Manawatu Evening Standard. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1917. THE MEAT TRUST AND THE COMING FAMINE.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLII, Issue 10116, 25 October 1917, Page 4

Manawatu Evening Standard. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1917. THE MEAT TRUST AND THE COMING FAMINE.

Thk Government will havo to lake very decided iiction if it is desirous ol eliminating the baneful operations of the American .Meat Trust in this country, and there would seem to he only one way out of the dilliculty. Much us State control ol business enterprises is to he deprecated as a general thing, tho one practical solution of the pro l hlcm involved in getting the better of private monopolies and of attempts to exploit the producer and consumer alike, appears to be in that direction. The disclosures made in the report of the Select Committee of the House of lleprcsentatives, presented to -Parliament yesterday, are serious enough to warrant drastic action on the part of the Government. 'The entry into tlie

meat trade of the Armour Co. of Australasia, which is controlled by Mr Ogden Armour, president of the Armour Co. ot Chicago, and operated upon a ridiculously small capital, so far as New Zealand is concerned, is a direct menace to the public. Wherever the .Meat Trust puts forth its tentacles it invariably begins by inflating prices so as to kill competition, and then, when it lias accomplished the latter, it forces prices down, where the producer is concerned, while maintaining the maximum prices imposed on the consumer. In this way it accumulates huge profits, which are employed in other ways to the detriment of the public. The immense fortunes made in America are directly due to the exploitation oi both sections of the public—the producer and manufacturer, and the consuming and using public. There is only one way of meeting private monopolies efIV’ctnally, and that is by substituting for them State monopolies, and, of (he two evils, tlui latter is preferable.

TO ELIMINATE THE SPECULATOR

The report of tbh Committee shows that, except as shareholders in freezing companies, tho New Zealand producers have not yet suffered. But tho danger exists, and may easily become a very formidable one should any combination find itself in a position to control values. Three freezing companies —W. and It. Fletcher, Ltd., the Westfield Freezing Co., and the Whangarci Freezing Co.—are in the hands of another Chicago firm, describing itself as ‘ of Great Britain and Chicago,” and a fourth company is said to be controlled or assisted by American capital, but the Committee say there is no proof of this, and that its financial support in New Zealand came from local banking institutions. While that may be tho case, it is quite possible American capitalists may be at tho back of the concern and responsible to the banks for the advances made. But, whether that is so or not, the fact remains that in at least two instances tho farmers have allowed the control of their own freezing companies to pass into the hands of outsiders, and that is a very regrettable thing. It would be far better for the Government to take control than to allow other establishments to bo operated by tho Meat Trust, and it only needs a slight modification of the existing system of dealing with our meat supplies to bring tin's about. Mr Massey stated yesterday that the heads ol the Meat Trust were practically collaring tho whole of the trade in England, and were now in the position of exploiting l>ofh the producer and the consumer. The Government, Alt' Massey says, wishes to see a similar position in New Zealand averted. It can be averted if the Government chooses t'i lake control of the whole of the moat output, by purchasing it on the basis of ibo average ruling prices in the world's markets, Jess tho cost of marveling. both locally and abroad. Wo Jow have an Imperial Supplies Departticnt in existence, which takes over all surplus meat stocks on behalf of the Imperial Government, and,, by extending the scope of its operations alter tho war—it is not possible to do it while the war is on, because a definite icontract has been entered into with the Imperial Government which must be respected—lt could so control the freezing companies us to prevent the exploitation of either the producer or the consumer, and thus eliminate the speculative clement which has such a baneful effect on both.

A COMING MEAT FAMINE. | There is all the more need for Govmi meat action because, ns Lord Rhondda, tho British Food Controller, has indicated, there is certain to be a world shortage of meat next year. The war is causing unprecedented famine in certain European countries, and the grim spectre of starvation hovers over, and does its deadly work in the countries occupied by the Central Powers and their Allies, and amongst the subjugated peoples of Europe. Speaking in tho House of Lords recently, Lord Harconrt, who, as President of the Board of Trade in the Asquith Administration, know a good deal of what was going on in enemy countries, said that Germany, which in times of peace required to carry 23,000,000 head of cattle, had reduced her stocks twelve months ago to 17,000,000, and the position was infinitely worse to-day. Of tl’.nt 17,000,000, however, half were breeding cattle, the remainder being ; one-year, or, at the most, two-year-old calves. Twelve months ago tho German Government estimated that it would take at least five years after the war to build up their stocks to the normal figure. lu Bavaria oven the milking cows were being slaughtered for food, and in Prussia only cows in calf, or cows singularly rich in milk, were exempt from food requirements. The meat that is being used in Germany to-day is almost exclusively derived from young cattle, and to obtain 1 tho average slaughter weight of 180 kilos (3cwt 2qrs 4lbs) it is (Lord Harcourt says) frequently necessary to kill three or four head of cattle. The stock in Belgium —what little remains—is wholly in the hands of the Germans, and in Holland and Denmark tho supplies of live stock have been largely reduced, partly as tho result of the war demand, and in the case of Denmark, on account of the drought and the consequent shortage of feed. Quite apart from the demands of the Allied countries, the Austro-Gennans, and even some of the neutral nations, will he largely dependent upon the world’s frozen and chilled meat stocks for their supplies. In Britain the inevitable effect of the tillage scheme must he to reduce the quantity of live stock available lor food purposes, and it is stated that, to replenish their depleted stocks, Germany and Austria would require to import (which of course they will he unable to do) 16,000,000 head of cattle. From all of which it will bo seen that a meat famine in Europe is inevitable after the war. New Zealand is not likely to suffer, except through the high prices that our meat will fetch in the world's markets, but that will have its compensations in the increased wealth it will make available for the development of our resources, and the payment ot the debt wo are incurring on account of the war.