THE FROZEN MEAT INDUSTRY.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1059, 23 February 1911, Page 8

THE FROZEN MEAT INDUSTRY.

'' \WIIAT IS'NEEDED; ■ ; [To_ TMB.-Editob.]' ' Sir,—ln view of tho controversy which, has bscu going oil ill regard to tho irozen meat ministry during tho last low years, it -would, 1 think, interest your readers to give a short summary ol tho tame. Whcu in England in October, 1908, I was interviewed by tho New Zeajand Associated. J'rcssloii. tlio frozen..inciat trade in .England, and-that interview was published in nil the leading jiaper* in tho Dominion, and created a very startliug impression in all quarters, bnortlv, tho assertions I then made wcro as follow.— Tho conduct of tho meat trados.in London was disgraceful lor tho following' reasons':— ■ T" ' First. General method of discharging meat from the ship's hold was bad, with tho exception of tho Shaw, Savill, and Albicn Company, who used a proper elevator. Second. Barges, dirty.: and .badly insulated,- taking as- lonff'sometimcs"as 36 hours in trausit from snip to store. Third. Kough handling of meat in transit from storfs to market. Fourt. Dirty stato of • tho meat when exposed in tho market owins to bad wrappers being used and th* slovenly way in which the sheep wcro killed and dressed at this side—which was in; marked distinction to tho Argentino meat. Fifth. The haphazard way tho wholo business was conducted in London, thero being no supervision, it-being nobody's business. - •• .. : ■

.< SiSth; Tho largo amount pf claims mado on tho insurance companies and the enormous incrcaso in the rates of insurance in consequcnce. I also stated thattho Argentine meat was fast displacing the New Zealand meat on tho market in consequence of being, better handled-and butcncred. On. January. 27, and. 28, ,1910, a meeting was called, in . Christcliurch, under tho auspices of tho Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association, to discuss tho frozen meat trado (tho full report of which' was, by order of tho Governor, printed and laid' beforo the llouso last session). At that meeting'l reiterated tho above assertions, and was howled at by tho representatives of tho meat .companies present; but my assertions wero entirely • corroborated by, • notably, tho lion, f.\ Mackenzie;, Mr. F. Weymouth, and Sir. AV. 1). Lysnar, and a - committee- was set up .to go into the matter, which, by tho way,' 1 havo heard nothing of since. '- Next-wo have Dr. Chapplo's articles on the trade. practically 'making tho samo assertions ns'l did, ana last but not least wc havo Mr. W. D. Lysnnr's very able report'to tho samo effect. This is by far the ablest report on the frozen meat trade I havo seen, and a committee, consisting of Messrs. M'Hardy, : 11. H. Willi, J. C. field,'W; D. Lysnar, and II: F. Recce, to verify his statement was set up in London. This committee's report, together with Mr. W. D. Lysnar'S reiiori, is now published, iu pamphlet form by tho "Herald" offico, Gisborne, and •is most instructive reading., Tho following nvo somo' of the chief items:—Bad system of sorting;- bad system of discharging; bad system of transport from shins to market. Then the. committee suggest remedies and append copies of letters on tho subject. Ono paragraph at tho cud of tho committee's report on Mr. Lysna'r's report is worthy 'of reproduction here. N'ote, page 7, tho committco havo detached from this, report the detailed report of Mr. Lysnar's regarding barges, lest it should provo prejudicial to the sale of Now Zealand produeo, and also becauso of tho prouiiso of barge owners to put matters right, and for thoso reasons tho committee havo also t detached certain correspondence on this head attached to the committee's report. I commend this pamphlet, to all interested im tho, freezing industry, i Now, sir, in face of this overwhelming evidenco of tho disgraceful manner in which the freezing industry is conducted, ono may surely ask cannot something bo I done to improve matters. 1 would suggest the following:— First, let the freezing companies see that moro care and cleanliness is exercised in the.slaughtering. I deliberately assert that tho hulk of slaughtering in New Zealand is slovenly and dirty, and I am suro every independent man of experience will near me out in this. Let all sheep and lambs,frozen bo pooled, or at any rate let thero bo a uniform system of grading for I life whole of Now Zealand. The freezing companies will say, "Impossible." I do not think so. Why.should not mutton . and lamb bo graded as easily as flax and butter, say A, B, C.C, etc. . A,: say'bcst ;.quslity fine down cross; B, next quality, and so on, regardless of where shipped. Thero is as coarse mutton and lamb frozen in Canterbury as in tho North Island, and as fine" quality in tho North as in the South. Then why not havo tho samo grading. Tho benefit of n Government grmlo in lies was .enormous, and it would ho equally so with; meat. rCexr, let an advisory board'bo set up, in London, whoso duty it would bo'to seo'' that tho meat is nroperly handled and rectify abuses. Advise irom timo to timo the requirements of the market, clc., so that shipments would be regulated at this end! and so avoid glutting, and be constantly 011 tho look-out for fresh markets. There are three or ( four months in tho. year When New Zealand meat is unprocurable'ill London, whv'not storo it here and keep Up a regular supply all the year round? It would bo stored much cheaper hero than at Home. What would be easier than,having a controlling board out here, who should regulate shipments? 1 You could then havo at tho end of each killing reason a sufficient Quantity in store' in'lfew Zealand (-6 fill requirements -in the months when thr>.ijmrket.<is bare. A scheme such as this, Tmn "satisfied, would bo to the betterment of tho whole business. If tho freezing companies would only throw aside their petty jealousy and work together. I am satisfied it could be (lone. In fact, make the wholo freezing industry in New Zealand ono largo combine. ; Apologising for trespassing so far on your space.—l am; etc., - If: D. VAVASOUR. Blenheim, February 18.