TRADE OF TIMARU

Timaru Herald, Volume XCIV, Issue 14457, 1 June 1911, Page 2

TRADE OF TIMARU

COMi'KEHENsiv'K IUiVIEW. G. S. At the annual mooting oi the South (-V.r.Lcvburv C..u:uL-':' ui CV.i.'imcru-e,

h :d last uviu.iij,, the retiring president {-Nil if. S. C.iav y » io tn. v moiling ihj ioilmnng uV.»t •N.:ehi:i,i and «.oiup.'fheuon-.- i..taxviu::nl .•» tl:r ivKim.Tte oi X.tuam aiiU eih;-r mati.-rs or particular intercut to ihj community:— lu ihc ii.itii aiuiua! report ::no. balunce-siuxiL tlu- op<>rntions c: thu south Canterbury (.dumber ol Coruruorcc tor the year ending k he 31sr iMurch huso, I havo pleasure in reforr.ng to tho zealous intercut taken by the. retiring committee in all matters Concerning the welfare of the district. and th?. Doiuiniou. Tlum*. ready assistance has mad? mv duty as President during the past' year* easy and pleasant. 1 must special]v' mention th-> whole-hearted zeal of .\lr Gillingham as representative or the -Mackenzie County Council, who has incurred considerable expense and trouble in attending the meetings of the committee. The report of the committee which has been read will liar;'- served to inform you tliat various matters of local and general interest have had attention, and although it cannot be elaimed that any business of great importance has been disposed • of_, the committee have carefully watched the commercial interests of tbe district and have done all that hns been required of them to promote the general welfare. During the past I have had occasion to obtain statistics and information f.*>r the committee from the secretary of tho Harbour Board, the Collector of Customs, and the agent in charge of th? Government ' Labour Office and frjm the Deputy Officii Assignee. For read}* assistance and unfailing courtesy 1 have to .-thank • the gentlemen neiitioned. It is gratifying to be able to state -that during "the past year our trade and commerce has" maintained a highly satisfactory standard, and in some respects has execded all previous records. It is reasonably .certain that the general prosperity- of the district js wei! ostabli.-Jied and that steady progress uu\y be relied on. port of frozen i\leat.—TJiat so an iui of,our prosperity is dei>emb it on our oxj>ort trade of frozen meat need not disturb our faith in our, future welfare, for although it is evident that any material disturbance of tais trade would reflect on all tranches of industry Within the Dominion, : t is 0 1 n - a i. r cvideut that, tlie prejudge wiic'h at oue time existed against the copumption of /rozen meat fias bi'ea effectually 'ov-ercome, and that - our staple product is ail established comraocbtj- m the food supnlv of Great Britain and will eventually be extended to he mariets of Europe. Keen competition inth the products of South Ame- ' , r,c ? ™ e . London market is certain, hut there are illimitable possibilities ror the expansion of the trade Tlivmg regard for tho fact that the frozen, meat trade is the backbone <yf bur commercial success, it is eertamly.desirable that the most exacting -precaritjons shonid be tnken to preserve'a iugh reputation and to spare 110 trouble in attention to sanitary jaws iu coiuiectioii with the preparation and deliver* ot the.meat. The notice which has been directwl to breaches of cleauliuess ni" 11 '' 1 r!-i? na * " f f'sbonie. shd also by Mr Gilljert Anderson, of London,. will be productive of good, -for it' is "manifest that our .success is alw.its dependnnt on comprtitire excellence. Jho companies -engaeed. in. the frozen meat trade in this d strict cart, certaini S for the enterprise, lias-been displayed'during recent years, 111 mating coitly 'improvements to their buildings and in equippng tlieir lactones with all modern advantages tor handling the meat in the-most anproved manner. Inspection of meat tor export is now sufficient .to injure the rejection-of all-imsTgliavSiiU diseased food, and it. to be. hoped tliat tli& complaints conceriunff'clei'ects aijd-. liandlinji.' in London •mil have served to remove any faults which .have hitherto existed. The total ve?ghb of frozen mutton and lanih exHfTOmmf Tirnaru dnrtn K 1910 wis 01,3-J,ol9lhs, as ' compared with 26,836,6621bs for the preceding yea" showing aii advance of 4,492,.%71bs for 1910. The gross exports from tlie PP ra ™°" 1910 amounted to ASl,&}3,l4libs, as compared with' 213.973,2661b5, an advance of ■ 15,360 4valbs on the previous year. In addition to the above, 55,644,2091bs of beef were exported during 1910, being 1,813,7771bs in excess of the total for the preceding year. Great expansion in the trade is made evident year fcy year, rind it is satisfactory to note that Timarn ranks fourth .highest in tho Dominion for the export of frozen meat. During the current, year there is evidence that the total "weijdit of .our exn'orts will be slightly lower , than for -1910, as the. duality-" and weight of sheep suffered during the drought of 'last- summer. The following is a return showing the shipments ."of frown meat (mutton; 1 lamb,, nnd .beef) from tilo various ports of tlie Dominion :

