A PROUD RECORD

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 278, 18 August 1921, Page 6

A PROUD RECORD

NEW ZEALAND IN THE VAN

MUTTON & LAMB EXPORTS (Official Correspondent.) London, June 30. One of the most important of the public gatherings which the Prime Minister (the Rt. Hon. W. F. Massey) has attended during the past fortnight was tho banquet given by the British Cold Storage and Ice Association. The gathering took place at the Monico, and about 200 representatives of meat trading concerns and other allied interests attended. Mr. George Goodsir, of Messrs. W eddel and Co., presided, an Mr. Massey and Mr. Hughes (Prime Minister of Australia) ■were the two chief guests. Others present included Mr. Andre Lebon (ex-Minis-ter of Agriculture, France), Sir Gordon Campbell (Weddel’s), Sir Thomas Mackenzie, Messrs. Harold Nelson, Hal Williams, and Sir John Cockburn. Refrigeration—a Bond of Empire.

Mr. Massey was called upon to reply to the toast of "Refrigeration—a Bond of Empire,” which Mr. Hal Williams proposed. He said that the history ot refrigeration in its relation to commerce read like a wonderful romance. He wondered, for instance, if many people realised the factor it 'had been in the winning of the war, how that islands and continents at the other side of the world hud been called upon to feed the troops in Europe, Asia, and Africa, and that without that food the troops would not have been able to carry on? He traced the history of refrigeration, and the early experiments from the days of tho unfortunate Australian, Mort, to nrjdone’s successful shipment from Dunedtn, in the vessel of the same name, in 1881-82, and said that since then New Zealand in her exports of mutton and lamb had never looked back, and had never been "topped” by any other country in' the quantity she had sent out. Ho spoke of the early enterprise o 1 Blydone, Sir Walter Buchanan, John Gng o , Gear, and Gilbert Anderson, and others. New Zealand’s record was one of which STmW well be proud In the years 1882 to 1920 Britain had n 257,000,000 carcasses of mutton and lamb, and of this New Zealand had sent 124 243 000 carcasses (or nearly hal ), Australia 54,000,000, and South AmVica lt’s a typist’s error(L Mn h M r ioy: "No; I am giving you cold, solid facts and figures. (Laugliten) He continued that if the total impoits of Britain in beef, mutton, and wore taken for 1920, it would be found that New Zealand came second ontoe list The figures were: —Argentine, 364,8 S;, IJ"' traliu 154,743. (Applause.) Dominion had 45 freezing works with a storage ca P aolt y h ful^ il y bl °ul pu t ot the S V d l 20efrigSion had-enabled New Zealand to beef to be va • «f worth total worth approximately 425,000,000. (Applause.) Some Pointed Remarks. necessaij ioi tne » i otner norBritain to-day, and lor the f firms of the Empire also lor tiie ma of; toat. All that these ie s required from Britain was a 1 nt.l9 ® . Mr Massey, “to increuse taxation or to pay higher lor your foodstuffs, but if you gno tno overseas Dominions to unotostand that there is a nuukot for tiie things which they can produce, they Sil inouuec them, ami they will oome buck with the money which you gne them for raw material and foodstuffs and spend it in manufactured goods. that is tho 'bond of Empire ot which 1 am speaking. Wo are carrying out the principle in the overseas country to-day. Wo in Now Zealand are buying almost exclusively from within the Empire. Mr. Massey said that the price of products exported from New Zealand had now gone down, but tho cost of freight and handling had not been reduced accordingly—quite the contrary. In the early days of tho industry it had cost only 3 l-sd. to land mutton in London, ami later the-charges had been reduced to 2d. per lb. To-day, with all the improvements and inventions, it cost tq send beef, mutton or lamb to London about per lb. A day or two ago at Smithfield, New Zealand beef had been sold for 3Jd. per lb., which had cost Id. to land. That could not go on. When freezing came into operation the shipping companies had benefited as much as the farmer, but to-day the producer appeared to be the one who was not benefiting at all. There was sonietnmg wrong somewhere. Someone was getting a higher profit than he should. He gave every credit to the shipowners for their but freights to-day were undoubtedly higher than they should be. In saying that he realised that coal was higher in price than it had ever 1 been before, and that other expenses had also gone up, but this fact remained, that if the producer was not able to produce at the present prices the shipowner ought to be satisfied to take a smaller share for the time being. (Applause.) The producers in the overseas countries were not getting their fair share, and something would have to bo done to remedy this state of affaire.

“A number of trusts," said Air. Massey, "have been established. You havo heard of them and you know them. I do not care whether they are British or foreign trusts, most of them are out to exploit the publio. The time will come when we will have to fight them, audit will be a fight to a finish. I know who will go down; it will not be the public. (Applause.) I hope you de not object to the plain truths I have been toiling you. What I have said I stand to.” (Applause.)

Air. Massey thanked the gathering for having asked him to be present and for Its kind reception of the toast. He also spoke with appreciation of the splendid way in which New Zealanders had been treated in London.

Tho Prime Minister's speech had a popular reception, and references have already been made to it in the daily Press, more particularly in the trade journals.