Correspondence.

Feilding Star, Volume XVI, Issue 259, 6 May 1895, Page 2

Correspondence.

FROZEN MEAT TRADE AND ITS EXPANSION. TO THE EDITOR OF THE STAR. Sir,— l do hope all those in New Zealand interested in the above will read Mr David J. Nathan's valuable paper on the subject. It is an undoubted fact that a great deal of the best of our New Zealand mutton when it reaches Home is sold as, and commands the price of English mutton, and that the growers out here lose considerably thereby. When I was Home three years ago 1 endeavored to find out what success a distributing company of solely New Zealand meat would meet with, if such could be established in Lod on and other large centres, th« universal reply was — "The ring is too great, you cannot break it." It must be admitted as a fact that the prosperity of this colony mainly depends upon the success of the cattle and sheep farming community. We feel how severe the reverse is cow, the price of all classes of stock having fallen so terribly low. There is no other industrj' which effects the number of its inhabitants so much as this. In fact it becomes a national subject. To my mind, Mr Nathan does not go quite far enough. I would like to see it undertaken by the nation, that is — For all the existing freezingcompanies to be purchased by the colony at valuation, cool stores opened in all large centres in Great Britain, shops established in connection therewith, for a cash t?ade of New Zealand meat alone. Such would involve a large amount of capital, but the money could be readily obtained at Home, as experience has shown us, if gunranteed by the colony at, say, 3i per cent, and the security for such should be the power to raise a tax on all sheep not exceeding threepence per head. This proposed tax, no doubt, will be viewed with great alarm by the stock owners, but it is the only fair way of dealing with this scheme, as then all stock owners would reap the benefit of its success and all pay towards it. Really, indirectly, I believe they would gain by it, it would certainly put the price of stock up, and the public, indirectly, would pay towards this tax. I was glad to see you bad suggested that jVfr Nathan should be asked to address the farmers at Feilding. Great good would arise from meetings of this sort all over the colony, and this important subject now so ably touched upon by Mr Nathan would probably be brought to a successful i«sue and would bo of lasting benefit to every inhabitant. There is a feeling that if this scheme was undertaken by a private company it would create a great monopoly at the expense of the farnuers. If the State undertook it such would be done away with as the farmers would then have the matter more in their own hands. I think the subject well worth consideration. I am, etc., Edwahd Gorton. Eangiatea, Bulls, 3rd May, 1895.