FREEZING WORKS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18179, 29 August 1933, Page 2

FREEZING WORKS

OPPER MOOTED WJESTIONS AT .WHAKATU ’ THE FUTURE DISCUSSED ! .■ '■ " : The future of the Wairoa freezing works and the'history of past negotiations -were points discussed at the annual meeting of shareholders of the Hawke’s Bay Farmers’ Meat Company at Waipnkurau on Saturday, when an address Was given, by Mr. If. S. Chadwick, chairman of directors. In' opening, Mr. Chadwick referred to a ruihor that stated that he was receiving £2OOO a year from a fifth! freezing company, but he said lie had hever | received any suggestion of bribery, which did not occur in this country. After the earthquake, an arrangement was made with Borthwicks that was advantageous to Whakatu. This had been satisfactory and was purely a contract for the division in the killing of stock. Whakatu was free to make its own charges and fix its own rebates. Similar arrangements had been ihade with other exporters, but for one year only, whereas 10 years was the period agreed • upon with the companies interested. No change in the Whakatu policy had resulted from the -arrangement arrived at. When the Wairoa works Were destroyed by fire, it was mooted that Wairoa was going to sell its license, Mr. Chadwick added. It was decided ,as a business proposition to buy out Wairoa arid an offer was made to them. The price , offered was £40,000, with a •sinking fund of 5 per cent. • It Was intended to make other faeili-1 ties and use the works at Wairoa ior Other purposes. The Whakatu works had been added to, to deal with Wairoa stock. It was likely that an offer would yet be made to Whakatu to take over Wairoa, free of cost, and to develop the works. The cost of freezing depended on output; Wairoa’s limit was 150,000 killings. The necessary killing rate would •have to be high. Mr. Chadwick emphatically denied that fanners had been unable to get stock into the works whilst the stock of the other companies was getting attention. It was simply due to the strike and every freezing work in the North Island was in the same position. The whole system of killing had been changed, necessitating the teaching of the new system to the men, which, ol course, slowed matters down. The speaker quoted figures iu support of the contention that the strike was the cause of last year’s congestion. The cost of killing per head for sheep was: For 300,000, Is 6d; 600,000, 9d; 750,000, 7jd. “THE FINAL KNOCK-OUT” Mr. C. J. Parker deprecated the rumors mentioned by Mr. Chadwick. He asked for Mr. Chadwick’s assurance that hq did not connect Messrs. Maddison, Todd and himself with this mat* Mr. Chadwick: Certainly, Mr. Parker, I do not associate those mentioned with the. rumors. I do' not know where they Mr. Parker: Before the Gisborne freezing works were closed, the outside company offered the farmers higher prices for their stock than the farmers' company, with the result that it gave the farmers’ concern the final knockout. Mr, Chadwick: I know nothing about Gisborne, Mr} Parker: Well, you should have studied it before coming to an arrangement with the outside concern. Mr. R. E. Talbot: Was it the intention to keep the Wairoa works closed down had the proposed purchase eventuated? Mr. Chadwick: Yes. Mr. Talbot: When Mr. Powdrell said last week that that was your intention, you challenged it. Why* <fid you challenge Mr, Powdrell, wlnen you now admit that it was your intention to keep the Wairoa works cjosed ? Mr. Chadwick: Mr. Powdrell stated, “You were going to close the works,” and I replied, “It was not in the agreement.” WHOSE OPFHR?

Mr. Talbot: Did the offer first come from Wairoa or from other quarters to Wairoa? Mr. Chadwick : The offer was made by us. Mr. H. M. Christie: From Whakatu or Nelsons? Mr. Chadwick: From Nelson Bros, and Gisborne. Mr. Talbot : Yet you challenged Mr. Powdrell last week* and embarrassed him though he was right? Mr. Chadwick: You are wrong, Mr. Talbot. I thought that Mr. Powdrell was » director of Wairoa and should have known the position. Mr. Talbot: Did not the three works combine and make the offer to Wairoa? Mr. Chadwick: Yes. That is what happened. A special meeting of the board was held to consider the matter, j Sir. Talbot : You refuted the suggestion test week and said that the otter Came from Wairoa. Mr; Chadwick: It is definite that the information came from .Wairoa, but we made the offer. Wairoa will eventually sell out. Mr. Parker: Did Vestey’s ask you to come into the Wairoa deal because the Meat Board -would not have given Vestey’s a license! Mr. Chadwick: Oh, no. We had the stock killing agreement and that was the reason the three parties came in. h Mr. H. H. Bennett: Were the ex- ; porters last year given the same quota as the freezer? I Mr. Chadwick: Most certainly, and they also complained.