FROZEN MEAT INDUSTRY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 18929, 29 January 1925, Page 9

FROZEN MEAT INDUSTRY.

MANIPULATION 0? PRICES. METHODS OF THE TRUSTS. LONDON PAPER'S ACCUSATION. By 1 clegraph—Press Association—Copyright. (Received 9.5 p.m.) A. and N.Z. LONDON. Jan. 28. The Daily Herald, in a special article, discussing Lord Vcstey's denial before the Food Commission that his firm controls the price of meat, asks why representatives of the Vestey trust and the American meat trust confer at 9.30 a.m. each day ? The writer suggests that the purpose of these conferences is to discuss the market position and prepare for the next day's market. "Vesteys do not control the market," says the article, "but they take part in controlling it alongside tlieir larger brethren. Operations at Smithfiold market begin at 4 a.m., and a lot of business is done by 6 a.m. "Immediately the position has been gauged telegrams and telephone messages are sent from the trusts to all their country branches fixing the minimum prices." The writer eou-iemns the sale and resale of meat while it is on the high seas or in cold storage. Ho says this speculation and changing of hands is specially noticeable in the case of colonial consignments. It had been suggested that cold storage was not used to hold up supplies against a rise, but that, he alleges, is exactly what it is used for.