OUR LONDON LETTER.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5748, 17 December 1896, Page 2

OUR LONDON LETTER.

ANGLO-COLONTAL NOTES. [Fkosi Oub Correspondent.] LONDON, Nov. 7. bir gray's provincial tour. By the time these lines see- light in New Zealand your Minister of Agriculture should have in his hands the lengthy report of Mv Henry Gray upon his tour of investigation in the -western districts of England. Certain portions of this report may possibly be of a private and confidential character, but the bulk, of it deals with matters of vital importance .to the~paß--toralists of the colony, .and no time should be lost in submitting it ±o them through the agency of the colony's press. Mr Gray went upon his travels mainly with a view to ascertaining the absolute truth as to the distribution of New Zealand mutton in the j provinces. He started with a comparatively open mind, but before he had been long at i work ho was forced to conclude that unless prompt steps were taken to prevent the sale of any kind of frozen mutton as New Zealand that name on produce would soon become rather detrimental than otherwise to exporters. Everywhere Mr Gray went he found that River Plate and. Australian frozen mutton was being sold to>consumers as New Zealand, and that the frozen mutton contracts of big institutions such as workhouses, asylums and reformatories in the west were almost invariably carried out with the Plate meat, though in many cases the contracts undoubtedly specified New Zealand mutton. The immediate outcome of these discoveries, which were at once communicated to the Agent-General, was a card containing a list of the names of the New Zealand freezing works supplying mutton and lamb to the United Kingdom, and showing the brands under which the carcases from each company ai*e shipped. Provided with such cards the masters of public institutions of the kind, above mentioned are, of course, in a position to detect the substitution of Australian or Plate mutton for New Zealand, and the retail butcher will no longer be at the mercy of those who supply him. There can be no question that many retailers have deliberately sold the Plate mutton as New Zealand, and I do not think it can be doubted that quite as many men have operated on Plate carcases under the impression that they- were' New Zealand. Whether the substitution, is made unknowingly or otherwise, however, the result is "the same, and;in many cases; it is to create in the mind of the purchaser a prejudice against New Zealand anuttbn':' SOME OF ITS RESULTS.. The way to put a stop to both frauds is plain. The unwary retailer must be informed of the difference between New Zealand and other frozen mutton, and furnished with the means to identify the Island product, and the wilfully fraudulent •• butchers must be brought to their bearings by legal means. Of course the retailers of frozen mutton are not made up of the two classes abovenamed. There is the infinitely greater section which buys frozen mutton without questioning its origin and caring little where it comes from so long as its quality and price are to their liking, and who sell it .as mutton. I have myself put foiward the view that the business methods of these men ought not to be interfered with, but I now recognise that they may be doing quite as much damage to the reputation of New Zealand mutton as their brethren who go in for ticketing their meat. For, be it remarked, New Zealand held absolute sway in the frozen mutton import for so many years that the general public, at least in the southern parWbf England, looked upon the island colony as the sole country of origin for frozen mutton. And this notion prevails to a great extent with the consumer of to-day. You never hear a man or woman talk of having bought jEiver Plate mutton or Australian ; their purchases are always "New Zealand." And , so every bad joint of frozen muttoil is put down to the credit of the /r colony by its consumer. Under the existing state of the law I do not think any butcher can be compelled to denote the country of origin of the meat he exposes for sale, though he can be proceeded against for selling Argentine meat as New Zealand, or vice versa,, and I fancy it will be a terribly hard job to get any Bill through Parliament which will serve New Zealand's ends in this direction. The retail fraternity would not object particularly to a Bill compelling them to distinguish between Home-grown and imported meat, but to a measure compelling them to distinguish between the produce of Now Zealand, Australia and the Flate they would, undoubtedly, offer a strenuous resistance. And a measure so drastic will never get any substantial backing in the Imperial Parliament. But if the trade of the)nan who sells mutton as mutton without reference to the, country of origin cannot be intorfoie'd with sprae_ good can*! be done in preventing the absolute fraud 'of the man who deliberately foists Plate meat upon the public .as New Zpaland and by enlightening the unwary, retailer. Mr Gray has already done good work in this direction, and it " is to be hopod"' that your Government will throw no obstacles in the way of his being • further employed on the same task. Of course the question of the distribution of meat is not the only one upon which Mr Reeves sent him forth toY inquire. His report will show that Mr Gray made use of his opportunities to inquire closely into the fate of New Zealand butter and cheese in the provinces, and the suggestions he has made in regard to improving the method of distribution outside the metropolis are worthy of the best consideration. NEXT YEAR. Next year's London season will, barring any serious Royal bereavement, be one of the most brilliant ever known, and- again let mo advise all who are contemplating' a run home "one of these fine days," to make next spring the time. The sensible plan is to leavo Australia so as to reach Rome for Easter and to ' do Italy, Venice, the Riviera and. Paris (not in one rush, but leisurely) en route to London. Arrive here the first week in May and remain till July. Then see what you want of England and Ireland, and reserve Scotland (or if you prefer it, Switzerland) till August. Return to town in September for your ladies' final and supreme " burst " of shopping, and sail for the colony direct in October. I know on the authority of several different Antipodeans that a married couple can do this tour comfortably travelling first-class (N.B. — To travel cheaply and nastily when you are on a pleasure tour is the grossest folly and Philistinism), and living at good hotels (or in comfortable apartments) for under a thousand pounds, reasonable shopping included. Of course this does .not mean a box at the opera or even ten shilling stalls at the theatres, let alone rooms at the Metropole or the Hotel Cecil and champagne dinners. But people with their heads screwed on tolerably tightly can see and do everything nicely for about that sum. One man this summer told. me that he and his wife totalled :the cost of a ten months trip (leaving the .colony in February and arriving back at the end of >