Lvtteltoii' 59,560,264 Wellington 59,492,124 Napier- 37.J12 ; 755 Tunara 311376,147 Oisborne 25.563.649 Bluff 19,310,609 WaSt-ara 13,999,450 Port Chalmers .... 8,623,566 Wanganui 8,543.423 Auckland 7,556.127 Picton 4,913.513 Oamartt 3,586,801 Patea 2,724,814 Kelson 1,023.568 Live Stock.—A review of the fat lamb market, at . present the acme of the frozen meat industrv, shows that it opened at the beginning of tlie season at 4jd, at no time lowered less thai! 4|d, and is closing at practically over sd. -The .season -will be remembered by several characteristics, notably the almost total failure of the rape feed, and the absolute wiping out of the turnip crap; also by the feature of the heavy yafdings at each individual market, .growers at last realising that the competition in the open market_ is productive- of. the best prices. Owing to the aforementioned feed failure, the lambs have not been as {veil finished os in former seasons, and consequently any' lines realJv prime hjiv.c been, acroided a keen demand. Customs and Excise.—Tlie value of imports and exports recorded hv the Customs Department at Timaru serves io mark thft progress of tile district'. Follmvmg are the figures relating to British, foreign. and intercolonial trnao during tlio last- tliree veals, made, up to the 31st December iii each year:—l9o'-;. imports £317.114. exports £-oiXi,2ol f total £1,217,315:' 1909. imports ' £2*2,429. export's £1,202..iw, . tot el £1,4(5r>.13S- ]9]o imports £309.937. cxOorts £1,290,541,' total . Total Ciistoms and Excise Revenue collected at Timaru for the vear ending the 31 March 1910. was' £52,897, as compared with £44,224 for the preceding year, constituting a record of £8,665 over the previous highest collection at the Port. A - tabulated statementcompiled from information obtained from the Timaru Harbour Board will be furnished to members of the Chamber in due coube. and I need only I state that tlie trade of the Port dur--1 ing 1910 W.T.- about equal to the total for £lie, previous year's export and im>gort' MniHge. The imports showed ,

nn riw*.M:Kv cf G!'W and exports j :• d.n-hm* .< f Tiiol Utus. due to tiie fact ; I>ir ii:t» ' -f'XK.iM trad:-» in oaN was \ !\slo lan-. k? •. Hunt in During ) « r:> ,\ j\n- addit mial, wbarfagp- acc-omo- ; <•;!{!. hi \m\- i r:>vi<!o«'l at a ro.st of over i C'Jl .ll'i-S, iin ! tl:? advantage of t-!io. inI rivaled berthas has »*»r»n made ovi- • drui !i-on *.hippii«!i traffic lia.s Won

active. Tho member* of tlio Harbour tir© to Ho on their forward policy in im'etin<j; tlm shipv>!n;.: rrquiroru'iits of tho port, jtml it i.s hoped tfc in the nrar future tnr:rr» sheds will bo envied t»» i'aeilihili' lih'* (]» 4 spn if* 11 of inwards cargo wl'.n-li under i^xistino; conditions is oft.mi delay t-d. Your Cummittec havo made r«»pye.-»j«ntation>! to (ho New Zealand Shipping Company Lid. and to tl:; - : Shaw Savjll and Albion Company Ltd.. with a view to Ke.-uro a regular nvit'.ildy stonuior from London in" lion of the present bi-monthly service. The matter has 'received tho favourable consideration of tlio local representatives, and 1 has been submitted to tho Londou managers of the shipping companies for consideration and approval.

