FROZEN MEAT CONFERENCE.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 10093, 6 September 1895, Page 4

FROZEN MEAT CONFERENCE.

[BY TELEGRAPH.] Wellington, Thu,rsday. The Frozen Meat Conference began this morning. Mr D. Nathan explained the aim of the conference, reiterating the statement published by him in pamphletß. Ho oglleved. there was a great fubure for the trade, and strongly urged combination hero and concentration ab the other end. Par. the purpose of bringing about the 1 ? combination in New Zealand which he "considered essential, he found thab ib wonld be necessary to bay oat all or a i certain number of the present freezing companies, and bo find bhe capital. : He suggested that a Controlling • ' Board tie appointed and empowered to levy a sheep rate at 3d per head, a quarter of a million to be raised - annually, an the -tax- waa pajd the farmers to receive shares fully or partially paid up for the amount of their payments. By adopting this coarse the owners of ~ eheip would eventually be the owners. of 1 . the freezing companies, which would be Df advantage. To avoid tbe. ilsk of the company being marie a speculative or commercial business he unggested that ■hsrea to non-sheepfanners during the rate be limited to 30 per cent. He had no doubt, if such a company waa formed, it would at once, save in freights the sum of £126,000, eqnal to ljd per head on every sheep la the colony, bo that the sheep rate frcm a colonial point of view would be pfcld by the saving in freights, and not by the farmers. Other savings could, he s&ld, be made, bat until the farmers Bcoepbed the principle of a sheep rate, the . v outline of his scheme already published he thought sufficient. Mr Nathftß moved Bhe resolutions of the provisional oommitbee drawn up some days ago and already telegraphed. Mr C. Pharazyn (chairman) said na doubtedly there were difficulties la the way of the trade, bnt he had little doubt good result's would ensue from the. deliberations of the conference. Mr Ocbell, In seconding the adoption of the resolution, said there waa a good deal In Mr Nathan's scheme with which he did not agree, but admitted that the frozen p^eab Indnsbry, next to wool growlpg, was the most important one in , New Zealand. He agreed that a Board ' Bb.r; u i(i he pet up to regulate the enpply . >'ad demand. If the freezing companies* -federated It would be to the Interests ' of all parties, as bhe price of sneop wonld be maintained at a reguUr pricu in the colony. They had the beat sheep la the world, and growers, desired to make colonial mutton known la the Home markets. The meat, however, shonld not be rushed into bhe markeb, He bboughb If the shjpping companies trading to New Zealand declined to reduce freights they should apply to some Home companies, .' who he declared would only be toi glad • to run, -after them. To hi? mind freight should be reduced all the y«wr round instead of being raleed from *|d to Id at Pertain periods. ' Mr M'lntOßh, of the Western Farmers' Association, thought title good wonld ' xeault) from taxing sheep. Whab was .'wanted was a large co-opei'stive association, in which Bheep growers would be 'shareholders, ThU association should ignore tbe middlemen, and should deal ■ ...not only in England, bo c also on the. "'Continent. The Hon. Mr Fergus, representing the Otago Agricittural and Pastoral Society, and. Mr Begg, Dunedin Freezing Company, a'orongly opposed a sheep tax, nnd declared every farmer in Obago was opposed to it. The latter suggestnd that If freezing companies in New Zealand erected large cooling chambers they would find it of greab advantage, To establish tt company such as was proposed wonld enrage the retailers in Ecgfond. Lateb. Mr Begg, Danedin, moved 1 .— (1.) , "That in the opinion ot thia conference . any attempt to establish a monopoly of the frozen meat industry in the colony, would be bath un'de-irable and irapraoticable." (2.) "Thuti In order loglvocon fidence to buyers, and to secure as far as possible a uniformity In quality, it is desirable that the freezing cjmpani.ca in the colony should agree to a Uniform • system of grading." (3.) "That in order „ toreßulatfi supplies to the Home market, apd to prevent a glut, which had been occasioned by excessive shipments daiiDg the first half ot each year, Ib wonld be 1 ' very advantageous if provision wete made for' storage accommodation in the colony, .80 that supplies sent forward might be regulated and any gmt prevented," He "thought with Mr Fergus that Mews Nathan and Orball were to be oomplitneuted on the interest they had taken Iv this matter, bub some of the statements made were of an alarmist character. Prices of sheep had nob been so very low, . and there' was quite a demand in his ' dlstriot. Freight charges, he contended, would be gradually reduced by evolution of trade. • Mt Baddo, M.H.R., Canterbury, said there was a great objection to Government interference}, and to the proposal to impoße a general tax per head on sheep throughout! • the colony to achieve bhe object of the soheme proposed. The tax would. 'be mnsb unfair, owing to tbe difficulty in different rating between those w'ao would be benefited by the tax and those who wonld not. The trade was developing irrespective of auy amalgamation. Tbe amendment w»3 comprehensive, bubbe would like it to go farther, and asked the mover to accept an amendment - on the lines that If the New Zsaiand freezing companies would combine to provide conl storage at London aud other seaporb docks ia Greab Britain where our 'meat was landed, and also have one general agent ia each of the laree in<ttM trial centres to push the sale of New Zaaland frozen meit on its merits, it would remove; to a very considerable extent the evila complained of by exporters, and that this resolution be for warded to each freezlne company ia tbe colony. Mr Begg said ha could nob accept the suggested additiou. The Chairman suggested that Mr Baddo might bring forward bis recommendation ' as a farther amendmeat. Mr Nelson, Hswke's gay, said the scheme proposed by Mr N^lkan wae , utterly unworkable, and the conference ought not to adopt any t-cheme without first obtaining the most miaate inormatlon. Many speakers had said the whole difficulty lay in London, bat in his opinion It was due absolutely to the want of combination on this side amoogst freezing companies. For lastaoca ia the early part of 1894 there waa a great soarolty of meib, and the effect of this was just as disastrous as a glut, as the Teaulo wastbtb customers bhey had been supplying had to seek other sources for their supplies. When the meat did arrive, it was In double quantity, and there were not purchases to the extent of arrivals, and it took until nearly the end of the year before the market was put back to it? original position. Next, tbe wily sheep farmer discovered tbat January, February, and March were the beit mouths in which to send bU mutton Home, su there was a demand for more steamers. Tho meat cent Home in the beginning of 1895 was the most onttageous thing they bad ever had. The farmer did not take Into account tbat tbe stores were fall of meat at the beginning of 1895, whereas in 1891 they were empty. The result was that the meat was jimmed in tbe market aud there was a fall in prices. Practically in the firat six months of 1895 the shipment* were equivalent to aomntbing like 1,300,000 sheep, and in the next six months bo 809,000, and from these figures they mast see there was ample reason for this enormous depreciation in prices. If shipments were properly regulated thi balk of the difficulty would be amended, Mr Nathan said he had particularly pointed oub in his speech tbat until the principle of the tax was accepted, Ib was no use going into details. Mr Charles Pharazyn said his inquiries in England showed that a very large quantity of indifferent quality of meat was sent Home. The standard in Smith - field was so high that whab might be considered here a very good sheep, was there a very indifferent one. There was the market, and if tbe demand was to be kept up, the sheep must be good. Though a great deal had been done in England, much remained to be done, particularly in pushing sales. Mr Nelson agreed that there was a great deal more to do, but thought that up to the present everything had been done tbat conld be done. Mr Booth, Wairarapa, thought tbe conference wonld reject bobh tbe sheep tax and tbe proposal to invite Government interference. The solution of tbe difficulty lay with the freezing companies themselves. Care should be taken to send Home only the best sheep, assum- ' ing thab they could secure a combination by which tbey could get a better quality of sheep. He was sure the difficulty wonld be surmounted if bhey could also regulate their nhipmentis to obtain thia latter point. However, Increased storage ociommndatioD must bo secured, which was a matter of money. Sir John Hall, Canterbury, said the association he represented was distinctly opposed to Mr Nathan's scheme. He did noc mean to say they were saHslied wiih things as they were, but 1 1> -■ -nintioa of the dlfrnaHy conld best b- I'.lieussed if Mr Nathan's scheme were tint disposed of. Mr Litobfield, Marlborough, opposed the scheme, in view of the possibllltie" of tbe live meat trade, especially with America. Mr Anderson, Ekctahuna, urged ;. redaction In freezing ond shipment charges, and suggested the appointment of some competent person at Home, to properly look after the disoribution o! heep.

