MEAT AND WOOL

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 133, 1 March 1920, Page 5

MEAT AND WOOL

POSITION IN ENGLAND REVIEWED RECENT VISITOR'S IMPRESSIONS THE VITAL NEED t In the course of a general survey of the position regarding j|»at and wool in England, Mr. J. \V. ilaishall, who returned from a visit to the J Old Country, had something to say of ! Particular interest to farmers ami exporters, , „ "Mv impressions," Mr. Marshall states were received by visiting the market, _ and talking to butchers and brokers 011 , the snot. When I landed in London last 1 ;Tulv. meat was, I think, unrationed— , 1.0.. the allowanco per capita, was not being enforced, but the wholesale price I was controlled. When the strike on tho railways came on, rationing was resumed 1 for some we.eks at unaltered prices. This , was Bhortly removed and. before I left 011 December 6, the wholesale price of , frozen ment was reduced by 2d. I understand it has been still further reduced, and a large reduction will bo needed to , oass off the old State stocks that are coming forward. "The method adopted of cutting the carcasses across for economy of storing is ruinous to the. meat for the retail butcher. The cut surface of the meat blackens aryj four chops are lost to the retailer in cutting up, so I was told by retail butchers, and there seems, too, to be an evaporation of moisture through the open surface, which tends to discolour and depreciate the appearance of the meat in tluv shops. I don't, think I saw in London a single butcher's shop m which New Zealand frozen ment was not sold, and moro unattractive-looking meat I have never seen. It had lost all 'bloom' and was' often dirty and always discoloured. The Argentine mutton looked far better and being split down the backbone, as in retail shops, had retained its appearance and condition much better than New Zealand mutton. I am convinced that whatever is gained in economy of storage by cutting the carcass as was done here, is' lost manv times over in deterioration in value 011 the market. Nor can this stale looking meat compete with freshly slain meat, at anything near what the New Zealand sließp farmer considers a parity or values. The working and artisan classe.s in England and miners have more money, i.e., paper money, in their Dockets than they have ever possessed j and they want the best and not the worst looking meat. But the main reason, the root of all the trouble in England, is in the general feeling of unrest and the, at present, hopeless congestion of .traffic, due to accumulation of goods—imports and exports—and tho inability of the railways to handle the stuff. During the wnr miles of railway were torn up and transferred to France, thousands of trucks, and hundreds of engines were sent, abroad, while the rolling-stock in England was at tho same time strained bv_ being loaded to its utmost capacity. The rolling-stock is being returned from abroad, but it all requires reconditioning before being placed on the rails, and the greater part of the rolling stock in England is said to be in the same state. All requires repair and overhauling, and there is the almost daily stoppage of work somewhere by strikes. .If business was running on the same lines as before the war there would be siilps onougli and storage enough in England to handle all our product. An effort was being made when I left London to relievo the congestion of goods in the docks by organising a motor lorry service, but. this met with objections as still further overcrowding tho already overcrowded and congested thoroughfare's of London. "The same congestion and hopeless difficulty of delivery from anywhere but the river stores was, I was told, the main reason for the oxtraordinnrv rise in the price of the superfine Victorian wools. These wools were eagerly sought for by French and Belgian buyers as delivery could be given on completion of sale. The rise was not due to a shortagu of wool in England, where more is in stores ill over England than has' ever been held, font it was unobtainable—tho railways could not caTry it as required. A broker told me that wool sold three months previously had not yet been delivered to tho buvnr. Tn conversation he said that the sudden rise had taken thir '.rade by surprise. He himself had valued some Victorian wool for the previous I sale. 'How much do you think I was out? Only 2fid.! I valued it at 55d. and It sold at 81d.' The French and Belgian buyers were determined to have the wool. Miey waDted, rent wliat it might, provided prompt delivery conld be assured, t wng later shown a list of the comparative prices paid by the Britiih Government for Victorian wools and the price which the same wool had realised in London. The highest price paid for Victorian wool was ifii., and this sold in London for A23d.—the lowest price paid was 9d., which told for 35d. Who are the profiteers? Our New Zealand crossbred then ranged in value from 26d. to 30d., which allowed very substantial profit to the British Government. The promised sharing nf profit will no doubt bo made soino day. It may even oomo in my lifetime! For I learned that tho British Board of Trado or whoever was the buyer was so scrupulously accurate that it desired to calculate the profit made on wool that had been worked up on Government account, on cloth supplied to Franco, to Italy, to Russia, in fact, to all our allies, before accounts could be finally adjusted. This may . take some years. I propose leaving my share as 'A rich legacy unto my issue.' I have been asked if I favoured the proposal to send a, committee or deputation of sheepfarmers to England to investigate and report. In my opinion, such will be useless and a waste of tini9 and money— i.e., if the Government is to bo asked to bear the expense. Tho members will be as children" in the hands of tho business brains of London. It is putting an untrained man against the trained athlete. Tho one and obvious thing is 1 that if the British Government ceases to tako our meat after June 30, that we i must insist-on the freezing works being cleared of tho Government-owned meat, before we resume? pre-war conditions of 1 trade. .It is not only vital to us that 1 this should be done, but equally impor- | tant that the English market should bo 1 cleared of all' the stale meat belV.-o 1 ours goes again 011 'tho market. Other- . 1 wiso the two will be in competition and , the next complaint will be that tho j British Government is selling meat too , chcaply and spoiling our market! Tho 1 Iligh Commissioner can liandlo this | business far belter than any chosen New , Zealand sheepfarmers. From his lung I e'xporienco both in his official and pri- | vate capacity ho knows the ins and outs ■ of tho business moro thoroughly than , any other 111 an; and his official position 1 gives liini weight with tho authorities with whom he has to deal." ] =====' 1