LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3145, 25 July 1917, Page 6

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

MEAT AND SHIPPING TRUSTS AND SIR JOSEPH WARD'S FIGURES

S'r,—l notice that according to tho i 1 ress reports Sir Joseph Ward made some statements in the House of Representatives on July 3 regarding this mat- I ter, and lie is reported to have stated : that during 1016 the United Kingdom had imported .100,000 tons of meat and : ot that quantity 200,000 tons nasssd ■ through the hands of the American Meat Trust. Upon checking this Tress i report with Sir Joseph Ward's statement : as published in Hansard, the latter report shows that he referred not to meat into England last year, but in 1913. Why he makes a comparison of tho meat imported into England in 1913 as against tho turnover of the three great American companies last 5 oar 1 tail to understand. However, :t is satis- ' factory to note that Sir Joseph Ward does acknowledge that matters are wrong and that it is necessary that something should be done. Now, if Sij- Joseph had made a comparison with the total meat imported into England in 191(5 he would have seen that, according to tho London Board of Trade returns published by Woddal and Co., there were 533,811 tons of meat, valued at .£36,484,143, imported from alt sources into the United Kingdom during the year 1916, and not as the published report makes Sir Joseph state. 4450,000 tons. Sir Joseph goes 011 to say that "we can pass any law we like at this end, but we will not be able to Teach an organisation that did business to the amount of ,£250,000,000 last year." Then he goes on to say: "The whole of the meat exported from this country last J ear was .87,000,000. The Meat Trust did business amounting to <£290,000,000 last year." Sir Joseph Ward's inference that because our portion of the trade is only worth .£7,000,000 as compared to a total of .£250,000,000 is hardly fair. It is plain that when Sir Joseph quotes the trusts as doing business to the amount of .4250,000,000 last year he must be referring to the trusts' world trade. Where 110 gets his .£250,000,000 from I am, of course, not aware, except that it is well known that the trusts themselves make this boast that they handle between two hundred and fifty and three hundred million pounds' worth of trade. This is with the object of intimidating I opposition to them; but when you realise, that the total imports of meat from all the world over into England is valued by the London Board of Trade at only .£36,484,143, it is difficult to comprehend how they can justify such a huge turnover. But even supposing that they do have sueli a turnover in-the United States and other parts of the world, it should have no deterring effect on this Dominion's actions in trying to conserve its trado into channels which t:11 keep it clear from the tentacles of tho trusts. It is very instructive to follow Sir Joseph Ward's quotations of .£7.000,000 as tho value of tho meat exported from this coni)try last year. These figures are approximately the amount paid by the authorities to the farmers of New Zealand. out of which the farmer had to pay all charges up to f.0.b., except charses for excess storage, but according to the Board ot' Trade's value of this meat it is worth .£11,238,092, thus showing that the farmers of New Zealand received .£4,238,092, or 60 per cent, less value for their meat than it is valued at upon arrival in England. I do not think any farmer would object to accepting a pi'ice below the actual value of the meat (hiring this war period so long as the trusts were not permitted to obtain, the ultimate benefit, so plense do not think T am pointing out this phase by way of complaint. . Now it seems to mo that Sir Joseph Ward's comparison should be read in this wav: That the authorities paid the New Zealand farmers .£7.000 : 000 for their meat, which, according to the Board of Trade figures, was worth 4511.238,092. Out of a total value of .£36,484,143 cf meat imported info England from all parts of the world for last year tho .6250,000.000 turnover should not be introduced. Now lot lis look lit this matter from another aspect, which I suggest is a more direct war of looking at it. Let us look at the sheep and lamb last year imported into England and it will be seen that 5,107,222 carcasses were im-' ported from New Zealand, as compared to 2,311.451 carcasses of sheep and lamb imported from South America, or 8,390,561 from all countries. I may here sav that had it not been that our ships were being used to carry trust produce from the Argentine to New and other places instead of meat, etc., from New Zealand, our New Zealand figures would have been much larger for last vear, as a considerable quantity ivas held back in store. These, figures show 64.4 per cent, of all the sheep and lambs imported into England last year came from New Zealand. According to the Board of Trade returns, the weisht of all descriptions of frozen and chilled meat imported into the United Kingdom 111 1916 was as follows:— ■ Percentage Tons. of Total. Australia 51,343 9.62 New Zealand ...158.123 29.62 Argentine 249,297 45.02 Other countries 84,948 15.74. £33,811 100.00 From the above figures it will be noticed that assuming that we retained the whole of the New Zealand trade, which last year represented 29.62 per cent, of the whole imports ii-to the United Kingdom, and assuming that tho Meat Trust controlled the whole of tho Argentine trade, which they do not, they would control 45 per cent. This would show that the trust had a lead 011 us regarding the English yiarkots of about 16 per cent., which would not be u serious difference, so long, as it stayed at that; but what wo are trying to do is not necessarily to take or interfere with their existing business in other countries, but to prevent the trusts getting their tentacles round that 29 per cent, of our total proportion of imported business in the-English market, including 64 per cent, of tho total imports of mutton and lamb. Now, Sir Joseph Ward, says the key fo the position is the supply of beef. I suggest the key to the position is the supply of mutton and lamb, which is the commodity shortest in supply and consequently most sought after, and this key New Zealand holds to-day, as it controls G4 per cent, of this trade. The total imports of beef into England last vear onlv represented 3,346,188 quarters, as against a total of 15,797,728 uiavters consumed, showing, the great bulk 01 beef consumed in England is homegrown. over which the trusts have 110 control.

