FARMERS & THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2566, 14 September 1915, Page 6

FARMERS & THE WAR

; THE TAXATION PROPOSALS SPECULATION IN MEAT DISCUSSED AND REMEDIES SUGGESTED BETTER CONTROL OF SHIPPING FACILITIES URGED. . (From a Correspondent.) • Gisborne, September 13. At a meeting of farmers, of Poverty Bay called to discuss questions arising out of tho war, the following resolutions were carried:— ... • . ' "That in consequences of official state-' menls being made by the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance to the effect that as the farmers- o£ New Zealand are at present deriving an extra largo profit from the sale' or meat and wool, extra taxation in the Term oE a special income-tax and a 50 per cent, increase in land tax should be imposed upon them, this' meeting, whilst in no way desiring to oppose any necessary increase of taxation, considers-, it desirable, both in the interests of the authorities themselves, as well as of. tlio fanners' generally,; that; ;the simple facts should be considered so that the best possible results may. be -obtained at this critical' period, and-wishes' to point out tho following . . . •' '(a)- That the Imperial authorities have ■ commandeered the whole of tho frozen meat at prices which show a substantial loss to the farmer' when . com-pared-'with .-the prices derived -from meat shipped to England on owners'. account prior to commandeering, and also prices derived by the English-producer for his meat.'

'"(b) There are grounds for believing that, in consequence of tho unsatisfactory channels through which the authorities are selling the surplus meat not wanted for military purposes, the meat speculators there, through tho London markets, are deriving unreasonable profits' from.a large portion of tho commandeered meat. If, however, tho authorities take, steps to have the surplus meat sold to the general consumer at Home for tho actual price they have paid for it, plus all, proper charges'and allowances, then in the opinion- of this meeting no exception would bo taken, but strong exception is taken to the belief that the ment speculators of England are deriving |a disproportionate gain from the salo of this 1 surplus commandeered meat.'" The prices of English meat are shown by the following extract taken from an official Smithfield produce report for June last:— "The British- Government requisitioning continues to act as the 'governor' of tho trade. As our own pur-, chases and' those of'our Allies, (not- ■ : ably France) have increased, so our Market values have risen until this week chilled beef has shown a pep- • ceiitage rise in price since this time last>year of 118 per cent.; frozen beef of 106 per cent.; Australian mutton of 79 per oent., and Australian lamb of , 40 per cent. Remarkable prices for .fat sheep and cattle .have been obtained throughout this country. At the Reading live stock market to^ay'sheep made a trifle over Is. per lb., lambsIs. 2d., and best Devon cattle Is. Id. A 30 per .cent, riso during the. last .month is recorded for the'price of meat in France, where rump steak costs often'2s. 6d.<per lb."

From tho above quotation it will be seen that the value of meat has considerably advanced, and the producers of England are deriving the benefits of the larger increased values, while the producers of New Zealand are not, the latter being paid by tho : Government the..' following prices: Wethers 4|d.; ewes, Id.; lambs (special), - 5Jd-.; beet, 43d to M. "(c) That.tho. Government should see' the farmer is either paid the full value for the meat or is allowed a,free hand to ship the meat to England on his own account, giving the military authorities such option or right as may be considered advisable to enable them to take sufficient supplies to;satisfy all their requirement for military or other purposes' or alternatively, as it has been reported in the public Press that tho military authorities only require all the frozen beef available, and that' mutton and lamb are not required, therefore lamb and mutton should not .be commandeered in the samo way, as veal is at present excepted. (d) Tho Imperial authorities have appointed the Ron. T. Mackenzie, Sir Montague Nelson, and Sir William Robinson as n, committee to control the 6alo of the surplus commandeered' meat, and the meeting is informed, and believes that Sir Montague Nelson is chairman and managing director of the Colonial Consignment and Distributing Company, which is a buyer and seller of meat both wholesale and retail, also that Sir, William Robinson is a director of Birt and/Co. As it is understood that both tho above meat firms are purchasing some of the commandeered this meeting suggests that no persons should hold office upon the oommittee controlling the sale of the surplus of this commandeered meat who ifre associated with any firm or oompany that is a buyer and seller, of meat. (e) Assuming that the Imperial 'Authorities aie obtaining Smitlifield Market prices, as cabled by tho High Commissioner from time to time, this will not do much more than refund tho cost of the meat to thorn, but would still allow a largo margin of profit to tho buyer, who would either , retail or sell it for much higher prices, and in many cases ultimate, ly sell it to the consumer for the same as English meat commands. - (f) It is therefore suggested that -if the meat is still to T>o commandeered, ateps,shouid be taken to sell tho surplus commandeered meat to tlio consumers ' in England for the actual cost, plus all proper charges and allowances. In 'this way the consumer will obtain tho benefit pf vc-ry cheap meat, and the New Zealand tanner will have the satisfaction of knowing that these benefits are going to consumers themselves, and not into tho hands of meat speculators. That the present, control of commandeered shipping is not proving satisfactory for, inter alia, the following Teaeons:— •

"(a) That there is.no representation of the' New Zealand farmers interests upon the Shipowners' Committee that has been set up both in New Z&iland, with the consent of the authorities to control the commandeered insulated space of British sleamers. , ;

•„"(b) In consequence of a number c.f New Zealand boats being diverted to the Argentine (which is an alien country and whero the Imperial authorities have not commandeered the meat) the difficulty of shipping New Zealand commandeered meat has been greatly increased. '.'(c) That New Zealand shipping is be. ing focussed at the Port of London where there is great congestion and no adequate facilities entailing protracted delays in discharging oargo besides which at the outposts there is not so much congestion and ample facilities for handling cargo and better bases for transhipping meat to the Continent for" military purposes or by rail, whether for military or general purposes. "(d) At the present time, in consequence of the serious shortage of shipping there is a very laige quantity of commandeered meat in the various freezing stores in this Dominion while the freezing operations for this year will commence this month—therefore, if there is not some bettor control of the shipping the Imperial authorities . will lose their hold upon a very large quantity of New Zewlnna meal; aa it will bo impossible for the freezing works to provide for the whole of it, resulting in fat stock going back into store condition and preventing their being shipped, this meeting would urge the authorities to arrange for somo ■better control of the shipping facilities and further to discontinue concentrating so much shipping at the Port of London, but Tather to decentralise a large proportion of it over the various outports of England."

SnifE up Fluenzol for Catarrh.* Privileges connected with tho Horowhenna Racing Club will be o(Tered_ for sale by (ruction by the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Co, at their Diemises. Levin, on -SeDtembDr 18.