Mr Dalrymple, Rangiti'kei, epoks of ' tha careless, in fact, diagraceful, handling of New Zealand meat from the Gothic, which had come under bis notice recently , in London docks. A* Nelson Btob. 1 ; establishment, however, meat oonld not have been better handled. He did nob think colonial mutton was properly distributed over England, and it would be fin advantage to Bend ib to Liverpool, Bristol, and other parts as well as London. Mr Clayton, Marlborough, also spoke of the necessity of better distribution of meat at Home, lie disagreed rrith the proposal for the amalgamation ot freezing companies. Mr Kirkbride, Auckland, opposed Mr Nathan's scheme, which he considered would lead to further taxation. Mr Bidwlll, Wellington, thought Mr Nathan's scheme was cot altogether practicable. Mr Millward, Wellington, said care was taken to freefcs only the best sheep. He koew that ol the sheep sent to the Gaar Company last year over io per cent were not frozen. Storage accommodation should be iofrcased here, but there was ample In London Mr Brady, Wellington, also opposed the scheme. Mr Nathan then replied. He said that from the tone of the discussion he wouldaak the conference to permit him to withdraw his scheme or amend it. He had never suggested Government control. All he had advocated was legtl power fnr the establishment of a controlling Baard They wanted improvement, but would not pay lor It. He lelt very strongly on the question of a rednCtlou lo freights, and z. combination of fretting companies would be able to bring strong power to bear on the shipping companies to obtain this, Mr Begg'a resolution renlly aimed at the Bame thing as his (Mr Nathan's) soheme. There was ho doubt It was possible to sufficiently tea ula to the market to prevent & glut or depression. If tbo trade was to be developed it mast be pnshed, and freights must be reduced, so that exporter's could snecesafully compete with other countries v>ho were more advantageously sltnated in regard to freights and State aid. He could not see how the various freezing oompantes in New Zealand could secure that) unanimity which Was necessary for success wlbhont combination. Mr Nathan then asked leave to withdraw his nCheme, which was Unanimously granted. Hearty votes of thanks were accorded to Messrs Nathan and Orbell for the trouble they had taken in the matter. Mr Orball, in acknowledging the vote, said he wbb neither disappointed nor sorry that the scheme was withdrawn. With some reservations he wonld supporb Mr Begg's proposals. 'ijhe resolutions submitted by Mr Begg were then put before the meeting. . The first resolution, " That in the opinion of this conference, any attempt to establish a monopoly of the frozen meat industry of the colony would be both undesirable and impracticable," was carried on the voices withoub diecUssiont The second resolution, " That In order to give confidence to buyers, and to secure, us far as possible, uniformity in the quality of the meat expirted, id is deeiruble thab the freezing companies In the colony should agree to a uniform system of grading," was discussed up till 5 o clock, when the conference adjourned till 10 a.m. tomorrow.