THE FROZEN MEAT TRADE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2569, 10 June 1903, Page 11

THE FROZEN MEAT TRADE.

■*» OPINIONS ON THE PREMIERS PROPOSALS. The ab=ence of details in connection with the Right Hon. Mr Seddon'o proposal to establish emporiums in various parts of England and Scotland for the pale, of New Zealand frozen meat has caused tho=e who are intere.-ted in the trade to be -very chary in expressing an opinion concerning the pro posed uew departure. However, one of our represc-ntathe.3 was able to obtain the views of tonic g> mlemen on certain phases of the ciue«tion, especially with reference to Mr Sedclon's <-»atemc-nt that Ri\er Plate ' mutton is largely sold as New Zealand meat :n Ijondon, and that it was at prc-scnt almost impossible to obtain New Zealand meat in many of tho large pio\incial contre i MR MURRAY" S VIEWS Asked a^ to what he thought of the* pro-po-alt, Mi W. Munay, eecrctaiy of the

New Zealand Refrigerating Company, said he did not care to exniess any uews at present concerning the matter. "No scheme," he continued, " has as yet been put before the public to warrant any criticism. What has already been represented in tho nr-wipapers ia too 'laguc, and before any opinion can be formed as to the . Government's proposed action one would I require to he furnished with full details." | In reply to the query, "Do you think it j wise or prudent of tho Government to be1 como dealer-, in meat?" Mr Murray replied i with an emphatic negative, adding that to such a question there could only be one answer. He did not think there was much in the i-tatMiient of the Premier that it was " almost impossible to obtain Now Zealand meat in certain crnties in England." As far as was known here, there was no such difficulty. Of couiio. it could not be obtained cveiysvheie throughout the United Kingdom. He feared that the outcome of | Government interference would be to incur the animosity of the tiado at Home; and, while the establishment of nuat depots might, as was claimed would be the ca'-e, act as a splendid advertisement for tho ; colony, he \r-ry much doubted f he wisdom of such a step. Here in New Zealand wo were face to face with the fart that for the four months fiom January 1 to April 30 of i thiri yrar nr had exported no Ip~3 than ' 2,300,000 fjozen sheep and lambt That being the case, Mr Murray thought that Mr S<*ddon might well pau=e eie proceeding (o interfere with an industry of m;c!i magnitude. Again, why should the Go\ernniont -top at the frozen meat trade It might equally a-> well go in for o'her lines of trade and commerce, a condition of things that the ppople would '-con di-co\er to be intolerable, and would not f-übinit to WHAT MR A. C BEGG SAYS. When our repre < -entati\o waited upon Mr Begg at the office of the Farmers' Agency Company, and mquued what he thought of tho Government proposal--, that gentleman replied with characteristic promptitude, " It seems to me that nothing of the soit is wanted ; we are getting along very well as things are." An inteiosting chat then ensued, of which the part taken by the interviewed may as we-!l bo ghen in his own word« " When I was at Home 18 months ago." observed Mr Begg — ivith an animation that betokened a keen reliih of the memory of Ins v:->it— "l found a lai^o number of shops where New Zealand mutron was sold, in London, Edinburgh, and I Glasgow*. With reference to the «e!hng of i tho River Plate product, there it a good deal of it sold in the Webt of England, Liverpool being the. puncinal distributing port of the River Plate mutton. Probably the people thero ha\e grown act nstompd to tho Aigentmo aiticle; but Ftill I found that there was a good quantity of New Zealand mutton sold at Liverpool, Manchester, and other towns of any considerable fcizc ' ai bund then parts There are now a number of agencies in England for Felling our products — for instance, the Colonial Consignment Distributing Company and tho Gear (Wellington) Company It is difficult to pay what good the Government proposals will ftchie\e, because they will immediately como into competition with all those who are at present in tho trade. That would bo most undesirable, because we want to keep the goodwill of the English butchers, and

