EXPORT OF MEAT

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2352, 7 January 1915, Page 6

EXPORT OF MEAT

STEAMER SPACE

IS THERE ENOUGH AVAILABLE?

PRIME MINISTER SAYS "YES"

VIEWS OF MEAT COMPANIES

- The controversy as to whether there will be sufficient space in the ships to sail from New Zealand in the course of the next two or three months to tdarry our frozen produce still continues. Mr. -H. G. Hill, who represents an exporting agency which is seeking 'to. btiild up a trade in frozen cargo between New Zealand and Bristol,, says that there will not be. enough, and the Prime Minister says that there will, and further, that the Government has done, and is doing, all that is humanly possible to ensure, that otlr produce will reach the Home markets. In Mr. Hill's statement, printed below, he makes reference to an anticipated shortage of space to West of England-porta, which, of course, include Bristol. So far as can be learned there may be a shortage of ships •trading to those ports, but at a time when ships are. short the world over the primaiy 'concern of New Zealand producers is that ' their products may reach the ■ English markets. It may be that more meat will go to London, but West Coast importers may still get their supplies by coastal steamers or by rail. An Abnormal Season. It happens that the Government has been . very unlucky in the season. The dispatch of the big Expeditionary Force took away a large number of ships with refrigerated, space, leaving a shortage of ships 'available for the early months of the export season. .This - shortage has been_ made up by the Government arranging , for . tho quick return of certain of the transports, and foT the' coming to New Zealand of othor steamers. In all this 'they have been ..fortunate,: but the i season has not helped theni. Owing to the drought in some districts and the early season in others, stock has been rushed into all tho works in abnormal quantities during December, and the demands for steamer space are abnormally heavy; But as the Prime Minister points .out, there is nothing-to. show that these demands will hot a'l be met. To show .how unprecedented is the increase in output of frozen meat for December, it may be mentioned that,one big company which killed 80,000 sheep and lambß in December .of .1913, put 160,000 through their works in December, 1914. .And it is truel that stock is. offering which the works' cannot take, but it must not be assumed that the reason for the refusal'of the companies to take certain, stock is that the freezing-chambers and stores aro full. More often, so far as can -be, learned, the reason for the . refusal is lack'of killing space rather than of store space. Works .have a certain killing capacity, which canhot be eni larged at short notice. If, as.happens I this year, there is sufficient stock offering in the'district©' from which & particular factory draws its supplies, to keep it running continuously at its utmost capacity, t'he management will not accept., stock from- another district. It is a. .fact that stock have been offered to certain works' from the' Auckland, dis-, trict,- where farmers are being, compelled to sell owing to the drought, but somo at least of the companies to whom the offers have been ipade have declined' for the reasons stated. This has no doubt given rise to. some of the xom- . plaints about alleged congestion at the works. • Press Association's Statement. A statement prepared 1 by ■ the Press Association in Wellington from the records of, shipping firms shows the following steamers, with their, capacity in carcasses of frozen mutton, to be available during tbe next two months:— "January: Waiwera, 86,000 carcasses; Delphic,' 102,400; Indrapura, 120,000; Orari: 102,400; Whakatane,'' 79,000; Somerset, 101,700; total, 591,500._ January i>r February : Wainaana, 118,000; Athenic, 106,600: total,., 224,500.; February: El Cordobes, ,-80,000; Corinthic, 106,500 ; Makarini, 120,000; - Niwaru, 90,000 ; Otaki, 102,000; Remuera, 107,000; Waimate, 79,000; Kaikoura, 100.500;: tot'al,' 785,000; :' grand total, ,1,601,000. From this must be. deducted the required for dairy produce, which is estimated at equivalent to 308,000 for. January and 151,000 for February, leaving a net space iaya.ilable for meat/ 1,142,000 carcasses; In the first two months of last-.'year the meat export was 1,228,000. so that the difference at present is only 86,000 carcasses, or. about one ship.; It is ■ also pointed out that January and February of last' year were rush months in consequence of the strike." An . Unfair Omission. The controversy is not being quite fairly conducted by the Wardist newspaper in Wellington. Yesterday morning in the statement of Mr. Hill printed in the "New Zealand Times" and in IThe Dominion there appeared'this passage .in a telegram quoted: . ■ > ; "Was advised 1 by 'ghone last night Masterton works circularised farmers owing works blocked closing down in few days." This was a most important statement, and: tho Prime Minister replied fully to it as follows:— "In the telegram to the Prime Minister quoted by Mr. Hill, he states he was advised by telephone the previous night that the Master- , ton works had circularised farmers to the effect that owing to the works being blocked they would bo closing down in a few days. This statement was maae by Mr. Hill ! on Friday last, and' whatever may ' have been the case_ then, absolutely reliable information in my hands to-day is to the effect that the management of the works in question does not anticipate any serious 'trouble." Mr. Massey's statement was handed. to the Press typewritten, but the above paragraph was omitted, by the "New Zealand Times.?.' • ' Masterton Works Not Closing. Furthermore Mr. Hill's. statement was not correct. A representative of the Masterton Company, when questioned by a Dominion reportertyesterday about the .'position at Waingawa works, replied: "It is quite untrue that the Masterton Company have circularised farmers that the works are closing down. No suoh circular has been sent out by us, and we don't anticipate' any very serious difficulty. Such difficulties as we may have will be immediate, for towards the end of this month there will bo enough steamer' space to carry us through. Our stores aro fairly full, and the ships coming in-have only limited .space available, but the Waimana and the Athenic will be here towards the end of the month, and it is only a matter of packing thirtgs tightly for a week or two now, and then the trouble will be over. "We see no diminution in the rate at which stock is coming forward just now, but it is hard to say what effect tho dry season will have in tho future. There lias been an abnormal rush up to the presont, but oven in spite of that Ave hiivo boon -able to get. most of our meat away. It is just possible that there may be a slackening of the rate at which stock will come in during the next- .-month, .or. if rains, oome

