BUTCHERS AT WAR.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 526, 5 June 1909, Page 8

BUTCHERS AT WAR.

RUMOURED RING AND THE PRICES. r ■■■'■■ -'' ■' ■ ■ ■ ■■ . -.' -, . ONE SIDE OF THE STORY. Who is-the syndicate? Tho question was asked by a Dominion reporter of tho manager of one of the shops of the Wairarapa' Butchery Co., jvhiob. is popu-' larly credited ,with haying brokea ; up the meat monopoly of Wellington. ' •'•■ ~;. The'reply was a staro 'of indignation'.' ■:.:Yqii;.wish- to secure the corifiderice of the public.(pursued the pressman). It.raay help if you take them into your confidence. ..'■ "It,islnot.-necessary," replied the man of the-apron,' "to say who compose the ■ syndicate. ' ■•-■■ '.■■ •■'■-'.■ ' : Will you say where the meat is killed f ' i."lr J s kiUed at a •icensed slaughterhouse at Makara. Later it will be- killed at the Wellington abattoirs when they are ready We are now doing a good trade. Look herei —beautiful sirloin fivepenco." ■ i ■■' . Your rivals have lowered their prices, and are- also' selling sirloin at fivepenco. . Rump steak sixpence," he continued Ilump steak fiyepence at your rivals' an error, and the butcher ' was quick to jump upon it. He evidently knows ?.'! v e, . I!l 7 a S er •■y° u '" he shouted, that you wont show mo any shop in' Wellington except ours where mmp steak is sell' ing at loss than sevenpenco per pound Thov daren't do it." ■■-,-... ■* Why:not? .... -." v; ■ : ■ ■" : ; .;■. VTho-Master,:.Butchers' Association" has fiied the.price at Bevenpence, and not one ofWnlliV f rOS a r S ° less ; Ever 7 butel >er in ■Wellington -.-except-.ourselves sells at the pnees fixed by tho association. It has been meeting once a. week—in. fact, twice a week lately, smeo fi» fight began, if one of tS were caught undor-seUing te would have his supplies stopped at once." • . How do they manage that? Lim^yiies 0 " 5 frCCZing W ° rks WOUld refase Has it evor been'done? mutton He was reported, and next mining when ho ordered his supply tho freezing company told him tho prico'of mutton to h. ? m was raised by ljd. per pound. Ho asked Uf slid Wa ?No ai h Cd t t0 a U tbo and lv said: No, but yon haw been under-selline" " -. Does every Wellington butcher get his tin How do you got your supplies? : F > IH farmers who Co 60 or 100 head of stock to sell, but, we go to the small men with perhaps half a , dozen and they aro very E lad to sell to us. Wo send the stock down to Makara by the truck load,,and they aro killed there" Ujiaor inspection? aundor a Government inspector, who 0 place about three'days a week " _Y6u aro not members of the Master Butchers'. Association? "'' "No, and don't intend to bo. And on their part they ignore us. They icnored us when the Arbitration Go\irfc was fixing tho industrial award.- They refused to cite us and consequently we do not como under tho award. Wo need not pay union rates of Wflgo if wo hko, but, as a matter of fact wo *> pay tho full rates. It is not tho wish' or the butchers themselves that tho hirii prices of meat in Wellington should con. tiruio, A lot of them camo into, the kado

with tho intention of soiling cheaper meat, but they found that, if they did not join tho association and chargo association rates, they could not get supplies." Does tho association rule the freezing companies, or tho freezing companies dominate tho association? "The freezing companies are under an obligation to tho association. .SuppoßO 20 members of the association went to tbo Gear Company and scid, 'Mr. So-and-So is undercutting: you must stop his supplies. . If tho Gear Company said, .'Wo won't do anything of the );ind,' they would find next morning that, twenty of their clients had transferred their patronage to the Wellington Moat Company or to tho Banks Freezing Company. You can take it from me that all those lists of prices you see Btuck up in the butchers' windows to-day were fixed by the association, arid will have to be abided by." ' How will this fight end? Can you. see it through? "I think so. We are doing a very good trado just now. You will scarcely belieyo it, but 1 have received retail orders within the last week from Featherston and Carterton." I thought you didn't deliver? "We will send orders by post, but wo don't send out a delivery cart in the city. That is why. wo can sell so cheaply." THE. OTHER SIDE. : Mr. Rod, of Courtenay Place,'president of tho Master Butchers' Association,; of Welling-, ton, tells a different story. Concerning, the. Arbitration, Court citing, he told a Dominion reporter that tho association had.nothing to do with t.ho citing. That would.rest with the Labour Department, or with the employees who brought the case. It was quite possible' that the secretary was asked to furnish a list of the butchers on tho association's list, and if so, he could not be responsible for tho other butchers. . , Are they not all members except the Wairarapa Butchery Co.? , ■ "No. The Gear Co., for. example, is prevented by.its articles of association from joining. And thero are others outside also." Is it true that a butcher who does not join tho association and sell at association prices has his supplies stopped ? "Certainly not. A freezing company, would not stop any man's supplies unless ho was unable to pay." • !. If a butcher were under-cutting, would tho association endeavour to have his supplies stopped? ■ .-,,•; '.-.. "No. ':A;imember of the association has lately owned;in opposition to me, and has undpr-sold:hio./ But ho is not interfered with. The trouble'is that we havo come down to tho prices of tho new shops, and they don't liko.it. At tho present prices, it is a losing' f proposition, and thero will be some butchers m the Bankruptcy Court, very soon." ' to'the figures submitted to tho Wsborno Borough Council lately, tho -butchers are-marking handsome profits. "Those figures are all wrong. They are absurd. I would like to know if the new company in Wellington is selling all inspected meat." ' They say they are. ■ ■"Well, it would cost them £6 per week tor.an inspector at an out-of-the-ivav placo hko. Karon. I don't think they could'stand it. Among bullocks that aro bought as prime beef cattle about five per cent, are condemned for tuberculosis, cancer, etc. That is, if they, aro inspected. Of course, without inspection 'these diseased beasts. would bo' sold for food: Inspection is not compulsory, but the sate of diseased meat is punishable if .... I Cannot'you sell meat at a "profit at the present reduced prices? ■■' ■■'■'• ■■.■'■. . ~ "JJ is tio credit and the delivery that arc the trouble. It costs a penny a pound to dehver moat.: You can't run a cart at-less than £5 a week. So if you deliver mutton' at 2d. a pound, you only really get a permj a pound for it.". ... ... ... , .' •Do : you. make a difference.'of n penny a pound :h fcho price if bought a t _ .Wβ.did till'the present price began. Then m regard to a cash trade, , this is practically impossible. We treat weekly payments as cash, and allow a 'half-penny a pound-discount. It is tho decision of the butchers to..deliver meat at tho !Er co'imtw prices.of the opposition that is making them