Bankruptcies.—During the year fourteen bankrupt estates wore administered by the Deputy Official Asignoe, the total liabilities amounting t-o £9,5659s Gd. of which £4,536 14s 9d was owing to creditors covered by secured assets. Unsecured debts were proved tor £'4,136 Os Stl. Assets to the value of £972 0s 6d liave been realised and £955 3s 9tl paid; over by the Assignee the total loss to unsecured creditors thus amounting to £3,180 16s 8d Labour.—During the year there has iieen a fairly active demand for all classes of labour, and occasionally the supply has Ikoh insufficient to meet the demand. Several adjustments have been made by the Conciliation Board in connection with the demands for increased wages and modifications in the hours of work, but no serious disputes have involved attention, excepting that which arcso with the shearers at tlie commencement of the last shearing- season ' which was adjusted satisfactorily after protracted delays. ' Agriculture.—-The following figures compiled by the Department of Agriculture show the acreage under certain crops as Compared with the previous season:—

.. 1909-10 1910-11 decrease Wheat 311 ,'JOO , 274,533 36,467 Oats'; 378,000 353,997 24,003 Barley V- .41.500 32,969 8,531 ■lt isf. generally recognised that tfie Government method of collecting the above statistics is' unsatisfactory, and at tlws present time very little reliance •is pl!Ky£di.qn.;tl>em by those interested in tliia,-question. Kepresentation has been t® tiia Minister of Agriculture to-remedy this matter, but nothing- Ijas. been done by the Government in this direction. TJnt.l a proper system, is .adopted whereby the area of- cereals and yields in tliis 'Dominion can be ascertained with reasonable accuracy, the position will always be most unsatisfactory to farmers and.others interested. The above stntist;cs indicate that there js a decreased area under wheat for 1910-11 °r .36,467. acres. Although there is no reliable' information as to the yields psr Here or the correctness of the'area, on ®cnsus of opinion is that the good'wheat yields prevailing tliis year Will niako up for the deficit for the decreased area in acres shown in ,:om.Jxinson with, the previous season. Dur- : ins October November a' prolong? Ed drought gave promise of proving very disastrous to crop?, but timely rainis ill, J)eeeruber. altered matters enwith the. result that excellent yields were obtained; th? average being estimated at from 30 to 35 hushels per acre and the quality- sf the wheat be- - iU2 tlie finest this, district has produced .for years. Unfortunately th? marceV for our exportable surplus (TJ.K 1 krpfc low till-the; end of Marcli the 't f-O-t... price being about 3s Growers have shown a disposition to accept-this .price, consequently oons.Hlerable.sbipments are now made to London and West-Coast norts of the United Ivngdom. During A mil' and -Way the., London market improved 2s to 3s per .quarter and to-dav's equivalent value ,s 3s 6d Practically the -same position e'Sists in re.Vard ; to ' for season IJOT-10, the quantity threshed bein" estimated to be about . sufficient to cover locnl requ.remontß. Shipments Of sprouted grain to London last year made h -good clearance of the indifferent quality of wheat of the 1910 liarvest,, with the result that there was omj\ a small quantity to carry over to the current. year. Shioments to the vnrtc-a Kingdom this year from February to-date amount to 158.344 sacks Wool.—Th<> export of wool from Timaru during the year endjiig 31st December last amounted to 42,130 bales, wliich is an advance of C3l bales on.the previous highest record in 1906. It is probable that the current year's wool clip for the district will be 4000 liales less tban in 1910, and that the value per bale -will average about £1 10s lower. This amounts to a decline v of approximately as compared with the total value of last year.