MEAT FOR THE ARMY

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2864, 31 August 1916, Page 9

MEAT FOR THE ARMY

THE IMPERIAL CONTRACT EXPORT COMPANY'S VIEW COMPARISON WITH THE ARGENTINE "A' great deal lias beeu written and said of the Imperial commandeering of frozen meat!at fixed prices," observed Mr. W. G. Foster, chairman of the 'Wellington Meat Export Company's directorate, at Tuesday's meeting of the company's shareholders. "It is beyond question," he said, "that, compared "with the exports from South America and other competing countries to iGreat Britain,' the Australasian Dominions are at a disadvantage in prices, but there are counterbalancing factors Vhich have hardly been sufficiently consideredl. The purchase by the Imperial 'Government ensured the utmost effort on its part to supply the necessary shipping to lift our products, notwithstanding the urgent need for the vessels for war purposes, whereas we might otherwise have been unable, unless at feven greater freight- costs, to have placed our food products upon the British markets, and it is quite conceivable that in the absence of the commandeer, vessels which have been serving New Zealand in this matter might have been diverted to meat carrying trom Argentine. "It is stated! on good authority that whon making enormous forward meat contracts with the Argentine, suppliers a proviso was made that exports from that country over arid: above such contracts were to have unrestricted use of English markets, whilst our meats which wore acquired with the avowed double purpose of feeding the armies and navy, and an endeavour to control costs to consumers, are sold to the 'wholesale- meat vendors at fixed and Comparatively reduced prices. The.undoubted belief is,. however, that retail prices are not Kept correspondingly tow to the consumer. If this is so, then\the second object of the commandeer has failed, and the consumer and the producer both suffer. On the bther hand it has not yet been shown Whether the Imperial Government has made such an extraordinarily good bar; gain, nor is there any assurance, in view of the shortage of shipping, that tho New Zealand producer would have 'materially benefited, had his ■ frozen meat been free. Shortage of shipping has led to congestion of stores here, and consequent heavy storage_charges, besides which there is the increased freight, demurrage on ships whose discharge at destination was considerably impeded, together with heavy storage charges after discharge. Further, the Imperial Government when purchasing agreed to, and did, pay the then times values, and these prices were then re-, garded as fair, and it was generally understood that the deal, being for war purposes, might possibly continue for the duration of the war, though there was no specific agreement to that effect. It is, of course, not altogether palatable that English marmot quotations and sales for frozen meat from Argontine should range above those for superior meat such as New Zealand, but at least it should result, if retailors are selling on its "mtrk" at correspondingly lower prices, that when \vo return to normal conditions our brands should be in bigger demand than ever .at relatively much enhanced values, and perhaps New Zealand may not after all' have much to complain of. It would not be amiss if our Government would make dose inquiry into the question of retail prices of.such of our meat as gets on to the markefcj and should it prove that our fellow Britishers are deriving the benefit,- the loss of this extra value may i*©' more complacently regarded."