we may have another rush at the end of the season. 1 If this should happen wo shall get through very comfortably. In fact, an assistant manager of a ship-, ping company told me to-day that ho thought tho shipping companies would bo 'scratching round' .for cargo about the end of Fobruary and in March. Shortage Acute Elsewhere. "The shortage of ships is boing felt even more acutely- in Australia tlnm here. I was in Australia in November, and the .head of a export firm told me that the stock being killed in the works then would not be shipped until February. And even in November all the available cold stores were full. They were even using ■fruit stores away up country for meat. "We are well satisfied with the provision made for us. In fact, we thought in Ootober that we ivould have to close down and we advised our London office to that effect. We expected to bo unable to get any. space in February." ... . ■ Later advices received by the Prime Minister from Melbourne are to the effect thait the shortage of. steamers is being felt very acutely in Australia. MR. HILL UNCONVINCED. "ANOTHER STATEMENT. Mr. Hill has made a statement in reply to Mr.. Massey's recital of the facts as published yesterday morning. Mr. .Hill's rejoinder is to the effeot that, notwithstanding what ■the Prime Minister has said, "there will still be a: shortage of Tnsulated space on the direct steamers, and the mutton and beef producer must realise; it and be prepared for it." With respect to the Buteshire. Mr. Hill maintained. that she must be eliminated from the Prime Minister's list of' steamers available for January loading. .. It was only owing to the holidays intervening 'that'the Buteshire was.in New Zealand waters now at'all. She would have been away with December produce before this had . not. <the holidays interfered; Mr. Massev had definitely included her in the list of boats available for January, and therefore his (Mr. Hill's) previous statement stood as correct. This vessel loaded at Waitara art the end of December. : Coming to the Prime Minister's statement' that ships had left New, Zealand with their refrigerated space not filled, Mr. Hill said that he had gone to Mr. Triggs, who had.made a) similar statement. When Mr. Trices had been asked the name of the ships, he told. Mr.. Hill that it. was the latter's business to find out suoh things. "As an exporter," raid Mr., Hill, "and one who has to look after the interests of. at least a large number of producers, I claim that Mr; Massey should 'give - the producers', and the people as a whole, the names and dates of departure , of ■ such boats and the amount of refrigerated space filled with ordinary cargo. . In the absence of that information I am unconvinced by the Prime Minister's statement that ships had had to.leave with,insulated filled with general cargo, because no refrigerated cargo was offering.". . Wanganul Works. ... The position of the Wanganiii Works, continued Mr.'Hill, was clearly set out ill their telegram to With . the additions made to the works tbis year, Wanganui had storage space for 80,000 carcasses. They: had now 40,0000 carcasses in store,-/and "would kill 60,000 head of cattle and'' sheep' in January. They had been able to book space in January for only 24,000 carcasses. This meant that at the end of January their stores would be approximately full.. H-e----sult, a blockage, and inevitable'closing down. As for Patea,' the telegram from there also doscloses,. their, position. If Mr. Massey had only just , heard about the trouble there, all he could say .was that Mr. Massey should have endeavoured to 'have got information from reliable sources; Mr. Massey must have' known of' the seriousness of the position long before, Mr. Hill continued. Mr. A. Schmidt, secretary of. the Auckland branch -of the Farmers'; Union; Mr. M. J. Gribble, secretary of the Hamilton brahch, . and ajso secretary of the Waikato Graziers' Association, with representatives of the Auckland' Farmers® Freezing Company,' had waited.-up-v on the Prime. Minister as a private de-' putation early in December, and had urged' him' to' provide further shipping space. Instead of treating the position properly, Mr. Massey had called those who forsaw 'the- shortage scaremongers. On December 3, Mr. ■ Hill states, Mr. Massey was informed that it was a question of how long the Patea works could remain open in January. . Space the Trouble. "As a matter of fact," Mr. Hill went on, "we have in one North Island works 1000 quarters of beef killed on December 14' and 15, which cannot be shipped until about' the ; end of tho month, and we cannot obtain a definite date for its shipment then. , In normal circumstances that beef should have left' t'he works during December. , The reasons given for. its' detention is inability to, obtain insulated space on steamers. .- _ . "As regard's the position at Wanganui I telegraphed to-day asking confirmation of my remarks with reference to the position there. ' I have received that confirmation. I will go furtherand say that not only the North Island,' but the South Island freezing works also, will be unable during the month of January to obtain all the insulated space required for shipment to the West Coast .ports of the United Kingdom.: . "The/Prime Minister states that arrangements have been made by which fch© steamers Makarini and Niwaru will be available to load in January instead of February. This will certainly relievo the pressure; but the fact remains that neither Patea, nor Wanganui freezing works, nor my own association at all ports, and particularly at Gisborne and Auckland, can obtain all space required for Jauuarv shipments. In fact, Auckland will not have a single steamer leaving for the Wost' Coast ' of the United Kingdom- for the whole month of January." PRIME MINISTER REPLIES. CORRECTIONS IN FACT. The Prime Minister discussed the matter further in. conversation with a Dominion reporter resterday In one of the morning papers, ho- said, - appeared tho following statement: —"There was a possibility of arranging for at least one more refrigerated steamer—the Suffolk—for January,, and the agents were informed, if the Government would pay compensation for the vessel, she would come here in ballast." In so far as the above statement is' concerned, the Prime Minister said that the first intimation he had respecting tho detention of the Suffolk was on December 23 from Mr. Wallis, manager of the New Zealand African Steamship Company, who verbally stated that this steamer was being detained in Egypt by the Admiralty as a store ship. On the same date as he received this advice he dispatched a cable to the. High Commissioner, saying that it was understood that the Suffolk was being detained, and asking him to confer with the Admiralty with a view to her return to New Zealand, as she was urgently required to load' dairy produce and frozen mutton. Oi\ the same date the High Commissioner replied stating that . the-Suffolk was not available for New Zealand, as' Other conditions had been laid down. This information was verbally conveyed to Mr. Hill on December 24. On Deccmbor 26 Mr. i Gribble, of Hamilton, telegraphed stating that, it was, understood tliat there was a possibility of tho Suffolk returning to Now Zealand, and lie was advised by wire that representations had ■been made ja the Admiralty to reJaAse

