FREEZING WORKS SPACE.

Southland Times, Issue 22009, 8 May 1933, Page 4

FREEZING WORKS SPACE.

To the Editor.

Sir, —At a recent meeting of the Farmers’ Union the matter of freezing space was brought up and since then various letters have appeared in the Press on the same subject. The freezing companies are in the position of being unable for business reasons to put their case in all its aspects before its critics. At the same time they are in no need of a champion; but I am of the opinion that it is the farmer himself who is in that position —it is a case of God protect us from ourselves.

The main point at present at issue is the inability of the works to deal with the stock offering and thereby hangs a tale. I take it that freezing works are primarily founded to earn dividends for their shareholders and prepare fat stock for export. The dividend part can look after itself, very often in New Zealand this has been an unknown quantity. It is more particularly, the FAT stock aspect of the question I would like to discuss, and I am afraid that for many years in Southland the term “fat stock” has been interpreted as meaning anything the works can kill, and, in consequence, very often forward stores and unfinished stock are rushed into the works, though in the interests of the industry they should never have left the farm. The desire to meet financial commitments very often is liable to outweigh any other consideration. I am sure that if purely fat stock is sent for slaughter, there will be no word of space at the works, and there will be no need for the farmer to send frantic appeals to the Government for concessions on the railway to travel stock to Canterbury. In any case why should one business give concessions at the expense of the people as a whole. Our railways are a national undertaking and if one section of the community gets concessions, it means that the others have to make up the difIf the farmers as a whole, would be as energetic in fattening their stock as they are in pressing for space and presenting the bowl of Oliver Twist before the Government, they would find the three works in Southland more than capable of dealing with all the freezing quality stock offering. Nothing but the very best, well-finished stock should be sent to an export freezing works; the proper place for any other kind is the farm and the boiling down works. Let my farmer friends spend a quiet half-hour with themselves and debate the question as to whether they have been as just with the industry as it has been fair to them. Have they never booked space for stock that they knew was not fit to be classed as fat? —I am, etc., AUDI ALTERAM PARTEM.