The Taranki Herald. DAILY EVENING MONDAY, AUGUST 23, 1920. TARANAKI FREEZING WORKS.
The report presented at the annual meeting of the Taranaki Farmers’ Meat Company, on Saturday was of an extremely gratifying nature and showed that the company had made an excellent start in spite of the, very great difficulties caused by tho war. The fact that during the past year £44,274 had been paid in wages and £326,000 for stock proves the importance of the works to the district. The company has started with the experience of many other works in the Dominion behind it as a guide, it has the advantage of an excellent harbour close at hand and the borough electrical plant will shortly be able to supply it with all the power required at a cheap rate. The history of the bi£ companies in America has shown tho enormous advantage of carrying on meat works on a large scale, because this gives an opportunity to deal with the byproducts of the industry in a profitable manner. There is no reason why the Smart Road works should not become one of the largest and most up-to-date in the Dominion, but for this result to be attained the fanners of the district must give the. business their while-hearted support. When the works were started it was natural that some farmers who had-had to work hard for their money should show a certain amount of cautien in investing largely in a new enterprise, but’ success has been attained and it is essential that sufficient capital should now be .subscribed to enable the directors to continue a progressive policy. _ It is a disgrace to the district that the directors should have been compelled to give their personal guarantee, to the bank for £46,000 in order to secure additional capital to carry on the business. This liability should be taken from their shoulders and fanners should come forward and subscribe sufficient share. capital to meet all the needs of the increasing business. The freezing capacity of the works is to be further increased by about 30 per cent., which will make it unnecessary to refuse stock during the. busy season. This will entail further expansions in the byproducts departments, . all of which will demand additional expenditure of capital. The company is wisely devoting a considerable amount of attention to the development of the production of fertilisers which are so essential for our Taranaki soils. This is a step in the right direction and so is also the proposal to install machinery for the grinding of Nauru phosphates, which should be delivered cheaply at the New Plymouth harbour. Soap-making would also be a useful development which would provide, a means of utilising some of the by-products of the works. The establishment; of a woollen mill which was discussed at the meetin- on Saturday is not so attractive a scheme. A very large amount of capital would be required for an up-to-date mill, two or throe times as much as in tho years lief ore the war, and it is difficult to see how a town the
size of New Plymouth could provide the labour required. The profits secured in the woollen industry at present are attractive, but it would be four or five years before the mill could be in working order and considerable changes in the outlook may have taken place before then. If farmers have capital to spare they will be wise in using it to cle,velop the existing works and the subsidiary industries dealing with manures and possibly with soap. We know these can be made to pay in the existing conditions in the Dominion, whereas in beginning the woollen industry we are stepping into a new field in which competition has to be met from countries where long experience and unlimited capital have been concentrated on producing ,tln> best results. The question of woollen mills is, however, a minor point which should not be allowed to divert the attention of farmers from the immediate necessity of providing more share capital for the 'existing works, so as to relieve the directors of liability and permit absolutely necessary expenditure to be carried out without depending too much on the bank. -
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Bibliographic details
Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 16823, 23 August 1920, Page 2
Word Count
700The Taranki Herald. DAILY EVENING MONDAY, AUGUST 23, 1920. TARANAKI FREEZING WORKS. Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 16823, 23 August 1920, Page 2
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