MEAT--WHICH PORT?

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1649, 16 January 1913, Page 8

MEAT--WHICH PORT?

>- —- ; . BRISTOL OR LONDON ? THE CASE FOR BRISTOL. " . V/ . :lt STATED BY MR. LYSNAR. r- - ' a " •" f 0 BARGES, CHARGES & OTHER ASPECTS ss ' • 511 . 16 Mr. W- D. Lysnar, who arrived froii England -by. tho Manuka yesterday, ha; ® been investigating tho handling of; Nen Zealand 'frozen produoe in London. Ir ,y an ■ interview with a representative oi ;r The Dominion, ho made 6ome interesting 10 remarks and suggestions, with regard tc oiir trade in frozei) meat, 5. Jlr. Lysnar first stated that' the neces<l sity for' improving the facilities for the 1- marketing and handling of New-Zealand a produce 111 London t was as imperative [. as it was in 1910, when ho. was in England. It will be 'remembered that, in 0 that / year, Mr: Lysnar . investigated > matters in conjunction'with the New ;s Zealand Producers' Company. .Tlio London n importers still wish the New-Zpaland 0 trade to be kept at the Albert Docks, and r not at tho South-West 'India. Dock '' s . Mr. Lysnar holds that.barging and_carti- ' n g (in; London) aro the blot upoii tl;e r system.' Why not do away with 0 R o ,""' Ho is - of opinion • that t that there is only one • course ;open, 1 j" 1 " that is to leave London nnd go _ to the West of England ports, where s there are excellent facilities for handling p- our produce. Take Avbnmouth (Bristol), t tho'official figures show; that wo can"*:liver'produce at tho Smithfield "markef's 1 cheaper than at tho Port of London. Wp 3 can also do tho work quicker and cleane -. j But to mako such a change the matUr 5 havo to bo dealt ,-Tvitli by "the L p'rr> ; ducers toieinselvcs. / , ■ ; Advantages of Bristol.' . •■ The total Bristol charges (including 1 railage from Bristol to London) is 275. (kl. I delivered at as against r 285. ; sd. -per ton delivered through the ) Port of London to . Smithfield. 'This , means a saving of lid. per , ton, and also . a saving in . insurance. Also the. meat I would bo in a better condition, as there i- would'bo no barging or carting. I If thi' meat ; comes throuse Loudon,1 and is put into the London dock authori- > ties' freezers at Albert Store/ tho fol- ! lowing is.the process:—The.meat is sorted in- the holcl, and'discharged slowly on. ! to. the wharf, where, it; is hand-trucked ' from,the ship to tho railway van (in tho 1 open and without any covering). It is 1 then railed to-the stores. In the case ; of two shipping companies, this means a ' distance !'of about' three-quarters of. a mile. In tho case of another company it is nearly..-two miles. > If the meat goes by barges, it,is handtrucked into 'the -barges,' and theso tako eight -hours- to.'drift .up on' the tide to. Smithfield,*. where it has to be again carted to the market. '; If it is ;carted from the d6ek right to Smithfield, tho journey, under 7 favourable conditions, takes about three-hours. . How. long, then, does th,e meat remain out of the freezer Jlr. Lysnar Tas asked. "In one case, which I; perk)hally..saw," Mr. Lysnar replied, "it. was out. tf; the freezer, for three days and three nights, but, as a general rule, when going by; barge,.it is out of the freezer about two days and. a night.; ' / '/ ' Do many producers ship privately?' , "In'-the North Jsland over 50, per cent, of the owners snip privatejy, 1 ' was. the reply, "but, in, the South Island, the percentage is less. The great bulk of it, however, is sold at this end, because tho owners dare not risk ,tho damage at the other end." ; . . The Producers' Association 19 to seo that, in .the event of any cf the producers beinsr dissatisfied with thp prices offered in the Dominion by "spot and c.i.f. buyers, .there ,will be proper provision at tho London end for'thb economical and siifo'hafulling of produce, if- they, .'wish.' to send it there.-'" ' '.' [Tv/o Reasons for a. Chango frorri London. Questioned as to. reasons for advocating' that our- frozen produco should be sent ,to . western',' ports,' Mr. Lysnar stated that a chango was desirablo on'tho following grounds-.