MEAT POOL PROPOSALS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 17979, 3 January 1922, Page 6

MEAT POOL PROPOSALS.

MANCHESTER OVERTURES. WEST OF ENGLAND TRADE. DISTRIBUTING FACILITIES: To facilitate the shipment of Ne* Zealand meat to Manchester the authorities there have advised Mr. Massey that they are prepared to do everything possible ; in the direction of providing storage and i other necessary accommodation at the lowest cost possible. The Lord Mayor of Manchester who, with other notable business men there, approved of the proposed New Zealand meat pool, in a cablegram to the Prime Minister, and promised their assistance and co-operation in connection with the j development of the meat trade with that I citv. The message pointed out to Mr. | Massey that Manchester serves one-fifth |of the population of Britain and that, I therefore, there is ample scope for an ex- | tensive meat trade there--1 Referring to this nutter last evening Mr. Massey said it -was satisfactory to | know that the farmers were to be pro- ! vided with a good opening to develop ! what he hoped would ultimately prove to |bo a good market for their meat. It was bound to have good results. In connection with the opposition to the meat pool a suggestion has been made that the producers interests would not be well served except through the Port jof London. In regard to the matter Mr. jW. E. Lewisham, representing the Man- | cheat-er Ship CanaJ and Port of Manj chester interests, states that the greatness | of London's market is undoubted, but Manj chester is the port of entry and practij cally in the centre of the much greater market of England's manufacturing districts. The great Manchester ship canal, completed many years ago, made Manchester a port of great importance by enabling large ocean-going vessels to discharge practically in the heart of tho most thickly populated port of England. Exporting countries, other than New Zealand, notably America, use Manchester enormously for the marketing of all classes of frozen produce. During the wa,r the congestion in London became so great that cold stores had to be built elsewhere, and Manchester wa s the place chosen as being the best situated to distribute from to feed practically half of England s population, namelv, 20,000,000, as against London's 5.000,000. tt'ith 20,000,000 people within a radius of 50 miles of Manchester, is it economical, Mr. Lewisham asks, that the meat for them should go to London and suffer from lor>s railage and extra _ handling, when it coulo be distributed direct from Manchester cold stores to the various cities and towns by a road service of insulated vans? Mr. Lewisham states the port of Manchester people developed Trafford Park, adjoining the canal, and own the railways connecting the canal with their cold stores, as well as the road service used for distributing the meat from their cold stores to the retailers. Thir; means that every transport insulated van, whether raid'or road, is under their personal supervision, resulting in care and cleanliness in handling, surpassing the ordinarv service of railway companies. lheir cold stores, completed in 1919, are the last word in economic and clean handling with mechanical facilities second to none m England, with a double line of rails on each side, and within 6d per ton haulage of the steamer discharging at the dock. Ocean freight on meat to Manchester is the same as to London, and freezing and handling charges at Manchester are less than those of London. Manchester's bid for it? legitimate share of England's frozen meat, dairy produce, and wool imports, from New Zealand will and must, Mr. Lewisham concludes, be responded to sooner or later by the Dominion producers and shippers bv virtue of her geographical position, surroundintr population and recent development, creating for her a true economic position, which will assuredly asserfilself. OPINIONS IN LONDON. FINANCIAL PAPERS' VIEWS. [BY TELEGRAPH. —OWN CORRESPONDENT.] CHRISTCHUKCH. Monday. Advice has been received that the two leading London financial newspapers have devoted considerable space to criticism of tho Government's meat pool proposes. The London Financial Times states: " The proposal has created great interest and opposition in overseas trade circles in London as being socialistic in the ei- • The Financier devoted a lengthy article to criticism of the scheme, from which the following is an extract: "Few people in this country realise that behind the meagre cablegrams that have reached London with regard to Mr kassey s ideas for a meat pool lies what is probably the most revolutionary proposal that has ever been placed before the busmess world of the British Empire." OPPOSITION FROM AGENTS. INJURY TO TRADE FEARED A. and N.Z. LONDON, Dec. 30The Council of the New Zealand and Australian Agents' Association has passed a resolution expressing the opinion that Mr. Massey's proposals for the meat pool do not provide for any remedy for. the present abnormal conditions of the New Zealand meat trade, but on tho contrary are likely to do irreparable harm to the trade and all interests connected with it, by checking forward business, and thereby playing direct into the hands of South American traders. The agents urge, therefore, *he withdrawal of the proposals in order that the trade may be carried on as m the past, to the advantage of the producers, without any interference on the part of any Government.