SEARCH FOR PROFITEERS.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 14392, 3 September 1917, Page 3

SEARCH FOR PROFITEERS.

MUTTON AT Is 8d to 2s PER LB LONDON, June 29,

The subject of profiteering in food has assumed tremendous proportions during .the lasfc few weeks,, .and there is widespread • indignation at the apparent in- J ability of Government departments' to publibV'^The'rising priceof i ; m^ a fevA as Jiifl e^W J NA he ..^9 b^t..%^ftki^ L topic ; of the moment, and . attention ' has been directed , towards the buying activities of , certain m&at . ku^j . trusts, and middlemen, j '•....■

The .present discussion arose upon a statement in the House of Commons by 'Mr G. H;' i ßoberts, -Secretary' of the Board of Trade, in regard to the price of Canterbury lamb. Replying to a question, he 'said the Board of Trade purchases' this lamb at 6£d per lb f.o.b. i'in New ■ Zealand ; its landed cost in the [United Kingdom is 8d per -lb'; 1 the imjporter's commission , is.. 2. per cent; the wholesaler's . profit is limited to per lb; the. expenses of the Department for admiriistration. cost of storage^'and varipus uninsUrable , risks are Ijd per lb ; find the meat is sold 'to the retailer at ■about -10£d per lb. There was at one© a feeneral outci*y , as butchers were chwrging anything from Is 8d to 2s per lb. tor mutton. 1 :

•'The point was raised concerning the {niantity of 'Australian, and New Zealand meat put 1 \ ait '' the ■' -market^ ' and ■it was iaserted that this amount was so small as to have little effect upon the general course of meat values* iQnef e.xperfcvsaid : '"Whereas in the ; casfew£' Abstralian and iNew Zealand, beef ..and, mutton the whole" of the/Output, ?* ''takens by the British 'Oovemmerit'fbr the army, in the case bf meat from Argentina and Uruguay 80 per', cent, is so taken, only the re•mainiftg '20 per., cent, being- available ior sale to the public. Broadly speaking* imported 'meat does 1 • not -nb't^voon'stitttf^ moiie,,jbjhan a about. vlO per, cent, of the 'ci^ilfaii consumption - 'of meat' < 'in- -^this jco^htry, and can therefore have but a limited effect upon the general course. iof ineat values." ! » ;

i 'This is satisfactory for the New Ze«i- 4 Jaiid producer. He at least has the knowledge that the price. a,t which he jsolci his meat i» not b^ing^do" o^^^ 1 at this i end. ," Appflrentljr, v b:s. nidat is consumed by tho army, and, this being so, there remain only the JHkfme purchaser and wholesale and reia^l firms. . The general conclusion is jihat the home consumer is living chiefly ptiT home-grown meat, and' is being > exploited by certain largo trusts.- , f The retail butchers say they are in the ;hands of the wholesale firms. One' country butcher who is a large retailer bf ioversea meat states that the price foi'l JUyer Plate mutton is Id per lb more than for New Zealand, but is not worth {is; much. "If we cannot get the New Zehlavid meat," he says, "we have to Wy that from River Plate or Amevrca. fliie price of the latter} is "uncontrolled 1 , and this- explains the great ..profits^ of $ome of 'the American trusti , compani,es. We often have to pay Is 4d to fs 6di per lb Avholesale. The retailer is ; in thd Avholesaler's hands entirely, ; he. must Jail in with his conditions or close his shop." : ''The whole matter comes to 1 this, deislaVes ,another butcher, "put, more ships phi the New Zealand and Australian meat trade, and get more meat here." — AucklandfjEterald correspondent.

j A mass meeting of women was held in ■ Christchurch last week for the purpose of passing resolutions supporting the Efficiency Board's recommendations in regard to the drink question. : ,.

• Here' is a chance, for some - daring airman to nrn^e his mark and money. A wealthy N«w Yoi'ker offers >a prize of a thousand dollars for the firs* American aviator who drops a bomb over Berlin. Five thousand added if it lands on the Kaiser's palace.