the Suffolk if' possible. Further representations had lieen mads by the Primo Minister to the High Commissioner with a view to seeing whether there is any possibility of the Suffolk being-re-leased by -the Admiralty, particularly in -view, of the _fact that the Morayshire is' also being commandeered for Admiralty purposes. So far no reply' has been received." Other Steamers. "Wo have been able to arrange also for the Miiniro to come here for loading in February, and wo have also arranged to have the Muritai brought out from England in ballast, leaving London about the middle of January. Wo aro trying now to secure two of the ships, the Star of Victoria and tho Hororata, which will bo required to take some of the reinforcements of the Australian Expeditionary Force to the front. We are asking that those steamers shall be allowed to come here to load frozen meat before they sail jyith the troops. Another Mistake, . "Mr. Hill said that the Buteshire would come to Wellington full to the hatches, and that there would in consequence be no space for Wellington cargo. I know one company that is loading meat, equal to 10,000 carcasses, on the Buteshire, -and I have no doubt other companies also will be shipping meat by this steamer. Mr. Hill's statement regarding the Wanganui Works was equally without foundation. Cur information about the works there is that they are not blocked, and that they will- not be blocked either in January or later, They might have been uneasy there, thinking the Indrapura would not come to Wanganui as arranged, but the Indrapura will arrive there on due date. From several other companies all oyer New Zealand I have received-telegrams saying that they aro well pleased with what has been done for them by the Government in the matter of shipping space." These telegrams were presented to a Dominion reporter for perusal, but not for publication. A Special Duty. "No Government has ever up till the present been called upon to take any responsibility for tho supply of ships," said Mr. Massey, in conclusion,' "but on account of the war and on' account of some of our ships being taken as transports, the Government felt it had a duty in the' matter, and I think that any unprejudiced and unbiased man, looking at what has been done and the difficulties to be got over, cannot-come to any other conclusion thaij that we have got through so far very satisfactorily indeed. I-wish to say also that the shipping companies have met.-us in a very reasonable spirit."