The Hastings Standard Published Daily FRIDAY, JUNE 25, 1897. HOOLEY'S MEAT POOLING SCHEME.

Hastings Standard, Issue 356, 25 June 1897, Page 2

The Hastings Standard Published Daily

FRIDAY, JUNE 25, 1897. HOOLEY'S MEAT POOLING SCHEME.

Mr. Ernest Terah Hoolky is not an altruist, neither is he a philanthropist. He is a millionaire of Stock Exchange manufacture, and of mushroom growth, with a dash of altruism and philanthrophy sufficient for advertising purposes. His Jubilee present of gold plate to St. Paul's cathedral, though a costly afifair, was an excellent advertisement, so also was the miniature old age pensions' scheme established by him in his native town. Mr Hooley, however, is a man of large commercial ideas, and his millions have been, comparatively speaking, cleanly made. Mr Hooley's ventures are on the gigantic scale, as is shown by his successful deals in Dunlop tyres and Bovril. It is not surprising that the millionaire Hooley, who has just fixed up a railway contract with China, should turn his attention to the colonial meat trade. The frozen meat industry owes its present depressed condition to the conflict of interests —insurance, freight and wholesale distributors are taking the profit, leaving the producers to take what is left, which often as not, has been a loss. The frozen meat industry, we have been told time and again, is being made the prey of greedy middlemen and of other grasping interests, and evidence in support of this has been furnished by the fact that repeated efforts have been made to bring about a combination of the producing interests in the colonies, and an ambitious attempt was recently made in Sydney with indifferent success. Thus the whole position of the industry points very forcibly to the need of a great change ; if that change cannot be brought about by colonial enterprise and colonial capital then there can be no harm in considering outside proposals. From the cabled details of the scheme which Mr Hooley is alleged to have forwarded to the colonies, it is clear that the millionaire is prepared to pay handsomely, though not in cash, for the concerns that desire to enter the " pool." The purchase price fixed is liberal; and is to be equal to the net value of the assets, together with a bonus, which practically means the goodwill, equal to the aggregate amount paid in dividends during the last seven years, or pro rata if the company has not been in existence seven years, and the reserve fund also becomes the property of the vendors; payment is be made as to

one-third in cash, one-third in pleference shares, and one-half in ordinary shares; the reserve funds to t>e repaid by the issue of 5 per cent debentures. If a sufficient number of companies accept the terms, and we are not sure that some of the larger companies will fall into line, then only will the scheme be put into force, and Mr Hooley estimates that a capital of four millions will be required. The whole point, however, rests upon whether or not the producers will submit to being mopped up by a millionaire. The word " monopoly " when paraded has a distinctly unsavoury taste to colonials, and those opposed to the scheme will be able to make a good use of this to render it abortive. Looking at the proposal from the scanty details that have been cabled out, we do not think there is anything to fear in the way of monopoly. The distribution of capital and the scheme of management effectually disposes of that. Furthermore the scheme is based on the supposition that the new company will be powerful enough to raise the price of frozen meat, and any increased return under this head must be reflected in the price paid to the grower of mutton. It is, however, premature to discuss the scheme upon the scanty details that are available; the interesting point is that an astute millionaire sees money in the consolidation of the various colonial meat freezing companies. Any relief from the present disastrous level of low prices for sheep will no doubt be welcomed by the sheep farmers.