The Chronicle. LEVIN. THURSDAY, JULY 12 1917. NEW NEALAND'S CONGESTED MEAT MARKET.

Levin Daily Chronicle, 12 July 1917, Page 2

The Chronicle. LEVIN. THURSDAY, JULY 12 1917. NEW NEALAND'S CONGESTED MEAT MARKET.

By the end of this week the quantity of frozen meat held in cool storage in New Zealand will amount to the stupendous total of four millions of carcases. The Government of iNW Zealand has cabled this news to the authorities in Great Britain, in the hope that urgent measures will be Adopted to ensure the speedy removal of the meat, which the Old Country .requires so urgently. The need for speedy action is so obvious that- comment at lany 1 length is unnecessary, but the fact remains >to .be faced that fclio news is disquieting in its broader sense, quite apart from the financial stringency that New Zealand is experiencing as a result of this "hold-up." The Old Country admittedly lis on restricted diet as a result of. insufficient supplies reaching her, and to our Hiind there" is need for a more vigorous effort on 'the part of tl\e .British Government to ifelie'vc thet situation at Home. The explanation offered to the iN"ew Zealand 'House, of 'KeproKiita.tives by the .Hon. W. P. iMasst|y, that the British shipping is urgently needed for transport of war material and other requisites, prdbaibly is true in part; but a doubt "will" arise whether this reason is the sole one, and sufficient ionei. Some members of the iXew Zealand House of (Representatives should! question the • Prime Minister as to whether he made en- (| nil yen while in lEngland concerning the position of the Argentine meiatsupplv market. Considerable British capital is invested in this foreign, ooimtry, and in the pre-war days complaints were made that influential capitalist influences were successfully used to the advantage of Argentine and the penalty af ,New Zealand. The non-success of the effort to have X'ew Zealand frozen meat supplied to the British Army, in place of Argentine meat, is a case that recurs to our mind. Is it possible' that even in these daivs a differentiation in favor of Argentine interests as against ;New Zealand 1 prevails in respect of shipping facilities. The producers in this doninion should endeavor, persistently to have this question answered authoritatively. Who will "hell the cat?''