NEW CHAIRMAN'S SPEECH.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 577, 4 August 1909, Page 5

NEW CHAIRMAN'S SPEECH.

' GOOD TIMES AHEAD. •On the. .motion 'of Mr. J. 6.-. Wilson, Mr. D. D., Maofarlane, of Canterbury, was elected chairman". , In a brief address, Mr. M'Farlanei reviewed .the past season. , Wool, prices had recovered, and the fact ■ that the purchases, were 'for. .consumption, and not for speculation, was a good augury. -The .world's sheep flocks had greatly decreased, but the-wool-usirig/populatioii had'increased. 'The .posi-tion-in regard to wheat was' very ' similar, and. it was predicted that' fifteen'years hence the United States would herself need all the wheat . she could produce.. Notwithstanding increasing' .outputs in Argentina', arid somo other parts,; the consumption was increasing still more rapidly,. and\ there was a of.: good . ; .wheat,..prices' ior ; many'. years to ooriie. ;:The chief 'problenv for :New; Zealand to-day was: _ "How can we increase the quantity ;and, quality:of our products, and at thesame .time! add .to' tho number and increase the status' of our Tural -population?". Great advances' in' tho volume, of products had been made : in.recent-.years, .but .there'; was insufficient/command, of the.' markets. 'openings'.up of the unoccupied' lands, especially. m. the'.'North'. Island, would do rmucli. ,to lessen the 'noxious weed; evil; - and -adivance the agricultural, interest,; generally. (Agricultural education - must ', be made ~ to Teach not.only those who' could attend: col- 1 leges, .but the workers/on the farms as 'well, if farmers were -to -.be ' enabled " ; to" farm by other than traditional methods. , By this educational method the relief of distressful .Ireland' was' l ; being" successfully \ accomplished.The success of the scheme in New Zealanddepended' on their ' having competent instructors. :; ; .. MINISTER .AND~T HE ' MEAT TRADE; ./■' SOME LONDON METHODS. . Tho Minister for Agriculture, the Hon. T. Mackenzie, addressed the conference. In the course of his remarks: he expressed his determination of building up. tno; agricul-. tural 'and pastoral interests, recognising their'-'paramount importance in the welfare of the fiation.' Frozen meat Jiad 'already been referred'to in other speeches,' but he wished to speak of . seed. Ho wished then-to diecuss of this that-.the-Departmentmight,V as jfar '.as,?; possible, .5 do; %hat(twas. desirable.'to remedy' evils. While farmers- took great care with their stock ' for breeding, they took. no care-as to'the, breeding Of their'plant seed. With regard. to . Mr. Wilson's suggestion, that the American) •Meat'.' Trust had something to with the. meat slump,'ho recalled the verdict'.of the, British ■Meat'.Trust' Commission, which ' was '/practically one'merely: of "not proven." Tho

meat supply into Britain was less per head of population than it was a few years ago. When the population was, only 40- millions tho meat imports amounted to 46,328,000cwt. But now_ that the' population was over 45 millions' the meat imports had increased by only 500,OOOcwt.' ' Soma Causes. The poor demand, therefore, must be due to some other cause than over-supply, and probably resulted from the prevalent want of employment, aud to the; unfair claims made, on arrival on consignments, which wore in sound condition, the purchasers of these! lines being able to undorsell other holders of meat, bought at fair prices. Another cause of a most scandalous naturo, now operating, had just come, to' his notice. Olio,of the most dreaded _ diseases of. humanity was cancer, but certain persons-at Home had been endeavouring to associato cancer with frozen meat. Ho had received photographs of some of these ; posters, headed VCancer, frozen meat, public warning," and it was stated therein, on the authority of a' doctor,' that those, who consumed frozen, meat were liable* to contract-'.cancer/ ..Thei-'nad'-'also . in ; sonic of. tho newspapers' of Great Britain a public warning of the same nature! ' Fortunately, tho New Zealand offi*

