies will

not reduce freights without having a fairly proportionate increase in the cargoes to be handled. The guarantee has been well taken up, the shrewder men having no hesitation in accepting the liberal terms offered—in fact the owners of 261,000 sheep have done so. It follows as a matter of course that those who do not take advantage of the terms offered 1 now cannot at a later stage be dealt with on an equal footing with those who readily assure their support. Still the question naturally arises will not those who hold back stand to gain if competition is introduced ? Brushing aside the little " if,” it must not be forgotten that the terms offered in Gisborne are the same as those given in Napier, where there is competition. Supposing the guarantee did not extend beyond the owners of the 261,900 sheep, the chances of a second company paying now are not of the brightest. Business men may look at it from another point of view, and say that it would matter little whether or not either company paid so long as they circulated the money in erecting works, in wages, etc., but that would be very detrimental if it merely led to the importation of fresh labor and the screwing down of wages all round. By the terms which Messrs Nelson Bros, offer they stand a big risk by the fluctuations of the market, from which anxiety farmers are relieved. When all things are considered we think that farmers will do wisely in supporting the firm now established in the district, or they may find themselves, to use an old expression, fall between two stools, and no one will sympathise with them. If a definite offer were made by a new company they could easily judge as to how their interests stood best, but in the absenceof anything reliable on the one hand and with an equality with Napier terms offered on the other, there does not seem much cause to hesitate in making a choice.