not run amuck again=t their interests. So far as I know, all tho frozen neat companies in this colony aro quite content to go on as they are doing. The farmer is getting a good price for his sheep, tho companies aro satisfied with their profits, and, sis a matter of fact, there does not seem to be any complaints whatever. Of course, there h a good deal of selling of River Plate mutton a3 New Zealand-grown, but tho Agent-general has checked that by prosecutions, and there seems to mo to be no need to adopt any stronger moasurcs. It is nonsciKO to say that the Government can buy on better terms thaiiv private companies. They must just give the market pTiee, like others. Indeed, the chances are, if they ciater thp- market aa buyers, that they would liav to pay higher pneee. That is generally the rase wherever a GovernniMit bpeome-s a buyer. The 'Ugge-,tion of Kclhng- out tl"? emporiums, as they become established, to the private meat-dpalers is 1 quite absurd. If these were opened in places where our mutton is now sold the Governn ent would at onne become competitors, and tho dealers would not be af all likely to take over thr- Government shops. Tlie whole question id a. very simple one. At (;ii<> time, before our frozen meat had its lire cut \olunir> of distribution, it might have- been a good thing to have given Gowrnmont assistance ; but tho meat trade nr\e-r Jia-i received, nor did it ever a«.k for, n'si-tance. As to the advertising aspect of the propo^ls, I found during my recent Mnit thnt New Zealand is chiefly known in England amd Scotland by reason of its frozon mrat If Mr Seddon could get the Continental people to aboh'ii their high protective duties in favour of Xpw Zealand mutton, et<-.. he- would accomplish a real good: but hi* influence does-nt appear to extend to European Powers. The people tlx re need good meat at a reasonable price ■very badly At present all the old cab hordes ol England and Scotland, as foon as they aic worn out and unfit for service, are *-ent o\rr to the Continent to be converted [ into tainagps Ihest; aro shipped whil*" there fctill remains a little hfp in them, for tl c cogent reason that there is no duty to pay upon live stock. The captain of the steamer by which I went to Antwerp told me he took carpo of this description, every trip, and .insured me that occasionally t-omo of tho animals were =o far gone as to bo tiaicely able to walk on board. MR C W. RATTRAY, Prp«ul*-nt of the Chamber of Commerce, v.-)\f-n ieen upon the subject, faid it wa-. ahnot impossible to t-xy at this end of the v. orkl how far the practice of substituting Rner Plato for New Zealand mutton obtained We wild only judge by what Government representatives had told us; but from their reports, if these were reliable, it was quite evident that the practioe of telling not only River Plate but cth<~r poorer classc-3 of meat us the New Zealand art-.cle wa« largely retorted to by dealers. Anything- that the Government could do legitimately to c top the piacticp mu&t be for tho good of the growers j and the exporters in. tha colony. Tho 'Uffge-iteJ opening of shops by the Govern ' ment, howe\er, pocmed on the face of it j to bo rather a wild scheme. To begin with, the business would be a very largo one to manage, and one was inclined to doubt if

tho Government po'ses^ed the requisite I paraphernalia to properly control such a. ' trade. Of eour-e- if it wore- not really well j managed heavy los-a would bo bound to I occur. "It seems to me," remarked Mr Rattray, " that it would have been better had the. Government in some way tried to assist the meat companies, even by going 60 far us to subsidise them, m their efforts to pu»iii the trade through t.h«ir own shops.and also in advertising the New Zealand product." H© coii-sidered it exceedingly questionable whether, if the Government) gave effect to their proposals, they coulo' make the suggeFted emporiums pay. The reported opposition of the Manchester and! Glasgow dealers to th-o scheme was only to be expected. At the- same time, Mr Eattray did not think it should count for much,, as in the interests of their own trade rhejr would still ocntinue to buy New ZealancS mutton, if they found that it suited them, best. He was of opinion that tho alleged difficulty of obtaining our frozen meat in England did not exist. This was obvious when we bad regard to the splendid trade thcr-o had be«n during the last year in tho English markets, which showed that the meat must have- been well distributed and appreciated. The prices, too, had beera exceptionally good. Concerning Mr Seddon's idea to shift the ba>«i-a of operations by selling- out established Govenwnentj empominw ac the demand for Now Zea^aJicß rr.utton waa created and opming in other 1 new centres, Mr Rntlray said the suggestion! sounded vory well, but it seemed to him bhab the Premier was far too optimistic in his \iews as to the possibility of making euch transfers whenever it might happen to suit the Government's convenience. The Governmpnt. he b p h'eved, had a very energetic aiiict capable officer in Mr Cameron (now on his way out to the colony), and it was possible he might ha\e f-o uorkecl out his scheme a.<» to we hii> way to conduct the proposed business eati->fac torily, and evr.n profitably: but Mr Rattray \v.i.s of opinion that the Government would ba\e d-one much better had they tpent mon^y in assisting thei operations at prevnt existing instead of running tho gauntlet of opposition. Such a cour.-f" would involve far les.-- risk, a^ well a-'i less fear of any direr t opposition on the part of tho English dealer*.

Mr Frank Tonks, wiking to the New Zealand Times -with, rcforenoo U> the brick market, states that the Wellington Bricklnakera' Association do^s not control tho whole of thp output, and thnt there are other yards not connected with the association that have an output of nearly 150,000 bi icks per week

To Prevent Cnoup, begin in time. Th& f.rat bymptom is hoarseness; this is soon followed by a peculiar rough cough, which ia easily recognised, and will never be forgotten by one who has heard ifc. The time* to act is when the child first becomes hoaree.-, If Chambei-lain'e Cough Remedy Is freely, given, all tendency to croup will soon disappear. Even after the crouny cough has. developed, it will prevent the attack. Thereis no danger in tfninij t'>is remedy, as it< contains nothing injurious. It alway? cures, and cures qimklj. All dealer? '.ell it.