N.Z. PRODUCE AT HOME.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1669, 8 February 1913, Page 8

N.Z. PRODUCE AT HOME.

HANDLING AND DISTRIBUTING. AN IMPORTANT PROPOSAL. Inquiry made of the New Zealand Producers' Association yesterday as to when an announcement was going to be mado in reference to the proposals placed before the executive of the association by Mr. W. V. Lysnar, who returned from England recently, after inquiring into tho handling of New_ Zealand produce at Home, elicited the following interesting statement from Mr. E. C.'Jack, secretary' of the 'association :—

"The inquiries made by -Mr. Lysnar into tho handling of New Zealand frozen produce at .London havo shown that tho Port of London Authority not only"Yequires monetary guarantees to carry out its promises to adopt the South-West India Dock to the New Zealand trade, but some other form of pressure to even carry out the temporary improvements promised at the 'Albert Dock. Up to the time of Sir. LysnarV leaving London not even a plan had been drawn as evidenoe of th« intentions of the Authority to with tho - work immediately. Further, in a recent report to hand, the High Commissioner stated that no movement had been made in the direction'of performance. During his recent visit to England' Mr. Lysnar spent a good deal of: time in Bristol, where the facilities are much ahead of those of London, and the Bristol authorities are prepared to - extend their facilities to suit our trade. • Further than that, the Bristol people have expressed the strong desire to secure a -fair portion of the ; New Zealand trade, and in proof ,of their desire it is proposed to float a large company for the handling and distributing of produce, tho major portion of the capital being'taken up by the Bristol people. The companj', however, will be floated partly^in Bristol and partly in New Zealand/and already considerable support has been given ■ tho schemo •by producers. Mr. Lysnar fully outlined the proposals to the re- . cent meeting of the, New. Zealand Pro-" ducers' Association, but owing to the absence of several members of the executive it was decided to obtain the opinion of all before giving approval to tho scheme. The scheme'has now received the unanimous approval of tho egecutive ,of the' association and Mr. Lysnar is beginning a series of lectures throughout the Dominion with a view to getting as large a number of producers 'as-possible interested. The'lectures will be illustrated with some.Bo lantern slides showing the antiquated methods adopted in London, rmd/the modern equipment of the West 4-oast' ports. -As is well known, a large portion of our; produce is sold c.i.f., but /' there is still , a considerable amount which goes on 'consignment. This the proposed company expects. to secure control of. In nddition to the port advantages which Bristol can offer, within ■ft radius of 50 miles from tho port there p ™ pu ! aticm ;of 34,000,000, as against 11,000,000 in the same area around Lon.i\' It -is ■ that, the company will appoint agents in the main centres throughout England and Scotland, which agents will bfl, in daily touch with the company s manager at tho port .of entry. Iho prices will thus be fixed daily, based on the requirements of the respective, places, and the company's storage facr'lities will. enable it to-- ieed tho taarket in such a way as to secure better results than havo been the case in tho past.,Tho operations-of-tho .company will not be confined solely to frozen meat, but will also embrace . butter, cheese, etc. It is' not anticipated that by .this means the wholo trade, of New- Zealand will leave London, bnt the. fact that a goodly portion of -the trade is passing tho London port seems to bo the only argument that will carry weight with the Port of London Authority; in giving to New Zealand tho facilities which.the importance of its produce demands. So far-as the SouthWest India Dock Js concerned, fell who havo inspected it are unanimous in tho opinion that ,so far as position is concerned it is" undoubtedly the best, but naturally the Port of London Authority want to see that the expenditure'of any. large sum of money,will be reproductive, but the investigations show that the Port Authority, to meet tho growing needs of. tho port, will'bo forced, irrespective of any guarantee, to increase its facilities in the near future. The proposed improvements'at. tho Albert Dock will not increase tho storage • capacity at the port to any .extent, because of the fact that the storage, at present available is rapidly, becoming unfit for. use." Mr. Lysnar will open his course of lectures at Gisborne to-day, and lie will afterwards speak at Napier, Dannevirko, Mnsterton, Blenheim, Auckland, Christchurch, and Dunedin, in tho order named. Other, fixtures have yet to be made. 1