FROZEN MEAT.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11307, 28 December 1898, Page 2

FROZEN MEAT.

TRADE SECRETS GIVEN AWAY.

IMPORTANT SUGGESTIONS. j

(From Our Own Coki!Esfondent.)

LONDON, November 19.

lately the market, for prime Canterburymutton lias gone back 2d.tb 3d; a lot of stuff has, been.'i brought forward, and buyers■ who ' are landing now are all calling for assessment... On the one hand Canterbury seems to have been a'little careless in grading, and on the other different; qualities have been gradually but surely creeping up. At one time Wellington and ptago mutton,, particularly per-,, haps • the former,. would be as much as lad per li>: less than prime Canterbury. This induced a. good many poople to go in for Wellingtoa and Otago meat,-and they are now. so well satisfied thab theyrwill not change back, even when- prices are the same. ' - - Mr Thomas Mackenzie has made somewhat of'a- new-departure, and in his circular report to the Canterbury Farmers, the New Zealand Farmers* and theHawke's Bay Associations, he gives away some cherished irado eec-rets. He says:—"Prime Canterbury mutton has receded 2d to 3d per stone, and trade... is exceedingly slow; c.i.f. sellers are having , a very . ' pleasant' time in consequence. As staled in my. .former, report, some of the. grading is not satisfactory; still, there is nothing, to justify the wholesale concessions now being j demanded and conceded. These claims are made, by buj'ers chiefly to meet a fall in the 'market. The system here for assessing faulty grading would be laughable were it not so lamentable in its consequences .to New Zealand producers. It can only bp ascribed to the perfect combination on the one hand and the anti-combination on the other which prevails regarding c.i.f. sellers^ and,which makes New Zealand sellers about as powerful as the proverbial bundle of divided sticks. As to the method of assessment, .when the market falls 2d or 3d a," stone and a ship arrives in which we will say A, B, and C_ have mutton (which they have,bought at 2s 4d per stone of Sib, c.i.f.) After the meat is landed, assessments for inferior quality grading are called for. The c.i.f. sellers are practically limited i to market salesmen for.choice of assessors and arbitrators to protect (!) their interests, j Therefore to-day A is engaged .by,.the-seller to assess against B; while to-morrow B is engaged by the seller to assess against A, and C will come in on some future occasion to arbitrate in case A or B be not available or j acceptable. The, harmonious, pecuniary sim- j plicity of results, from the buyers' point of 1 view, is therefore, perfect, and life runs smoothly and easily for them to the tune of 2d to 3d per stono allowance. Keno backs (an abbreviation of merino backs) are the prevailing objections now; it is said by the experts that the wiley sheep .when alive gives no :sign of its Spanish extraction','but in death all is changed." In other words, it is contended that the back of merino mutton shows too much bone. j As to a remedy, Mr Mackenzie suggests: ! "(1) That all meats be sold f.o.b. in New | Zealand to representatives of Home buyers j in New Zealand, the risk and damage and I fluctuation of market to be taken by the buyers, as in the case now of butter arid cheeso —if this were adopted, we should hear very 1 little of damage of 'faulty' claims;—or (2) let the. meat lie landed in cold stores in London and offers taken 'for" the meat as it stands; let the, shipper insure that total lino only, and avoid, certain ships of evil repute. He would then obtain the ruling market value, be it high or low. We luiow that certain questions of finance will arise requiring •careful consideration. C.i.f. sales are made with a view of securing a certain, definite fixed price; but the price is onlyr adhered to by many buyers when the market remains : unchanged or hardens, not when it falls. Take our experience in- this season's trade ; under rising and falling markets. During ;May last, many thousands of lamb were sold at from 2s 4d to 23 3d per stone for delivery. 'Although the market rose very much before all these lambs were sold, in some cases over 6d pei- stone, the sellers were kept to their bargain and did not participate one single penny,piece .in, the rise, so far as fixed sales, were concerned. Now, when the market for mutton has risen 2d or 3d, what do we find? Assessments for quality are demanded, and it is-quite' an', ordinary, thing, for 2d and ;3d a stone to be allowed, a very large proportion of parcels reaching 90 per cent, of loss. So that although shippers and shippers' agents here think they are doing good business by accepting c.i.f. offers, the bargain in manycases only holds good when no fall takes place; from the Homo buyers' point of view it is 'heads I"win, tails you lose.' " On my putting the question to him, Mr ■Mackenzie at once conceded .that opponents of hia suggestions could find plenty of arguments to reply to him. But, he said, he had gone fully into the matter and could answer all that could be brought against his conten- ; tions. Vln proof of tho statements, in his circular ho gave roe an instance. When the market had fallen Id. a buyer went to liim arid. said, ho wanted a survey for faulty assessment, afterwards offering, to take: Id off all' round. Mr Mackenzie declined, saying that the principle was wrong, and he would employ an expert to assess-against the buyer. The seller's assessor was of course a salesman, mo one else could be got. The result was thijt ho gave 89 per cent, of the parcel at 2d i allowance against his own employer. The reduction for quality assessments is.not tho only thing, be it remembered; the meat has ', already been assessed for damage, two men 'are employed on each occasion, and their foes : in.the aggregate come to Bor 12 guineas, all of. which comes out of the pockets of-.tho producers. And the system ..extends.,. I•learned of a man who does a large business

in mutton, and who, 18 months ago, neither claimed for faulty grading nor insurance damage, and who, if a few carcases came a little wrong would accept them for an agreed upon difference in value. Now lie demands his assessments. And if lie didn't, he would ! soon be starved out'of his business by those ! who do. . , In the Sydney Morning: Herald, of tho sth I October, there is an interview with Mr Gili bert Anderson, manager, of the Christchurch 1 Freezing Works, in which he states that insurance, companies have"; no assessors to act for them wheii claims ; '.are being made on damaged meat. "Mr Anderson has been misinformed," said Mr. Mackenzie, " or mis-. ; reported, because, the' underwriters always ; have assessors to act forjiliein." '.