Frozen Meat and Woollen Fabrics.

Wairarapa Standard, Volume XVII, Issue 1654, 31 December 1884, Page 2

Frozen Meat and Woollen Fabrics.

Sir Julius Vogel, has for some time entertained the idea that New Zealand frozen mutton and fine woollen fabrics manufactured in the colony, would find a profitable market in India. This idea is rather a mistaken one, with respect to the frozen meat, as is shown by the correspondence which has passed between Sir Julius Vogel and the Government of Bombay. The Secretary of the Bombay Trades’ Association says that the Committee of that body does not think there would be sufficient demand for colonial frozen meat in India to render the importation remunerative. He gives as reasons : (1) That the highest price for the very best kind of meat in Bombay is 3|d per lb ; (2) That the consumption would be very limited, as the natives will not touch meat slaughtered or handled by Europeans ; (3) That the consumption would bo limited to the presidency towns, as fresh meat is much cheaper in the Mofussil than in Bombay. This in* formation shows that it would be of no use to send frozen meat to India. As to woollen fabrics Sir James Fergusson, the Governor of Bombay writes: —“The New Zealand woollen goods are not at present known, neither is their price stated. I know them to he warm, and durable, and I feel sure they would bo admired. Whether they would be taken up by wholesale importers in competition with established British stuffs is a difficult question of trade, in which comparative price would be a considerable factor. My impression is that, while an experimental shipment is the only reliable test.no opportunity so favorable can be obtained as that which would be given by the Bombay international Exhibition, at present proposed to be opened in December, IBSG.” We are inclined to think that any New Zealand cloths sent to India would require to be made of a far lighter texture than the articles usually produced in the colony. If the tweeds were light, soft, of good texture, and able to compete as to price with Scotch, English, and Continental clolhs, they would probably find a market in India amongst the European population, who would wear them during the cold season.