THE FROZEN MEAT TRADE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2509, 16 April 1902, Page 6

THE FROZEN MEAT TRADE.

Mr D. Thomas, in his address before a meeting of the Farmers' Union at Ash burton last Saturday, put his finger on the weak spot in the New Zealand frozen meat trade, but we are not satisfied that he has arrived at a satisfactory solution of the problem of advantageous distribution at the consuming end What he suggests as a remedy for the present unsatisfactory state of things i^ a combination, representing the whole of the producers of this colony, which would handle New Zealand mutton from the freezer to the consumer, thus dispensing with the doubtful services of Smithfield middlemen To a certain extent we are able to meet Mr Thomas on common ground, for we have long held that the agents of New Zealand producer* should handle our meat —at any rate from the cold stores to the distributing shops, —but the initial obstacle here is to get anything like concerted action amount the producer- The larger freezing companies will, no doubt, take the lead in this matter, and eventually compel others to fall into line. Desirable a= such a combination as that suggested by Mr Thomas undoubtedly would be. several of tho^e who took part in the discussion that followed j the delivery of hi* address pointed out ! insuperable difficulties that stand in I the way. Foi one thing, those interested in the Canterbury meat comi panics, which have made a name for [ themselves in " Prime Canterbury mutton and lamb (bough* up all o\cr the colony as well as locally grown), [ are not likely to view anx suck pxu-

posal with favour, and that was clearly indicated at the Ash-burton meeting. And the Canterbury farmers, who have been enabled through the enterprise of the meat companies to secure higher prices for their produce than the farmers of other parts of the colony, will hardly consent to an arrangement that would reduce New Zealand meat to a uniform level. The latter difficulty, however, might be got over by Government grading, with the recognition of a first, second, or even a third class, as in the case of butter. Still the Canterbury farmers and meat companies will not readily consent to any arrangement whereby the catch words " Prime Canterbury " may become merged in the truer designation, " Prime New Zealand." Whatever the farmers in other parts of the colony may agree to do, they may reckon upon the opposition of Canterbury ; unless, indeed, a combination of northern and southern producers restricted the output of '" Prime Canterbury " by holding back their best stock for export, and so breaking down the Canteibury monopoly. But in the meantime the position the producers of New Zealand have to face is that Canterbury has taken the lead, and means to keep it as long as it can. The alternative to the schem-j propounded by Mr Thoma-s we think would be something like combined action amongst Otago and Southland producers on the one hand and North Island producers on the other. When the Farmers' Co-operative Association at Oam am and Gore become strong enough a common arrangement might be agreed upon, and a similar move would be advantageous to the North Inland. We believe the frozen meat trade is of sufficient magnitude to warrant three distributing concerns, whose interests need uot be antagonistic. But it is quite evident that while the present haphazard, go-as-you-please system is continued, New Zealand producers will always be at the mercy of the London middlemen, whose interests are not at all times our interests. Mr Thoina* would take the bull by the horns and end a sy.-tem that i^, to say the least, vexatious, by legislating to compel all the produce r< to sell their meat to the company he propor-es ; but such a drastic mean- of arriving at a soUi- ; tion of what is after all, a difficult problem is not likely to receive general acceptation. The chairman of the meeting (Mr J. Studholme, jun ) suggested even a bigger concern than that proposed by Mr Thomas, and expressed the opinion that it would be a good thing if the Commonwealth, New Zealand, and Canada should combine to creel a large building in a central pc-ition in London, to be connected by rail with the docks. This building would be a market for colonial produce of all kincU, and would, he .aid, al-o be a sood advertisement foi the colonies The money, he believed, could be easily found, and the dues wou'd give a handsome return on the capital. The statement was applauded by the meeting ; but on calmer reflection we feel sure the producers of New Zealand will see that such a propo-al is fraught with in-uperable difficulties The colonies I are rivals of each oilier and the qinhty of Au-tralian rivahy we have had a good ta-ie of in the Federal tai'ilT, wjiit-li i- di.tiu.tth hoiUlc to our

products. All our interests, we believe, impel us to fight our own battles in the world's markets, and by raising the standard of our products we have the be=t hope of beating off rivals, or at any rate cf securing our fair «hare. In the meantime the English markets afford sufficient outlet for our produce, and the suggestion of reciprocity between Nlw Zealand and America cr Germany made by MiThomas is distinctly at variance with the policy Mr Seddon is likely to pursue when colonial relations with the Mother Coiiutry come to be discussed after the Coronation. Tliere are other British markets, at any rate, that might be exploited before the United States or Germany are asked for concessions in our favour. A wider distribution in Great Britain would afford a further outlet, and the capabilities of the South African trade aie an unknown quantity. With regai'd to the Argentine, reciprocal tariffs with the United States and Germany would suit their book much better than ours, and while we maintain the highest practicable quality for our produce it may yet be shown that we have not so much to fear from the River Plate as some of the speakers at the Ashburton meeting seemed to assume. While, no doubt, the quality of Argentine mutton has appreciably improved during recent years, still the sub-tropical character cf the climate is against the growth of meat suited to the tastes of English consumers. We possess all the advantages of climate, and should, with judicious management, be able to hold our own against all rivals.