I am pleased to note the remarks of Sir Joseph AVard when he says that "the trust can be fought successfully only by State action on a comprehensive scale." It is hope<i—in face of this ocknowledgment—that lie will be able to give his valuable services in seeing that, in the first place, the New Zealand Parliament does its quota, and, in the second, that every effort is made to get the Imperial authorities to assist in the same direction. With the determination Qf Mr. Lloyd George and Lord Rhondda, tho new Food Controller, to stop profiteering in the food of consumers at Homo, tho New Zealand Government should be able to obtain their co-operation in any reasonable suggestions that are put forward. ' i

Sir Joseph Ward says that "those who are opposed to tlio trusts realise that it is only a matter of time when they must knuckle down to it or go ont of business if this state of affairs continues." I agree with Sir Joseph that this is so if we allow the present state of affairs to continue; but it would not lie so if ws took reasonable steps to protect the position. The question is, will Sir Joseph insist upon every immediate step fieing taken to parry oil' or prevent the catastrophe which he predicts.

T would here warn not only cur Government, but every individual in the Dominion, that our Dominion is mainly suited for pastoral purposes, and if you cripple that industry, which will be crippled if the trusts get a complete (Trip, you cripple the prosperity nf the whole Dominion in every walk of life. What saved t ho United States when its pastoral industry was crippled % the tn.sts was its huge manufacturing resources, which this country is not adapted for I am exceedingly sorry that I .should feel it necessary to publicly question the statements made by Sir "Joseph Ward in the House, especially seeing- that he has iuat returned from a visit to tbo

Homeland, but I should judge that ha lias had passed oil to him arguments and figures that are known to l>e ised by the trust representatives, which I am sorry to say are, as a rule, both Misleading' aud inaccurate. However, I desire to state publicly that X give Sir Joseph "Ward credit for being: desirous of doing the right thing in this matter; but I trust that he will not continue to 'think, even though our trade represents only £i,000,000 a year to us,, that we cannot hope to take steps to safeguard our simple rights without the trust operators, no matter how strong, they may be, intercepting those rights to the detriment of New Zealand and the consumers in England, as well as to the detriment of the British Empire and its Allies.—l cm, etc., \Y. DOUGLAS I.YSNAE. Gisborne.