IMPERIAL MEAT CONTRACTS

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXIX, Issue LXIX, 17 March 1915, Page 4

IMPERIAL MEAT CONTRACTS

To the Editor,

Sir —I was interested in the letter inserted m your issue of the 13th inst over the signature of W. D. Powdrell" ■ Judging by the haste with which Mr Powdrell rushed into print (before even his pet company had been directly attacked), I cannot help but think that it is a case cf a somewhat guilty conscience. The plain facts of the case are that the Government is at present the sole purchaser of all the beef and mutton to be exported from the Dominion, and a schedule of prices has been arranged "iving f u ]i satisfaction to the actual suppliers of the meat. Therd is, however. a lion in the path—to wit, the ruonopolisticm/at, ?ompames of New Zealand, someot which are possibly under the control of the famous Yankee Trust, and which absolutely bar business beine done between the raiser or grower of the product and the buyer—that is to say, these institutions" simply tell' farmers who wish to sell direct to the buyer that this cannot be done, and' that farmers must sell only to the meat companies. It is stated by some meat companies that they have sufficient stock bought to keep their works going, to the exclusion of all other supplies excepting their own The consequence is that farmers are ud in +w S ' + i,a- nd A atur? lly feel indignant that this state of affairs should haveI arisen.

■ One would think that Mr Powdrell, being at the head of an allegedly cooperative concern, would be the veryfirst to protect his brother farmers But no! His attitude is distinctly hostile, and he plainly states that his company will not facilitate businessbetween the purchaser and the m-o----?vT £* iT" run the b ™™ss as he thinks fit—buying stock in the cheapest market and selling presumably m the dearest, and his farmer friendscan « go hang" so long as he and his friends can make their fat,profits There is only one remedy immediately m sight, and Mr .Powdrell anticipates what might happen to his works - namely, that they might be taken overby the Government. I hardly think however, that the present Government trill do anything so drastic, but still akovernment may arise that would act decisively. Abuses should only have to be shown for remedies to be devised. A second method would, of course, be the immediate constructionof other works, erected by those who produce the material to keep them. going, and not by interested speculators posing as farmers. We hear that the Patea "Works are fully occupied m putting through stock purchased cheaply from as far away as Waikato, to the exclusion of the Tara— naki producers. This may or may not be true, but Mr Powdrell now has a ! splendid opportunity to" deny the alI legation. It is abundantly clear that Mr Powdrell himself is not a farmer, because he stated in his letter that, farmers are a selfish class. He himself is not selfish, of course. Far from it. He is merely looking for public recognition of his noble efforts on behalf" of the community in the trying times: our country is going through. INTERESTED,.