THE BEEF TRUST

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2159, 27 May 1914, Page 4

THE BEEF TRUST

JjASt week the Premier cl Ivew South Wales (Ms. HotJiAs) said that if tbe Meat Trust'came to bis Stats he Would "settle it in ,24. hours/* But Mk. HoistoN does jiqt lttjo\y now;, and rii&y wve* find ,smt except by cfea-flcCj whether the Meat Tnisfc is operating jti Sydney ei; in the pastoral districts of Itov isoaih 'Wales, He will fmd it no easy matter to i discover through which iM&es the' Trust does its wort, a*d who the ; agents of the Tfusfc are; afld if he 1 were to know all those things it is [still open to tkrabt whetbci , be ig ißgcaious enough oi' enough to "settle" the frtfst in the oft-hantN ecl roanMv saggGstod, By Ins boast that he eft-rtttl overcome this invisible, immensely strong foe in 24 hom:s, 11k. HotMAS won for. biniself t-ho eheer of & mottioni pGi'ha.ps fnom a crowd of an hour, tmi 'he also showed to the more iutolligcnt; of the people »f his State that' he knows uotbing of what it means %o wage war op the Beef Trust. The' Beef Trust has never twitted under this

style, nor Has it ever wcea trying to capture a new trade openly worked in tho. names usually associated with, the Trust, Osly the greatest vigilance will Cvojc discgVer direct \n-ooi ol the- preseute of the frust in the marliot until g-ftar die Trasfc. has captured: the mrirket. It is elajmeef that the Trust is. ift Queorisland, workin.g vev,y hard to eapivo th 6 beef flaitrkct. "Oijco. or kvl-eo an akntt has kca raised that the Trust is operating in the frozoti rfleiiit tre.fle feii'fi, and the-. Prime Stisisisii }ws' to loot ottt for .a-HjrtJmig tltat-scctns like tho work of fcWTfflat in the D©rrti|jio.ti.. Only a Very few people «an pßssJbljf litiow Whctlwr this trotncoattdiis combine lias already established iteeJl in New Zeftia*4>. but •» few mexe who watch' the oper*tifltts of eoitain. firms or sets tii firms very closely,, jiate .a shrewd suspicion, based chiefly on the fact that meat frozeft oa accontit of these fiwns...is always amt to certain firms, in Bnginnd, that the Trust .. has been feeling its way into tlio Hew &a : land (nal'kct for aomo time. Up tilt tho present it- has certainly - clone no great harm. It may hftye had an influcnec in securing to the producer a little higher fines for his stock, and perhaps in irt-flirfiiig upon the freezing companies a r.ov--responding lo?s of profit, If the Trust voiikl do no more than this,

nobody nood lie much alarmed, but the reputation of what is known as ilii! Eeof Trust is thai; it is'ja«vc»r content until it has cleared tho llnltl of active competitors—an(j then the profliicci's begin to pay back priiitipiil and interest of the joxpiaulitiire undertaken by thu Trwst to kill off those eompeiitors. Here u> .New Zealand it. will fen quite possible for tho Trust, if it is so niiiMfed, to f<j)'co up the price of fat stock to sneh » figure' that the; companies will bo unable to quit the nioiifc in 1 job don at. a profit The entrante of a. big unseen competitor into the market, trading under hsilf-a-doxen names, will oxeitc keener competition for sheep among the wwnfaains, and so the- business will go «$ nftijj Use Trust has brought as many of tha companies to tbeir knees as ffl.ay for tile time beivjg s*em n&cessavjr. That is the danger threatened to oar meat, cjspoi tratlo, and no one will doubt t'hflt if it is real it is very .grave indeed. On the other hand, neither the meat compatiies &or to Qovermroest appeal* to Imve deemed it necessary tip to tho present tiine to maka any sysfcniAti.e effort ta find out anythiiig about this hidden foe. At- least it seems des.ira.Me that the Government should jnak® the ■ful&si; inqutrks as to .what it has .meant in the United States and in Argentina to haw tho market iftvaderj jyr the Trust. ' T-lie Geva'nnieat rnight take some gtofis to hstm wliat the ftsteblisliment of tte Ti'ust has ineaaifc ift ottiei' pjacesj a-nd as far as possible hov? it cßtablisjbffd itself Hwi-c. '£niormatiofl roighji bo obtained, for instance, .about the sfcafo of tiling ftirtoftidgftifc. to the formation of the Tre&t, and on wifepij' and io wliat extent, £ho Trust has inflicted lose or hardship. Then if it appears advisable . to fcafe BQffiti lmaasttics to drive the fftist ■α-ui. of Jfcw Zealand, ■or to prevent its c&inifig here, i&fne 'valit4 : ble fasts ivij.l bo available. The Goparaiflenl or the f rwjsittg cpm;pfl.nic&( or whoewsr it be thai Rives battte td the Meat Trust, will 'hiiw- need of all tlio intallisoßc-s . ava-iiable , . but im yei it seems to be I fairly evident thai irtitkr the OovKMMncafc nor the cpjujwaks have any intelligence ofe-v? whose duty ifc is I to shado«' : tlra Ti'ttst. or those' sua- ■ poctect oi being-the trust's agents. •