THE SALEYARDS QUESTION.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXI, Issue 8831, 11 July 1905, Page 4

THE SALEYARDS QUESTION.

To the Editor. Sir,—l cannot tell who "Verb. Sab." is, and he doesn't know me—so how can there be a quarrel between us? Xeither do I resent his placing his point of view before the public: he has a perfect right to do this. But his object plainly is to show the farmers that saleyards in this district, cannot be made to pay, and accordingly to throw cold water upon the proposal to form a farmers' saleyards company. In this I do not think he is justified, for in the first place, I don't consider his conclusions reasonable. If I dubbed "Verb. Sap." "pessimist" it was because he seems to have such a poor opinion of IS'orth Otago as a stock centre. In a former letter lie expressed the conviction that the stock business of the district, judging from years of experience "and from what one can see ahead of us," "is not likely to warrant the expenditure on yards which larger districts have indulged in." Now he speaks of a fat stock market in Oamaru as "that old fallacy." Once again I would ask: Is our district such a small and insignificant one as the first of these quotations would suggest? Or, secondly, seeing the enormous quanties of freezers sent away from this district, is it so hopeless that there should ever be a fat stock market established here? I am quite ready to admit that under present conditions farmers prefer to sell their fats on the farms and let some one else take all risks. But would not this be altered if there existed a central market where better prices could be obtained ? Surely it would, for wherever the best competition is, there the bulk of the stock is bound to go. This is amply proved in Canterbury, where it appears, judging from reports, that by far the greater proportion of the fat stock is put through the public saleyards, so evidently up North they know of a better way than selling on the farm. And now with regard to figures. It is not for me, an outsider, to show how the scheme can be made a success. You cannot, on starting any business, say for an absolute certainty cither that it will pay or that it will not, but I maintain strongly the opinion that, under good management, and in view of the development of which the stock business of this district is capable, a farmers' saleyards company is as desirable, and ought to be just as much to the advantage of the community, as kindred institutions in other districts have proved themselves. The numbers of sheep and cattle mentioned by "Verb. Sap." in one of his letters, to show what stock would have to go through the yards to pay expenses, do not seem to me appalling in the slightest degree. As a resident, I have noticed large entries on many occasions at the Junction Yards in the past. I think if reports were turned up it would be found that at times there have been upwards of 10,000 sheep and perhaps two or three hundred head of cattle in one sale. Within the last few years settlement in our district has made strides, and the increase in stock business has gone hand in. hand with it. We know that this is so, and I think there are now ample grounds to warrant a very strong endeavor being made to improve upon the existing state of affairs, and to raise the standard of our central stock market to something above the level of an upcoiintrv sale.—l am, etc., j " JEFF.