AUSTRALASIAN FOOD

Lyttelton Times, Volume C, Issue 11702, 5 October 1898, Page 5

AUSTRALASIAN FOOD

AN IMPORTANT SCHEME FOR THEIR REALISATION. MR J. H. GEDDES’S PROPOSALS. [Feom Ode Corespondent.] LONDON, August 19. A few weeks ago'Mr-J. H. Geddes, whoso name will be familiar to most Australasian agriculturalists and pastoralists, invited the Agents-General to consider a scheme for the improved distribution and better realisation of the food products of Australia, with a view to its submission through them to their various Governments. The details of the scheme were, by common consent, withheld for the time being from journalists representing colonial papers, but the other evening Mr Geddes very kindly gave me the opportunity to talk over the matter with him. Mr Geddes is "an. enthusiast on produce questions, but his enthusiasm is tempered by a most intimate knowledge of the ins and onts of production, carriage and realisation, and, consequently, unlike many of his predecessors in the attempt to make the Home markets more profitable to the producer, he does not deal in magnificent proposals, involving millions of capital outlay for their initiation, nor does he propose to extinguish the Smithfield and Tooley Street middlemen at one fell swoop. For this reason, it is very probable his scheme will not commend itself to some people on your side of the world, but, for myself, I am inclined to look thereon with favour. It will undoubtedly enable Australian produce to reach provincial consumers in better condition than heretofore, and, by eliminating

certainichajges arising put of the present methods of provincial distribution, will enable Australasia to compete on more even terms'with other countries supplying meat, cheese, butter, and other perishable food stuffs. Of the necessity for greater attention being paid’ to,the distribution and realization of Australasian produce there is ample evidence to hand; -Australasia has, so to speak, only got ’to the' fringe ©fiber productive capacity, blit the -results ■of her at present comparatively limited trade (limited, that is, considering the productive possibilities of the colonies) -:are extremely unsatisfactory to the producer,,;and promise to be even’more so in ■ the future, owing to the energy which Australia’s .most active competitors .are throwing into the exploitation of the Home markets. The growth of the competition with Australasia in the meat trade alone, ds a matter requiring serious consideration. The live stock arid . chilled meat'shipments from -tho United States- to. Great Britain , last .year were ' valued ' at ■ £7,230,854 ,■ and respectively—pea.rly £300,000 increase, over the-shipments of- 1896. Aus-tralians,-I Know, look forward to tha .time when America will cease to become a source of meat supply for England, and will resolve into a market for Australian and Canadian meats;, '-But , rapidly as the population of■ thh' 'States is increasing, I think ithe, contemplation of the happy day when. America will cease from troubling the HbiniCmarketo with meat may be safe left for posterity. ■ Even,. however, if America does fail as a source of supply, the Argen-tine-has : to be reckoned with. Like Aus-.-tralasia, she Las but touched the fringe of ‘her productive capacity. The creation and development of the live stock export trade in the. Argentine shows how seriously; that country will vex .the soul of Antipodean producers!, It commenced in 1890, .and last .year, no less than 103,768 head of cattle and '485;,700 sheep'were exported; whilst for the first-five months of the' current year- the Argentine sent out 56,397 head of cattle and 298,948 sheep. . Ifn the:.frozen meat trade the Argentine has aiso. made’temaxjkalde strides; both in quality (md-quamrity. - Laiit year the totol exppTt of ifrozen sheep, and lambs, approximated, 2,00p,p00. ;,,The siqaerior average quality and qf : the American, chilled ;beef-ma®tes ; it to .command a ready sale both in London, and the provinces at from £5 to £8 per head, higher than' frozen beef, and the live stock, including the Argentine shipments, which show wonderful improvement in size, breedand quality, make on the London and Liverpool markets .prices only slightly inferior to British stock. . The frozen meat, .through tie medium of powerful companies interested in both factories in the Argentina and the shop system of distribution, passes to a’great-extent to the consumer direct. How far the Argentine people have, developed their Isysfcemof decentralisation and direction to the may be gathered from their sup : ipEes to' the London Central Meat Market as compared with the 'Australasian:, In 1892 the Argentine forirarded'to London 69,495 tons of., dead meat' as against Australasia’s 37,819 tons, while in 1897, notwithstanding the greater increase in the shipments from Argentina, the ’totals were 73,901 tons as 'against 79,500 tons, showing an increased concentration in the Central Market of 4400 tons only, as compared with 41;681 tons from Australia. And, 1 of course, the great hulk of the Australasian import outside the Central Market supply was realised in the metropolis. The evils attendant on the concentration ’• of .'the Australasian meat export in London arid- tho necessity for the organised cxdtiva--1 ting bf the provincial markets have been amply evidenced by the prices ruling on the big'market days recently at the Central Meat Markets. " On Friday) July 22, when American chilled Beef Was selling at per lb per Head for 8001 b bullocks, and Argentine fresh Deptford killed at the same rate, Queensland frozen ; beef 'was being given .at 'lfd, or £& 8s 4d per head, actually less-, than-the accumulated charges-from sta-tion-to sale. On the same day, : Australian merino' mutton reailised to 2fd per ' ■ uVitbi’-a iview to remedying’, or at ! any rate mjtigstting',:: these • ever-recurring- “ slumps

