WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Wanganui Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 160795, 1 November 1920, Page 5

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

' NEW ZEALAND MEAT. GRATE ALLEGATIONS. WELLINGTON. Oct. 30. The allegations Mr H. Holand made in the House of Representatives last Wednesday in regard to the quality and condition of the New Zealand meat sent Home, and of the meat canned here for local consumption, are far too grave to be dismissed by an indignant retort from the Minister of Agriculture. Of course, no one credits that the member for Buller has really discovered such a state of 1 affairs as he depicted in the House, and 'the public will readily excuse the hot words' that sprang to the Minister’s lips, but something more than the Departmental report promised by Mr. Nosworthy will bo required to dispel the uneasy feeling that has been created. The good name of New Zealand meat has been for years one of the Dominion’s principal assets, and to have it impugned just now in high places is particularly unfortunate.

CLOSER INSPECTION. It is admited that a 'good deal of meat deteriorated through lengthy storage during the war period, both here and in the Old Country, and that a certain amount was sent away in anything but prime condition. But —-r Holland’s allegations go a good deal further than this in implying that stock of a very inferior quality has been slaughtered, and that the worst of it' has been passed off on an unsuspecting public in a fashion amounting to nothing less than fraud., If this had actualy occlured, the officers of Mr Nosworthy’s Department would stand convicted of culpable negligence, and would be obviously incapable of furnishing any report that would be reassuring to the public. In these circumstances the only investigation that could satisfy the public would be one conducted quite independently of these gentlemen.

, SHIPPING FREIGHTS. One of tho most disturbing of the alarming reports that have been submited to Parliament - for a very long time-is the one presented to the House by Mr George Hunter, on behalf of the Agricultural, Stock, and Commerce Committee, dealing with shipping freights. The personnel of the committee saves it from ~any suuspicion of being Socialistic in its tendencies, and yet Mr Hunter and his colleagues report that “it is desirable, in the best interests of the Dominion, that a shipping line be established which will be entirely independent of any combination, and that the Government should assist in the establishment of such a line by guarantee, financial assistance, or otherwise.” This is not exactly an incitement towards the nationalisation of the shipping services, but it goes some distance in that direction. / ‘ ’ PRIVATE ENTERPRISE.

During the course of tho debate on the report, Mr 0. Hawken, the member for Egmont, who speaks with authority for a constituency of producers, stated that the cost of sending a carcase of mutton to London under present conditions was nearly 4Jd per pound, and that the best price obtainable for the meat was 6d per pound. This meant that the producer would get 7s 6d for a 30s carcase, while the handling and transport charges would amount to 22s 6d. The Prime Minister admitted the accuracy of the figures quoted by Mr Hawken and other members of the ■ House, but he was opposed to State shipping lines, quoting the Commonwealth line in support of his view, and would use moral suasion with the shipping companies before embarking ■ upon a hazardous undertaking which he would regard with much trepidation.