The Press. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, 1903. NEW ZEALAND PRODUCE IN SOUTH AFRICA.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 11493, 28 January 1903, Page 6

The Press. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, 1903. NEW ZEALAND PRODUCE IN SOUTH AFRICA.

Our trade with. South Africa seem* fated to be crushed by sheer mismanagement. The trouble is not confined to the loading of the vessels, the absence of a definite timetable, the constant delays in the despatch, of eteamers, and their deviations from the direct route to pick up shipments of Australian produce. Just m unsatisfactory, it ■would appear, are the arrangements made for landing and distributing New Zealand cargoes when the belated* steamers do reach their destination in boutfo Africa. On« particularly glaring instance in connection with a produce shipment from thie colony lias just come to light. Some time ago toe Government shipped a large consignment of potatoes to the Repatriation Department in South Africa. What became of thie shipment has, until a few days ago, remained a mystery. If tlw Government knew, they vouchsafed no information to those who supplied the produce. If a report which has now readied this colony is correct, there hae been some disgraceful bungling in connection with the shipment. the blame for which rests with the military authorities at Durban. The facts, as given by the Durban correspondent of the Invexcargill "Southern Cross,'' in a letter published a few days ago, reveal a discreditable state of affairs. Not only was too large a quantity supplied, but the arrangements made for landing the potatoes at Durban were shockingly inadequate. "'They '■ were piled in high heaps," he writes, "and very roughly handled, aa well as "being well watered by our summer "showers, and then half-cooked by the " burning sun for weeks at a stretch." Xhe overworked railway department could not rail the consignment inland fast enough, and the result wae that the potatoes gradually rottfed in the open air until the stench

became unbearable. The military authorities had four thousand cases of potatoes taken out to eea and thrown overboard. Many of these were washed ashore again, to be eagerly snapped up by the native beach-combers. Prior to this sundry pereons had begun to help themselves from the pile stored on the waterfront, carting the potatoes away and selling them is the town, until the arrest of seven of the offenders checked the practice. As the correspondent points out, the gross waste involved in this instance of military incapacity in South Africa is likely to have a deterrent effect on future shipments of New Zealand* potatoes, through no fault of the shippers. The produce was landed in excellent condition, but the bungling which afterwards. occurred was enough to ruin any shipment, however good its quality.

In this case the fault appears to have lain with the military authorities, but it is not an isolated instance of mfcmanagement in connection with the landing of New Zealand produce in South Africa. According to the correspondent already quoted, the first steamer of the new direct servioe from this colony—the Kent—was unable, owing to her great draught, to outer th* harbour on arrival. Tim cargo

had in consequence to be discharged by means of lighters, and even after eight days of this work the steamer was still dravring too much water to permit of her going inside the harbour. This method of discharging, besides costing each shipper 7s 6d per ton extra to get his goods ashore, inTohrea a good deal of rough handling of the cargo by the Kaffirs. The apples landed from the Kent by means of lighters suffered badly in the process. They were to be seen "crashed by trucks used by the "blacks in their work, all along the track "to where they were stacked." More cases were broken, it is asserted, than a carpenter could repair in a week. "To, the shippers of meat," adds the writer, "I will give " this advice, that if they wish their meat

"to present a respectable appearance on

"the market here, they should put the " usual thin covering, and then use a mate- " rial not less thin than that used in mak- " ing the best of cornsacks, and see that it '' is securely eewn on." But the main point is to see that the goods are shipped in vessels suitable for the trade, and steamers of the Kent type are evidently of too deep a draught to be considered suitable. Is it surprising if, after so many checks, and so much discouragement, shippers are becoming more and more reluctant to .entrust their produce to a precarious market in South Africa?