REFRIGERATED SPACE

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2439, 19 April 1915, Page 4

REFRIGERATED SPACE

The news that the Imperial Government has commandeered all the refrigerated space on steamers trading to New Zealand should be good news to the very big community in the Dominion interested in the meat export business. When the New Zealand Government began to buy meat on behalf of the British Board of Trade it was thought prudent by the agents of the New Zealand Government at this end not to. disturb existing contracts for the supply of space for shipments of meat made by various meat companies. The object of the authorities in allowing those contracts to stand was not to help the particular companies who had made good contracts, out to protect the N?w Zealafld jproducer from being charged exorbitant freight rates for the carriage Home of nis meat. The contracts made concerned not only the amount of space to be allocated, but the price to be paid for it. However, it has happened that economic law is stronger than the mere agreements of a few men, and it is now admitted that by our refusal to pay higher freights * e incurred some risk of not having any freightage at all. At least we have lost any chance we might have bad of -getting any extra ships- jr. is common knowledge that the Government of New Zealand had to threaten to commandeer a certain ship to prevent that shijD from poing on a cruise to the River Plate, there to pick up a cargo at rates which would have allowed a ilea.' profit over New Zealand rates of £10,000. These and similar circumstances induced the Board of Trade, acting _ for the _ Army Council, to offer nigher freightage rates for our trade. Now they have gone a step further. The mere payment of extra freightage made no difference here because the Board of Trade paid the additional rates. All contracts stood undisturbed, and it might have happened, as some say it has happened, that companies fortunate enough to hava made contracts got the steadier space to the exclusion of other less provident companies. Now all the space has been comniandeered or requisitioned. What this will mean we have not yet been advised, but it may be assumed that all contracts go by the board, and tfi'at_ the New Zealand Government, acting for the Homo Government, will so allot space as to give the maximum o£ benefit to the export trade.