The Hastings Standard Published Daily THURSDAY, MAY 6, 1897. THE DEAD MEAT TRADE.

Hastings Standard, Issue 315, 6 May 1897, Page 2

The Hastings Standard Published Daily

THURSDAY, MAY 6, 1897. THE DEAD MEAT TRADE.

For the cause that lacks assistance, For the wrongs that need resistance, For the future in the distance, And the good that we can do.

Mr Wingfield Digby, M.P., in his place in the House of Commons, recently made some scathing references to frozen meat. His remarks have been challenged by the various Agents-General, but we doubt whether they have been able to remove what must be the far-reaching effects of his condemnation. There is no doubt that Mr Wingfield-Digby exceeded the bounds of fact; at the same time there appears to be good reasons for condemning the frozen meat which is sent away from this colony at any rate. The London correspondent of a Sydney daily paper, writing under date 19th March, says : " So far as New Zealand is concerned, there are scarcely any really good sheep on the market, while there is a superabundance of plain indifferent quality. The best sheep were stale and out of condition with long storing, and many mildewed and damaged. Many of the best customers are ceasing to purchase New Zealand meat." Here we have in a nutshell the reason why New Zealand mutton is dropping in price, and the reason too for some of the unpalatable comments of Mr WingfieldDigby. We have been sending to London inferior quality ; that has been iterated and re-iterated time and again ; but the shipments of inferior mutton goes on without cessation, and the best customers, disgusted with the wretched quality of our meat, are ceasing to buy it. There is no hope, no possibility, of improving the prices until this question is satisfactorily dealt with. There must be a market for our second quality meat at second quality prices, but we should aim at supplying the best at best prices. It is very evident that shippers are getting very careless in the matter of quality, and the only reasonable method of breaking with this system is to institute strict Government supervision and grading. This must come, nothwithstanding the opposition of the trade and others who profit by the prevailing laxity. But Mr Wingfield-Digby is not the only detractor we have to contend with, for some of the papers circulating largely amongst the work-ing-classes of London are tilting at frozen meat. Thus the Echo, a halfpenny evening paper, in a recent issue contained the following :—" At first some medical authorities expressed optimistic views regarding meat brought from the ends of the earth in ice or cool chambers. But the truth is that meat, like wine and other things, is injured by the freezing process. The nourishing juice of the meat runs away in water, and the heat of cooking soon dries it up into a brown substance all through. At the same time the outside does not become the rich tasty morsel so well remembered when only home meat was available. Let it be plainly understood that foreign meat is not so nourishing as English, and that the majority of butchers palm off} when they etui, the insipid

stuff, even, as I know, to poor invalids, to whom nourishment is a matter of life and death." A paragraph of this kind is calculated to do a wonderful amount of damage, and we have no doubt the readers of the Echo, who may be classed as our best customers, accept the statements appearing in the paper at full value. Then there are the paragraphs as to the number of carcases of frozen meat condemned by the inspectors at the docks as being unfit for food. The British workman, instead of being encouraged to buy frozen meat, is daily reminded of some bad feature about it, and even if he disregards what appears in the papers and ventures to buy frozen meat his disgust is but increased by the stale, mildewed, and inferior quality of the stuff. His suspicions thus mature into strong conviction, and he ceases entirely to have anything to do with frozen mutton. There is no denying the fact that frozen meat is less popular in England to-day than it was years ago when a much smaller quantity was imported. These facts clearly prove the necessity of instituting a propaganda for bringing before the 13ritish public the excellence of frozen meat, both as regards its nutritive qualities and its digestibility. The meat requires to be well advertised, like any other article of commerce, and this phase of the question must sooner or later receive serious attention. It is useless expecting the London salesmen to help us in this matter. Mr Twopenny, who was sent from Australia with the especial object of bringing about some sort of union amongst those who are interested in the frozen meat trade in London, practically failed in his venture. Although the London Committee ' which Mr Twopenny formed adopted a series of nine resolutions, the differences of opinion amongst the members are said to be irreconcilable. The chairman of the committee, Mr Doscal, held the view that the movement initiated by Mr Twopenny was unneccessary. The resolutions adopted by the committee are to be considered by the Australian meat companies, and Mr Twopenny has returned to Australia to lay the matter before them. It is not likely that the colonial companies will endorse the resolutions, as they so utterly fail to realise what the colonial producers were warranted in expecting. The London Committee desire to let the trade remain as it is, and to evolve its own improvement without any concentrated effort on the part of producers and distributors. This is just what the colonies cannot submit to, and certainly the aid of Government will be sought to bring about the desired improvement.