• IWitbi- a,view to' remedying, or at ! any rate mitigating', 1 these - eyer-recurrihg- “ slumps ■ Australasian 1 'meal, ; Mr profioses tliat a company be formed 1 / ■with ai ribininar capital of £500,000, of,which a,■first,issue-of £2:50,000 shall-be made’, for the purpose of initiating a thorough system of'provincial distribution, through, the medium." of a . series of thoroughly-equipped small; storago depots, which would appeal either :directiy to the consumers, or serve to act as 'direct , feeders' to the existing retailers. These depots would in turn be fed regularly from a large receiving depot, which he proposes should be erected on the Lower Thames on a site which he has already under offer, and which, at a moderate expense, can he fitted with a whaxf, alongside which vessels -of • large' draft can lie, so. admitting of .‘direct; reception of perishable produce from iiolfil to depot-or refrigerating car, and , from thence to the'London Central Market, , m to.'phe ;Various small receivingdepots in • the -.provifices, thus reducing f charges and avoiding-' deterioration through exposure to trying atmospheres and excessive handling; En.' parenthese, I may mention ' that expressed - thojifl willingness 'to ■ provide thoroughly insulated cars whenever Mr Geddes can' show that they have a fair, clu ace pf ' sufficient • traffic to .warrant the capital outlay. Many companies, indeed, have already sufficiently good cars to answer the purpose, ■ providing the , meat: is put intp them direct from, the ship, but under,existing circumstanced the thawing process is often well under way before the cars -are■ requisitioned. The provincial. <»ntres,-d\fr. Geddes. thinks, .'might also be used to advantage as information bureaux and, agencies for assisting the development °f trade in colonial products generally. He estimates that the cost of the central depot for land,, building and machinery, would be £35,000, and eadL of the local depots, of whidh'he proposes'to erect sixty in the first places/, £3OOO egch; i ‘The central defiot .should, he estimates, have a capacity of 2000 tons of meat/or arr equivalent in butter, fruit, rabbitS;.’:,etc., and the smaller, depots a capacity for/fifty dojis- of'ifrozeh meat; fifty tons of chilled, ten tons of’Butter and ten tons-of fruit and other perishables. Each depot, of course, would be designed so as to admit of each . .article being kept in the temperature most .suitable to its needs. Mr Geddes proposes, also to-make storage and distributing arrangements with the existing provincial depots at Liverpool, Newcastle, Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds,- Plymouth, Bristol, Cardiff, Hull/Glasgow, and elsewhere, which are, he says'j Atipreront mainly monopolised by American;* and '-.'Argentine consignments, ‘anch in viewr/df the development of Egypt and the position as. totne Canal traffic; ho thinks an eye shduld'be-kept on Port. Said. ‘ The fifty tewns.selected by Mr Geddes for the initiation'of his'; ijchenle'have rn aggregate population of;cl,ose upon four millions. .-. '■'fbjs is hp.w ho proposes to spend the £250,000 first issue :

■ ■ a lo’csnlrardejsot . . :35,C00 can fraF depot", general; working'- ‘ expenses/ ■' " ' ,"V; . ' S’CCiO T)5-..§s;typrovincial, dophts - : •.'.; ISOjUfIO 5,0.' depotis./-'gG|i,erUl 1 . • ”v ■ '• ",’ ' '.,'. '16,000 TOVContjanod series-of erqierimonts' ! . . '■ edemunsiratc the feasibility 1 of ■. . 'mxporting -beef in a chilled' coodl-' • ■■ticii' ' . . 5,000 Tb securing space in existing provin- • „,cial stores • . . . . , 10,000 • ' ’ ; , £250,000 , -In'additiontoajid>in conjunction' with the 1 central; , and- provincial depots, Mr Qeddas ;strqhgl j advocates;' tfre , securing of a. small refrigerating chamber in the midst of theSmitlifield markets, to be. so- designed as.' to' admit ■ of the ■ various perishable products, from: Australia being always in .view in, the’heart of the London produce trade. ■And how does Sir Gdddes propose to get the capital necessary for his scheme. He has the choice of various methods. He may form a company,- and get-his money from British sources, or from British-cum-Aus-tralian , or from Australasian alone. But peeing that the full advantages of his scheme .can. 1 only be secured to the, producers by the maintenance .of a controlling Australasian ininfluci&S,’ he propose'that the colonial Govetnmfents implicated should either contribute a anjdmixt of capital, or if the capital is obtained from private sources, guarantee the interest for a period of years.

making in the latter event a stipulation as to'the maximum charges, and, if deemed necessary, the maxi mum amount of dividend, thus delegating the work to a private company, and at the same time securing a re--1 formation in charges and system of distribution. Under either arrangement, he proposes that the Agents-General of the various subscribing colonies shall constitute, the Supervisory Board apart from tho Executive Board representing either Governments ■or a private company. Such, in brief, is Mr Geddes’s scheme. Upon ■clos& examination it may prove altogether im-practicable-many people will vote it so offtiand. For myself, however, I must say that :it seems worthy of the most serious consideration : by the Governments to which it has been r.mbini'ttecL, and by the producers it is designed to benefit. ■ The proposal for a Government guarantee will stick in some people’s throats, but,.as Mr Geddes points, out, the respective Governmentshave all done a great deal, towards developing production in the colonies, and '■•the value of that work will he seriously qtiaEfied unless a corresponding amount of attention and assistance, is accorded to; the important work of realisation. And, after all, Mr Geddes does not ask. a. great deal. Ho-says, in effect : “If a private company finds the necessary capital to initiate my scheme, will the Governments, in event of the company failing to earn enough to pay a dividend of 4 per cent, guarantee to make up. ihe.deficiency?”