— ' . '1 Tirst, there wero better facilities , at West of England ports, and much cheaper charges. For instance, to discharge a boat's frozen meat (from three holds) in London, 200 men; were required.. In Bristol, however, as few as 75 men were sufficient to unload a similar boat. and'.they could do it in abiut half the time. Secondly, the West Coast ports .'constituted a better distributing and 'marketing base. The western ' ports commanded : a population of about 35 million, as against London which had only a ready command over 10 millions. This might he by : an official' niap 'which had been; compiled by the Bristol and Manchester dock authorities. ... . T ' . , Promises Fulfilled. When you came; back from England,. Mr. Lysnar, in tHe end of'l9lo, (aid the reporter, you stated that tho London dock authorities ; wore prepared, to effect certain improvements." Have these improvements been carried out? "No," said Jlr. Lysnar, emphatically, "I regret to say they havo not been 4arried' out because, of .the- influence .of the London importers, who, no doubt,' perceived that if tho desired improvements suggested by the New. Zealand Commit- : tee-were carried out, at the S.W. .-India Dock, instead of at the Albert Deck, it would do-away with the usefulness.:. of ; their up-town stores, and. ultimately cut the trado away from them. This is dearly. shown by the following extract, taken from a .written.statement af a lead- ,' ing. London, firm of carters ;" , 1 ' ' "We would say, with propel facili- ' ' ties, that the' S.W. India Dock,-for delivering to the carts, etc.,. and' coneider ing you ivould practically get a ; . 'straight run. from there, we would, say that we could cart as quickly : from. the S.W. India-Dock ,to Smith- : field as : we can from the ' up-,town ' .stores.". - Tho effect of this statement amounts to j this—That the whole of the barging..could j bo dono away with. Tho reason is that j in. most cases the: up-town stores .are so 1 badly situated in narrow and congested, ( roads and lanes. . . ••. '• Australian Co-operation.' ' It is suggested that in this movement, . the Australians should bo- brought into co-operation. Tliero is an ample market • for tho products of both , countries, and by tho. producers of both countries, forming ono organisation, better prices- would result. At presenti thero is no co-opera-tion, and' there is a great lack of any system to control tho . prices of. ■ frozen meat from day to day on, the Smithfield : market, and consequently, there is. great j. fluctuation to tho loss of the producer. , Tho market ptjco is fixed by the weakest j holder or salesman, instead of being hold " up to what tho strongest salesman -thinks ® it should be. ; This, leads t<j a system of under-cutting and it is always easier to sell produce by 1 selling a littlo under tho day's value. ? What is required is for the produce to bo • in stronger hands. 1 Ji Thero is another reason for. such ? : tho'flush of the Australian t: reason is from August to December, while f the flush of the New Zealand season is J 3 . [Rom December to June. Thus it would i! jo possible to more equally cater for the Unglish trade than is possible ,to-day, .. ind a littlo judicial regulation of the rj shipping and of the holding produce 1 ierb a regular/supply could bo availablo or market sale all the year round. " Not a Precedent. In going to tho West Coast ports Now Zealand would be only following the lead 9' if other countries in this respect. The 11 Argentine sends tho larger portion of its ?' neat, to tho West Coast ports, and rails I s ■ great deal of it to London from; Liver)ool. It mayi be hero mentioned that the J 1 trgontino has the best facilities at tho 11 jondon docks. »! Ireland, also sends a lot of meat to jondon by rail for Pishguai-d. Norwav u< ends all its veal and pork to the West Jflast ports also, so that New Zealand n< rill not be making a precedent in tip's, di = _ = _ = _ = __ = . . tli