OUR LONDON LETTER.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10360, 15 May 1895, Page 3

OUR LONDON LETTER.

■" -*— T ''•■-' (From Our Own Correspondent.) London, March 29. "FROZEN MEAT IN MANCHHSTER. Seme timo ago I referred to the important enterprise undertaken by Mr H. C Cameron, formerly of New Zealand, in establishing a distributing system on an extensive scale, haviug its centre ju Manchester. Mr Cameron, os manager of tte'New' Zealand Produce Stores Company, with headquarters at 95 Piccadilly, Manchester, ia carrying oa this valuable undertaking -* ilh immense vigour, and with excellent prosptcts of success. Mr Cameron goes intoth. uiatter with a whole-souled --uergy that is quite refreshing lo me<-t' with. .He has sent out tar and wide some mist attractive circulars, nutting forth the great advantage consumers'will darive from buying high-class New Zealand produce. He strikes a bold note at the 'outset. "Hitherto, as is well known," says Mr Cameron, "no New Zealand produce h*- bsen placed (in retail) before consumers here. Tbis is the first occasion upon which the people of Manchester have ever had the opportunity of obtaining the prim-; st New Zealand muUou and lamb. This statemeut we emphasise most strongly, and we challenge the frozen meat trade ot the district to contradict it. So-called New Zealand mutton has been offered and sold, but, in nearly every instance, the mutton so disposed of has been from Kivor Plj.te, in South America, the quality ot which is v.'ry inferior, and has been sold in the poorer districts. Genuine prime New Zealar.d mutton and lamb— C-mte.'burv as ifc is generally termed—is acknowledged" by experts to be equal, if not superior to the finest Welsh or black-faced Scotch mutton produced' afc Home. In fact, frpm evidence'taken lasfc 'year before a Select Committee of the House of Lords, ou tha marking of frozen meit,-*it wjs proved that the habit largely prevailed in London and suburbs, amongst the butchers th-re, of supplying their customers with' best New Zealand mutton for best Home grown." This is perfectly true, and ifc is a capital thing that; at last tbe truth 3honld be pi'ocla'mt-d. Mr Cameron backs up his allegation by publishing extracts' from the evidence given last year before Lord Onslow's Meat-marking Committee. And he adds this as a " cote" :—"New Zealand mutton and lamb are used at the tables of many of tho wealthier classes of London and neighbourhood, not on account of its cheapness, but for tho merits of its quality.", Next he reproduces the verdicts of those emioeht persons to whom Lord Onslow sent presents of New Zealand c meat — viz.: Lord Ro?ebery, j Baron de Wormi, Sir .Augustus . Harris, the French Ambassador, Sir Morell Mackenzie, and i General de Bathe, and he asks warmly: "With such testimonials from these wellknown prominent meu can auyone be so prejudiced as to doubt the quality, and to refuse to give a triat to New Zealand (' prime Canterbury'} mutton and lamb ?" One would tbink not, indeed ! Mr Cameron also lauds the New Zealand canned meats and dairy produce. He declares that though New Zealand sent fco England 72,461cwt of butter aud 49,400cwfc of cheese last year none was ever seen' for sala as " New Zealand." No, he adds, "It is all sold as best English (in very black type),' and the consumer uses ifc as such and pays .the very highest price for it!" ; Fall instructions are appended as to the mode of treating the frozen meat, &c„ and very convenient arrangements made as to forwarding to all parts of the English manufacturing'districts. I notice that; Mr Cameron will sell best New Zealand mutton at B£d per pound for chop?, 7d for legs, 6d for loins, down to -Ud for neck and 2£il for breast, besfc New Zealand butter at ls, and cheese at 6d. These ought to " fetch,".and I am convinced they will. This is what has so long been wanted. What is now nteded is | more of such- efforts, especially in and aronnd London. A good deal is being done in a desultory arid sporadic way. lam buying New Zealand mutton and butter at the same prices, obtaiuing them from the Bun&uzi stores at Brixton, where the salesman" tells me the demand is increasing enormously. But, of course, afc these retail prices the margin is not so large as to allow scope for any very big jump in wholesale rates. New Zealand mutton is being sold retail by tbe half sheep at 5-^d per lb. Aud taking chops ab B£d, legs 7d, Bboulders or loins 6d, neck 3-£ d, and breast 2-td, an all round average pf about s_rd is represented. Afc this rate one does not s"ee how the wholesale m .rket price could rise above 3£-J or Id and ! leave room for much profit after pajiug j expenses aud allowing for 10. ses. These latter ! are considerable. On Saturday nights, at all ' the places where they sell New Zealaod meat, i you can buy it readily at'-T-d,for the prime cuts! j It is sold afc any price rather than kept on hand j over Sunday. If a fair proportion of these ! sacrifices are allowed for ifc probably brings down the average of ihe retail price realised to little over sd. The great desideratum is to extend the area of consumption! Then prices will gradually.come to correspond more closely with that paid for home-grown meat. ' ■NEW; ZEALAND BANKS. According to the Financial Times, it is a mistake to imagine lhat fche negotiations for amalgamation with New Zealand banks are afc an end. , "Probably," the Financial Times says, "something more may be heard about the matter within, let us s_y,"the nexfc'mouth or two." In this connection ifc is siid thafc a gen'tlemau well known in relation to "New Zealand i banking ha< a scheme ready for the form-tion of a new bank in the colony in the event of the , amalgamation arrangements coming off. "If to," ways the Financial Times, which is respon- ' sible for the Btatemeijfc, " we wish him joy of , bis scheme. Whatever New Zealand may i suffer from at present, it is not from the want of bauks." Yesterday I had a long chat with no fewer ' than lour New Zealand bank managers or bank secretaries—viz., Mr Andrews aud Mr Tegetmeier, of the B,_nfe of New Zealand, Mr Oowiej . of the Colonial Bank, and Mr Maxwell, of the National. AU appeared to agree that New Zealand finance and banking mutters juifc now are in that position'which is proveibially so happy in the case of a nation—that of having "no history.'' All is quiet. . - ' MISCELLANEOUS. Discussion still goes ou freely in the English papers as to the merits and demerits of the Ne\y Zealaud Public Trust Office. The Daily News sajs thab the New Zetland Public Trusree " appears to exercise a discretion as to what trusts he will and what he will not undertake, i He likes plain, easy-going matters, and will nob accept a complicated trust, or one involving i special oversight." I The Ilev. John Rignald Harmer, dean nnd ' tutor of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, has beeu solei-ted for the' Adelaide Bishopric, j He is only 36 years of age and has had a bril- ! ' liant univetsiiy career. -- He was educ-ted it | | Eton and thence went bo King's College, Cam- ' I bridge. H*_ won the Bell Boholar-*hip in 1878, and the Cains prizo in 1881. He nl.o was | Evans and Soholefiold prizeumn and took first i class. He was chaplain to Bishop Lightfoot ! until that prelate's death aud was literary , executor to the bishop.