THE PRICE OF MEAT.

Grey River Argus, Volume VI, Issue 376, 11 June 1868, Page 2

THE PRICE OF MEAT.

(To the Editor of the Grey River Argus.) I must confess to a feeling of aw.c and admiration on reading the startling letter* of Messrs Woolfe, Mace and Co., in you? issue of the 9th inst. That there should be not only a firm, but a number of firma, in Greymouth, who are content to carry on a somewhat unpleasant business at an average loss of 5s 5d per lOOlbs, or, as I shall prove, L 35 15s. per- month 'to them-, selves, is a fact unparalleled ! well, iD, New Zealand at any rate ; but when I am told that, at 9d per lb., butchers may lose. L 35 15s per month, wjaat am I to think; of those disinterested individuals in Cobden and Rutherglen who sell at 7«^ or those still mure disinterested beings, who contract to supply the Hokitika. Hospital at sd. or, lastly, of thosej millionaire patriots who, at Ross^ are sup-, plying the public at 4df From hence-, forth let butchers and patriots be synonomous terms — generosity and meat go* together. Had Messrs Woolfe and Co. merely asserted the fact, that they lost on every lOOlbs of beef they sold, I should, have eaten my steak with a much greater* relish, and have been silent \ but aa they challenge proof by figures, I may dispute, their figures, if not their factsi. I maypremise, that by permission of the authorit ties, 1 have examined the returns of the, Inspector of Slaughter-houses for the fivej months ending May 31st last, and I gather from them that Messrs Woolfe and Co. alone have killed during that period 11^ head of cattle, 532 sheep, and 78 pigs, or an average of a little over 22 head of cattle per month, For the five months in the ensuing calculations I make no mention of either sheep or pigs — the loss on them being self-evident ! Now, taking 22 head of cattle per month, at an average; weight of GOOlbs per head (Messrs Woolf e\ own average, though a low one), I find, first (taking their figures), actual loss, 5s 5d per lOOlbs, or LI 12s 6d per head,, or L 35 15s per month ; loss on cutting up, carcase, l£d per lb, orL3 15s per head, or LB2 10s per month ; expenses after meat, is delivered in the shop, 2|d per lb, or L 6 17s 6dper head, or L1 51 5s per month. If it costs L 232 15s per month, or L 2805, per annum, to cut and sell 22 bullocks per month, after they are delivered in the shop, I will suggest to Messrs Woolfe ancfc Co., that if these expenses could be reduced, without of course making the public suffer, they might retrieve some portion of their monthly loss. 1 might take up a great deal of your space were I to notice the other little items in their interesting bill, such as, insurance, commission, and the average, price they claim to charge (9d), but I think it is scarcely necessary, as it is not my wish to critise any particular firm, but simply through your columns to call the attention of the outside public to the prices we are charged here. If, as Messrs Woolfe say (but I think fail in proving), those prices leave a large loss to the butcher, then we have no remedy but abstinence ; but if, as I believe, there exists no valid reason for our being compelled to pay higher prices than our neighbors, then this discussion may induce some less disinterested butcher to supply ouf> wants at a more reasonable rate, and yet make a profit out of the transaction. As a proof that beef can be delivered in Greymouth cheaper than Messrs Woolfe assert, I may mention that 3d per lb. was all that the butchers would offer for the cargo of the Star of the South lately landed here, and that the said cargo could have been purchased for much less than 9d per lb. at any rate. I am, &c, A Victim (unconvinced).