MEAT FOR THE TROOPS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16538, 11 November 1915, Page 7

MEAT FOR THE TROOPS

ACTION OF THE BOARD OF TRADE. REPLY TO CRITICISM. I (Pra Umtbd Press Association.) 'Jj n WELLINGTON, November 10. j A suggestion has been made locally thai ' "l under tho arrangement for tho purchase of New Zealand frozen meat for Imperial requirements large profits were being mado y in London either by the Board of Trade or Oi by private speculators. Tho fcompiaint had its origin 111 a comparison of the pricca \ ;e paid in New Zealand, f.0.b., and retail y prices recorded in the British market re- • & k ports. . , > The Prime Minister stated to-day that he ' •6 had been placed in possession of a letter ; ; n bearing upon this point. The letter was ■ , ; written by a man interested in the trade, '. .v v d ,i who had made a personal investigation in « 1, London. He said on September 23:—"1 r must confess that at one time I was nt & " similar opinion, as there appeared to iioe >1; such huge differences between the actual .''-K f-O'b. prices paid in New Zealand and the * prices on the Smithfield market, but oh. going carefully into the matter I found '4 that it would take tho Board of Trade M r its time to get its money back even at the ' u present high range of prices. The Board of '5 Trade was approached m June last, when it was shown the difference between f.o.b. 0 and Smithfield prices, and, of course, was aeked that the higher price be paid to \ 11 Now Zealand producers, but the reply was ■'£ 0 to tho effect that this was not possible m "-.4 , e view of administrative expenses, the cost of f sending out vessels in ballast, etc;,' and-it also got an opportunity of pointing out 6 that the efforts of the Board of Trade had ''t-l 3 resulted in the largest possible supply 'of insulated tonnage for New Zealand at -a' 5 time when numerous complaints were'teing . made that private efforts had failedto f" secure the desired results. The Board «of 1 Trade must, of course, provide against > a dead loss m the case of -damage. terioration. As to the opinion expressed of : ; producers doing better if they had been.; r left on their own, I must disagree with' s this, as I am sure that if the supplies had 0 not been controlled they would nave been '*,-3 ? right in the hands of speculators, who' ,-f would have taken all the profit and -rigged ' p D the market to suit their own convenience-." ~ i-jJlj I- ===== , ,j