"A HOPELESS DEADLOCK."

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 14473, 13 September 1910, Page 6

"A HOPELESS DEADLOCK."

BUTCHERS AND CHEAP MEAT.

[by telegraph.—special correspondent.]

Wellington', Monday. A prominent butcher interviewed on Saturday endorsed the statements which have been made as to the discontent in the trade, and supplemented them by some •further facts. The present position, he stated. was directly attributable to keen competition, which commenced among butchers about a year ago, and induced a reckless cutting of prices. At the time, butchers could afford to do this, as stock was remarkably cheap, but now, with retail prices cut, and the price of stock high and rising, they find themselves in an unenviable position. The trouble was in the first place produced by a lack of efficient combination among butcher's, which resulted in disastrous competition. Even now the members of the trade seem unable to agree upon any united course of action, with a view of bettering the position. The association laid the whole responsibility on a. limited number of butchers, determined at any cost to maintain their reputation as proprietors of "cheap" shops. These declined absolutely to subscribe to a common tariff, and the Butchers' Association, under tho circumstances, was practically powerless. So long as even one or two butchers held to the ruling retail prices, it was impossible for the remainder to change, as by doing so they would dimply lose their trade. The position might, in fact, be doscribed as a hopeless deadlock.