THE MEAT COMMANDEER

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 187, 4 May 1920, Page 7

THE MEAT COMMANDEER

Sir,—l hopo that the " conference ot producers, freezing worU and A. and P. Associations, .as arranged &_ hy tho Board of -Agriculture, will not be further postponed. It was originally to have been held before Easter, but on account ot some correspondence with the shipping companies it was held over until after Easter; but now, no doubt, it will not bo held until after the. Prince's visit, I doubt, if any very valuable results will nccure from the conference, but tiere is just one point about the meat comman|<lecr which should be ventilated now, or it-will he too late. The point is this: Jhe commandeer of meat was extended until June 30, 1820, with tho object of allowing all the fat sloes coming forward miring tho season to bo treated and' frozen under the conditions obtaining under the commandeer, and in the ordinair course of events all the fat stock offering would have been killed by that date. However, owing entirely to the lack of shipping, many thousands of fat sheep, especially from the back-country, and many fat cattle will bo held over if the commandeer is allowed to terrain-' ate on the date fixed, and the oiraers of such stock will have to face a congested' market. This will be hard on the backblock settler, because en tho high land' in tho centre of the island the stock does not fatten until late in the autumn, ami many farmers in those districts have only got a small proportion of their fats away, and now when they are ready with their main drafts they find there w no room in the works. The intention of the com., mandeer was to include all this season's fat stock, and it seems quite a reasonable request to make that the commandeer' should be extended' until such time as" the works are able to take 'the fat stock offering, which kn s had to be declinece owing to want of space. This seems tome to be so reasonable that were the. matter -plated before those-in authority at Homo in a proper manner, I believe' they would meet us, as it'is really only carrying out the spirit of the commandeer as originally intended.—l am, etc., G. L'.'MARSHALL, Wellington Provincial President, Farmers' Union.