November) at £1200, but then' his better half took back quite .£2OO worth of presents, f rocks, fripperies and fal-lals. tSIMS REEVES, he generous reception accorded the veteran Sims Reeves in South Africa has given him confidence to face Yankee and Antipodean audiences, and he definitely will leave next month for America. His intention is to visit New York, spend six weeks jn the Eastern States, proceed to California, and go from thence to Australia and New Zealand. Probably he will raach Auckland or Sydney (the first stopping point is uncertain) in February. The old tenor is, of course, accompanied by a smart concert party. He himself may be said to be on exhibition chiefly. You mustn't expect fco hear more than the shadow of a remnant of his once glorious voice. It is, however (as I have told you before), alleged to be a liberal education in vocalism to see him open his mouth. THE AGENT-GENERAL. Dec. 14 is the date fixed for the AgentGeneral's address at the Imperial Institute, and on Nov. 27 he goes to Oxford to tell the undergraduates all about you. Mr Reeves has latterly refused several lectures and £ interviews," not wishing to make himself too cheap. Needless to say he is the last man to lose a chance of advertising the colony, and is ready at all seasons to address thoroughly representative bodies. Such cliques of faddists as, for ' instance, the Kensington Liberal Ladies' Society, however, scarcely, he considers, come under that denomination. In the same way now Mr Reeves declines the journalistic attentions of the "snippet, the minor financial and the specialist weeklies." sir juiius yoaEL. Everybody at this side expresses satisfaction that your -iaSiUat length done .the requisite 'something for. Sir Julius Jivxjgel. Jromired » year ; is not of course much for a gentleman of his speculative and sumptuous tastes, but added to the tit-bits ho picks up in connection with mining -promotions, &c, ought to make him fairly comfortable. In these days when so many New Zealanders are " picking up gold and silver " in that delightful Tom Tiddler's ground^ the company-promoting. market, Sir Julius must bitterly mourn his early speculative indiscretions. Unfortunately, it is too true that his name on a prospectus does not carry much weight nowadays. I would, however, if I were a shareholder, far rather have my affairs managed by him than by many of the quisby directors whose names figure on . the boards of New Zealand enterprises. Sir Julius, at least, has experience, and his worst enemy could not deny him a clear head and plenty of common-sense. < SIR GEORGE GREY. I went down on Tuesday afternoon in a bitterly cold east wind to call on Sir George Grey, but found him out driving. The servant, however, said he seemed quite as well as he has been all the summer. The mere fact of his being able to be out at all on such a day I thought spoke volumes for the G.O.M.'s condition. PACIFIC CABLE CONGRESS. In one way the postponement of the deliberations of the Pacific Cable Congress to next? year comes as a blessing to Australia. One could not contemplate without dismay the prospect of Australian interests being confided solely to Sir Saul Samuel or Mr Gillies. The latter admits that he is no longer equal to ' the duties •of AgentGeneral, and Sir Saul has passed the age when serious responsibilities ought to be thrust, upon him. The Canadian and British representatives are shrewd, sharp, cute men in the prime of life, who will screw every, conceivable advantage they can out of Australia, and give Justus Jittle as they are allowed to.. They should be met in your interests by equally hardheaded Commissioners. Mr Playford is the ideal for such a po9t, and either Mr Reeves, Sir Westby Peiceval or Sir M. Fra3er would admirably second him. FORECASTING AUSTRALIAN SEASONS. There does not seem much connection at first sight beween the Nansen Expedition and the Australasian colonies, but if Professor Mohn is right, you are nearly interested in the Swede's scientific discoveries. According to the Professor, the present system of weather forecasts will be revolutionised by Nansen's finds, and experts in India and Australia, as well as Europe, will be able henceforward to predict the future with far greater certainty. In this connection I may mention that when Mr Wragge was in last week I asked him if ho looked forward to being able presently to forecast the Australian seasons. He said : " Oh ! dear no. We should never dream of attempting such a thing with our present knowledge. It would simply call down ridicule on weather forecasts generally. Of course, a Successful Antarctic expedition might provide many imperatively required data and place us in quite a different position. One hopes these may someday be forthcoming. . But till then it is nonsense to dream of successfully forecasting seasons."