THE CATTLE KING

Otago Witness, Issue 3593, 23 January 1923, Page 60

THE CATTLE KING

SIR SYDNEY KIDMAN INTERVIEWED. (From Our Own Correspondent.) AUCKLAND, January 17. A through passenger to Australia by the Makura was Sir Sydney Kidman, the “Cattle King ” “Despite his tremendous financial interests, Sir Sydney,” says a Herald interviewer, “remains the plain man of open spaces the man who would go ‘a drovin’ down the Cooper, where western drovers go, as cheerfully as he would negotiate a transaction for 10,000 carcases of beef on the London market. Slow of speech, and of a negligent bodily attitude, he may be regarded as a typical product of the great Australian busn. He looks as if he had lived a strenuous life in the saddle in a dry land of sunshine. Even now, although the years are creeping upon him, he is never idle, and rarely for long in one place. His home is near Adelaide, but his interests keep him moving to Queensland, the Darling country, and towards the ‘Territory,’ through the very heart of the continent, where thousands of square miles are grazed by his cattle.” The past year or two have been a trying period. “With beef at 10s per 1001 b,” he says, “there has been little or any profit, and certainly no margin against the dry seasons.” He is optimistic, however. “When you strike bottom, as we have done in beef, you can’t go lower,” he said, "and I believe that the beef market is going to improve. Lamb and mutton have improved, and the prices for beef are quite disproportionate. A factor that will nave a beneficial effect is that the stocks of old beef in stores in England have been got rid of, and new beef is likely to meet a stronger demand. Of course Argentine chilled beef is a strong competitor, but I doubt if, under the high land values of the Argentine, competition can continue as keen as it has been.” The rises that have taken place in iamb, mutton, and wool, he said, were of the greatest importance. Merino wool, of course, was exceptionally high, and highly profitable, but he was almost as pleased over the revival of crossbred wool, which was of great benefit to lamb raisers who had to use a cross. “New Zealand, taking it all round,” he said, “can produce a better lamb than Australia. It is a good thing that our seasons do not clash.” Sir Sydney paid a fine tribute to work done in London by Mr Jessep, on behalf of the New Zealand Meat Producers’ Board. “He has done remarkably well,” said Sir Sydney. “You could not have sent a better man. He has been the right man, in the right place.” Before the ship sailed two bright girls came up and demanded to know the contents of a parcel. “My dinner,” replied Sir Sydney. “It is a present of some stuff called meat-flour. We are to make our fortune by putting bullocks into bags, they tell me, I hope they are right. Perhaps it is just as well they did not drive the bullock on board though. It might have kept our hand in.”