The Daily News. SATURDAY NOVEMBER 22, 1924. MYSTERY OF MEAT PRICES.

Taranaki Daily News, 22 November 1924, Page 6

The Daily News. SATURDAY NOVEMBER 22, 1924. MYSTERY OF MEAT PRICES.

The decision of the Home Government to appoint a Royal Commission to inquire into the cost of foodstuffs should, if it leads to practical steps being taken to safeguard the interests of the producers and consumers, be of great importance to the Dominions. The matter is one that has for many years past aroused considerable attention and controversy, it being generally considered, however, that the two main fact, rs which have acted as stumbling blocks to a solution of the problem are the fetish of free trade and the dominance of the meat trusts and combines. There is a remarkable object lesson to be derived from the manner in which free trade —the object of which was to attract food supplies from every available source in order that competition might keep down prices—has, so far, at least as the frozen meat trade is concerned, defeated its own ends. The London Morning Post recently put. the position very lucidly when explaining that beef is sold in the Dominions at under threepence per pound, and at Smithfield (the London market) at one penny more, yet it has been retailed at as much as sixteen pence per pound, retailers’ profits, made at the expense of the consumers, often ranging up to 150 or 200 per cent. This enormous discrepancy between what the producers obtain and the price the consumers have to pay may be regarded as an extreme illustration. By the exercise of the ingenious argument of “replacement” values, which was so successfully' employed by retailers during the war disorganisation of supplies, the retail butchers may claim that, when imported . meat is scarce, they have to purchase the Home-bred article and pay a high price therefor; also that it would ruin trade to sell different meat supplies at the same shop at largely varying prices. The argument, like most cases of special pleading, is as specious as it is plausible, while the principle is one that , can only be strongly condemned. There is yet another; factor which should be taken into account in connection with the. interests of the overseas producers and the Home consumers,

namely, a company which (states the Post), by a process of acquiring shares in other- companies, exercises control of South American, Australian and New Zealand works, together with the wholesale selling establishments and between two and three thousand retail shops, but it is claimed that the object of that company is to keep down prices. The fact remains, however, that the import trade is controlled by combines and American meat trusts, while the local distributing (where the large profits are made) is largely in the hands of a British combine. The position may be described as one in which the producers and consumers are placed between the upper and nether millstones representing the importers and retailers, with the inevitable consequences. It would not matter so much if those who are making large profits out of this meat trade all belonged to the Empire, but they do not. On the contrary they are directly and adversely affecting the prosperity of the Empire by controlling both the buying and selling prices. It may be mentioned, in passing, on the authority of the Morning Post, that the Home Government is considering a scheme, which was outlined some time baek in these columns, the object of which was to have periodical estimates formed of the amount of meat required for Home consumption for a fixed time ahead; also the amount of Home-grown meat likely to be available. Then the Dominions would be asked if they could supply the difference and to be allowed to do so by license, while any deficit could be made up by foreign suppliers. The license fees might be arranged so as to give preferential treatment to the Dominions without increasing the price of the living by means of a tariff. The objects of the suggestions were: (a) To ensure to the Home producers a market fo r their meat practically free from competition; (b) to give the Dominions an assured market for theii- produce at satisfactory prices; (c) to effectively combat foreign trusts and combines and to ensure that the consumers were not being exploited. If these features were clearly explained to the people of the Homeland they ought to demonstrate that, whereas free trade had created the evil it was supposed to have eliminated, it is high time to provide a more effective and practical remedy that would succeed where free trade had failed. There is really no mystery as to meat prices, merely capital, organisation and favourable circumstances for cornering the business of import and distribution. It is certainly a matter of urgency to effect the required remedies, and an intelligent examination of the whole question should be welcomed, while any reasonable and just solution should have the support of those who are responsible for the welfare of the ’country.