cials at Home took the matter in hand, and < succeeded in getting an absolute' contradic- i tion from tho doctor named. It was believed .1 to be the,work of United States people do- f sirous of alarming people from eating frozen ] meat 'coming-'from distant countries. It < was scandalous that such statements should 1 be publicly made, concerning meat which was I admittely wholesome. When lie was at Home representing co-operativo associations, a Mr. 1 Digby, M.P., similarly associated cancer with 1 frozen meat in the House of Commons, and 1 011 that occasion, lie (Mr. Mackenzie) pub- 1 lished a letter refuting that statement, and ; also quoting analyses from "The Hospital," , showing that from a nutritious point of view, frozen meat was as good as Home- ' killed-meat, if not better. ! Advertising. , In regard to the advertising of New Zealand meat .in London, Cabinet decided not to. spend money in that way,, knowing that our frozen meat was already well-known ■ at Home. He had particulars of the methods employed by the Government to . encourage the trade, and Messrs. Rose and Company .wore prepared to send frozen meat 100 miles into tho interior free of freight, if bought in quantities of ono sovereign's worth and over; for 50 miles for. 10s. worth. This firm bought none but the best meat, arid usually charged only: about Id. per lb. above cost iu one carcass or a halfcarcass. . It had been suggested that the exporting companies should' hold back] the supplies till September, but the opinions of those in the trade .were opposed to-that, course, as this would'bring the last season's meat into'competition with the fresher meat of the new season from various sources. They believed it best to .sacrifice now to clear stocks-before the now shipments flooded the. market. He fully concurred .with this view. There had been some anxiety expressed as to the authority of an advertisement : in the "Daily Mail" advocating the use of New Zealand frozen meat, and concluding with an appeal to British householders to support the country which gave them ' a ' Dreadnought. Exception was takeii to this as proselytising patriotism. He cablcd Home, and the- Hon.* Hall-Jones replied that'the advertisement was not authorised by 1 his Department, but that in spite of full inquiries lie could not 'discover the origin. ■ His < (Mr. Mackenzie's) opinion was that the advertisement was; inserted by some of the Hoiiie firms dealing with New Zealand meat. It was perhaps a likely course for them to take in view of-.the heavy supplies on hand. ' .. ; Mr. W. C. Buchanan: It was unfortunate whoever did it'.' - : The Minister, ■ continuing, said an Imperial Conference to determine the best plans ofdefence was now' proceeding and after that had concluded there was, in bis opinion, need for another conference of a different nature, for-we had readied a stage in the history of the Empire when some of-the greatest problems that could possibly' engage tho. human mind called for solution—problems connected with trade and commerce' that were : second only in importance to Imperial . defence;-pt-oblems relating to an. increase of the pro r Slicing power of the soil; and to the retain-; irig in prosperity on' British soil those who .were of British birth' and breeding.. It. was regrettable to find America absorbing-in past years enough'of British emigrants to.people \New- Zealand several times , over—emigrants who, were seriously needed,in .the colonies .to. help to develop them ■ and • defend them against .possible invasion. A Curo for Unemployment. One was told that'> cure for unemployment hero, as at Homo, was to put the people on .the land, and educate them;in:the in-'. • dustry. ' To do this he believed it Would' be advisable to send selected .teachers to the most up-to-date agricultural colleges of the world to acquire knowledge that they could impart to ! other teachers 011 tlieir return. 1 (Hear, hear.) Closer settlement of. the lands was required, because when they considered the increased burden—for there must be'an increase of burden if the' same expenditure ' ,on public works was to go on—they would realise the need . of. increasing the country's production. . Reasonably-minded people would cease clamouring for railways that did not promiso to/ pay one-quarter per cent, on tho outlay: The clamourers often wero the first to accuse tho Government of increasing the national' debt and t'he cost-.of administration. Another ■ question-/ calling..,*for- ,-treatpient was : that 'tfade-ijebatcs and the bonuses paidpinjj' companies. Ther concessions already given 111 different parts of tho Empire .woro more than nullified by tho, inordihate _bonuses given to foreign shipping companies, which 'were largely Interfering with some of our Australian trade. Whatever new policy) was to be devised it must. be\dealt with on first -prin'.ciples.'- Another question apparent just now .' was tho demand for the right to work. That

cry must bo regarded together wrtlh a demand for an adequate return of labour for the wages paid. (Hear, hear.) Industries were even now closing down for lack of trained labour, or labour available on terms that the industry could afford to pay. He would devote as' much time as" he could spare listening to the discussions that' day with a view ;to learping how best to cater for tho needs of the industry; and what took place afterwards he-would learn from .the report of a special Hansard reporter engaged for the purpose. (Applause.)