The Dominion. THURSDAY, JULY 27, 1916. MANIPULATING THE MEAT MARKET

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2834, 27 July 1916, Page 4

The Dominion. THURSDAY, JULY 27, 1916. MANIPULATING THE MEAT MARKET

It is not surprising that tlie high | prices which are at present obtained in England for New Zealand meat I compared with the prices paid for it here'have given rise to a certain amount of dissatisfaction to the producers in this Dominion. The position certainly requires investigation. The whole of our meat available for export is bought by the Imperial Government: -'-> It is used for feeding the Army, with the, exception of a comparatively small surplus which' is released for civil consumption. The New- Zealand pro'ducer has no ground for complaint about the price which'ho receives. It is a good price. From ,this point of view he has no sub-, ctantial grievance.. What he is dissatisfied with' is the .high rates which the English retailers are charging, and tho huge profits they must be making at the expense of the British consumer. During tho discussion which took place in tho House of Representatives on Tuesday, Me. Newman explained tho attitude of the farmers in a sentence. They would not, he said, object to the continuance of the present arrangement except for the thought that tho profits were being made by speculators, and not by the Government or the Board of Trade. It appears that the British Government sells the surplus meat at a small profit to tho wholesale merchants, but by the time it reaches the consumer a big jump in price—from between about _ eightpence and ninepence to a shillinghas taken place. It seems that the retail butchers are buying Argentine meat, at a high figure, and recoup themselves by selling the temporarily cheaper New Zealand meat at the same price.' They can easily do this because of the superior quality of the New Zealand article. Somo people appear to think that our producers ought to participate in the l profits which are,thus being made by the English butchers. This may appear reasonable enough, but how is it to be brought about? The abnormally high retail prices now prevailing on the London market aro the result of the diversion* of our main supplies of meat from the civilian population to the Army. If it were possible that the supplies now consumed by the troops could be diverted to the ordinary markets, a drop in. prices would be inevitable. , But it must be remembered that our producers would find it extremely difficult to send their meat to Britain, owing to the shortage of ships, if it were not for the existing arrangement with the British Government. And yet, as stated, the objections which have been urged against the present system of. disposing of the surplus above that required for tho Army are not altogether unreasonable. New Zealand farmers would not complain if tho profits went into the hands of the Imperial authorities, and were usod for paying tho War Bill. Nor- would they feci aggrioved if tho aalo of the surplus helped to cheapen the cost of food to the British public. But they cannot help feeling resentful of the manner in 1 which certain people aro taking a'dvantagc of'the abnormal conditions arising out of the war, in order to secure excessive profits. The British Government sells the meat at a small profit, with the intention of keeping down tho cost of living, but this good purpose is being frustrated • by the manipulation of the market in order that the butchers may counterbalance the big prices they have to pay for

the uncontrolled Argentine meat by making an undue profit on the Governmont-controllod moat from New Zealand. It is well that tho matter should ibo thoroughly investigated, so that the manifest defects in the present arrangements may, if possible, be remedied. Tho statement made by Mr. Massey on Tuesday afternoon threw a good deal of light upon what is plainly a difficult question, but it did not show, how tho difficulty is to bo overcome. Nor is thnro a solution in sight.