PRODUCE NOTES FROM LONDON.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1266, 4 June 1896, Page 4

PRODUCE NOTES FROM LONDON.

From Our Special Correspondent.

BRAND PIRATES

London, April IS

The excellence of Messrs Henry Reynolds' well-known " Anchorßrand" butter has naturally gained for it a high reputation in the Old Country, and, in consequence, the linn have to keep a sharp look out for brand pirates. Since establishing the London House Messrs Reynolds have had to mako themselves unpleasant to several importers in order to persuade them from using tho firm's registered mark, and quite recently, after a long period of quiet, they have had to bring to book a largo importer of Hutch. Messrs Reynolds had had suspicions for some littlo timo that someone was working off inferior butter under their brand since they received complaints from certain quarters that the Anchor kegs were not up to their usual standard. But one line day Mr Steele happened to call upon a client in the expectation of receiving an order. To his surprise the buyer remarked " No I can't do with any ' Anchors '; they've been turning out' fishy.' " Mr Steele knew perfectly well that none of the butter sent out from the London Depot had been so tainted, and asked to see one of the " fishy " kegs. But here he was baulked for the buyer hadn't one on hand, A few days later, however, it was borne in upon Mr Steele that as Dutch butter had been coming to hand " fishy " the brand pirate was an importer ot Dutch. S.) in company with a friend he paid a visit to Brewer's Quay, and there found a large quantity of Dutch butter on sale in kegs branded with an "Anchor.' 1 Hi; at once drew the consignee's attention to the piracy, and suggested that for his own sake he had better drop the game right away. The man swore he hadn't the ghost of a notion that Messrs Reynolds had registered such a brand, and, in fact, intimated that he thought .Mr Steele was trying a bluff. A lawyer's letter and a search at the Trade Marks Office, however, convinced the Dutch pirate that Messrs Reynolds had, in poker parlanc ', a "full hand," an I, in the end, he agreed to let go the " Anchor " and publish an apology in the Grocer for having made use of it. Ho did not, ho.vever, jump at the publication of his sin in this great trade journal, though to most people it would seem a cheap way of getting out of a nasty corner. But Messrs Reynolds insisted on pain of immediate proceedings, and the pirate caved in. He would have been a fool to do otherwise, for not only had he infringed the New Zealand firm's trade mark, but his unlawful use thereof had. done Messra

Reynolds specific damage. The Dutch kegs, of course, were not made of the same wood as tho New Zealand, and were bound with withes instead of iron. One would have thought that these differences would have caught the eye of Messrs Reynolds' clients light away, but apparently they did not. Mr Henry Reynolds has, by the way, just arrived back in London from a trip to Brazil, but, in Tooley street, the notion prevails that he spent his time in the Argentina "spying out the land" in connection with the dairy produce industry growing up there. It wasn't butter, however, which took the Aucklander over the sea, nor cheese, nor anything that is eatable. I may not say anything more at present, beyond adding that in Mr Reynolds' opinion Brazil is a wonderful country spoilt by its inhabitants.

MILDMAY'S MARKING BILL

Mr Giles, the chairman of the Federated Grocers' Associations, in writing to the Times protesting against the harassing character of the Agricultural Produce Marks Bill, warns tho promoters solemnly that ticketing foreign and colonial produce will not benefit home industries as they anticipate. It will, lie says, simply advertise the cheaper and often better colonial article. Mr Mild may, the sponsor of the measure, answering this and other criticisms, says :—" As far as meat is concerned, regulations providing for its marking arc in force in parts of the United States, in Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Denmark, and, if tho reports of our foreign representatives are worthy of credence, to the great and universally acknowledged advantage of the consumer. To say, therefore, as some do, that it is impossible to give effect to tho principle of identification of foreign meat is absurd. The butchers as a class recognise, I believe, that they cannot with justice oppose that principle, all they ask is that there shall be no harassing restrictions upon their business, and that the means of identification shall be such that honest trade is not checked thereby. Such means a select committee with its power rf taking expert evidence may be trusted to find." It is late in the day to say, as d m.\s Mr j Cliles, that "no one has jet established 1 sufficient proof that there is any sys- I tematic fraud in the sab; of foreign j produce." A perusal of tin; report of! the Lords Committee on the marking of foreign meat, ami of the voluminous evidenco upon which it is based, will I eifHgbten him upon that point. "In \ bringing forward this legislation, wo j maintain that the consumer has a right to know what he is buying, and that he should not, as is often the case, be tricked into giving a home-fed price for a foreign and often inferior article. On the other ban 1, for the producer we claim the right of placing his produce on the market to b : sold for what it is, j and we maintain that where farmers have made efforts to improve the quality of the produce they send to m-.rket, they not to bo deprived of their legitimate profits by misrepresentation."

There is nothing more annoying, or likely to lead to more confusion, than indistinct addresses. Farmers should note that it is more business-like, and that it saves time to have their names and addresses printed on their memo forms and envelopes. They can get five hundred forms printed with envelopes to match at the Mail office for 12s Gd,