OCEAN FREIGHTS.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 10630, 8 June 1897, Page 3

OCEAN FREIGHTS.

(5? i'BiixiaAPH.) GISDORNE. M 0^ tty| A largely-attended meeting of pastoralists, convened by Mr H, G. Foster, manager of the Estates Company, set up a strong committee to wrvtbb thb interests

of prodnnera with regard to ocean freights anu obtain guaranteed as to the amount of produce that oan be shipped upon any arrangement being oome to. Mr Foster said he was assured of very great snpport in the South, and there could be no question that now the prodncers had it entirely in their own bands to eeonre more favarable terms. (They did not expect the shipping companies to carry at rates that were not remunerative, bat they wanted a fair thing. He noticed that following the steps that had been taken the shipping companies had thought it desirable to announce a reduction In their freights ; that ttab the step he should ha.'o takon were he running a shipping company. Some people — woolgrowers and not frozen meat shipp' erß~mlgl b think they had now god all they wanted, t>ub he considered the question was a more general one than that, and that Its settlement should ioolnde the freight on frozen meat or any other produce on which the present tftilng rates might preas unduly. The freights on frozen Meat from Australia were a farthing oheaper than from New Zealand. At the present time he thought they ooold count on a guarantee of <50,'(K$ bates, and he expeoted a very 'great deal more than that. Mr Bright, manager of the Loan and Mercantile, stated that the New Zealand and Shaw-Savlll Shipping. Companies were advertUlng rednMbrj'a of one-eighth of a.penny buthuy fiteam and sail. The grew trouble from the companies' point of view was that the requirements as far aa wool was ooncerned were all lumped into two or three months, and the oompanlcs for the rest of the year had a large amount of tonnage thrown upon theirhands. If some means could bo devised whereby the freight conld be spread over the wbolo jGai' tibe shipping Companies would no doubt see their way to still further rednce freights. Mr Shelton mentioned that shipowners had tried to meet them by giving them the benefit of reductions in freight, both in w.ool and meat, during the winter months as against the summer months no as to make it worth their while to equalise matters. The meeting dosed with a vote of (hanks to Mr Foater.