BIG FIGURES

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIV, Issue 10275, 9 May 1919, Page 8

BIG FIGURES

REQUISITIONED PRODUCE

IMPERIAL PAYMENTS EXCEED £100,000,000.

Payments totalling .£100,250,879 were made up to. May 3rd by the Imperial Government for New, Zealand produce requisitioned.

Speaking of this yesterday, the Hon. D. 11. Guthrie, the Minister in charge of this department, said:— The sum is certainly a large one, and it should be of public interest to see how it is made up. ■ The largest payment has boon made on ucoooot of greasy wools'! millions in round figures; meat follows —nearly 35 millions; and buttex* and choes&—l9J millions—are third in order of amount. Take meat' first in« _]iistorical order. It was requisitioned, as far back as March 3rd, 1915. The object of the Imperial Government securing the New Zealand frozen meat supplies was two-fold, but mainly for the feeding of the army. Beef was urgently wanted for this purpose, mutton also, and lamb was understood to be for civilian consumption. Well, the price paid for meat, to be exact, was £34,859,476, and it is represented ■ by 2,469,683 .quarters of beef. 8,562,098 carcases mutton, and 10,025,607 carcases lambi. There is still in 'store (as at April 15th) meat equivalent to 6,793.832 carcases. The largest shipments from any one port during the whole period of the meat requisition were—Auckland 494,081 quarters beef, Wellington 2,433,658 carcases mutton, and Lyttelton 2,591.571 carcases lamb. Cheese was next requisitioned. Tho first quantity shipped for tho 1915-16 season amounted to 189.502 crates. The total quantities of cheese that have been purchased amount to 1,859,901 crates, and, payments in respect to cheese amounted to .213,476,529. There arc (April 28th) 498.624 crates in store awaiting shipment. Butter was not taken until last season, and total payments in respect to that amount to .£5,847,624. The total export amounts to 1,347,816 boxes; and there arc still (April 30th) 111,782 boxes in store awaiting shipment. Coming to wool—the biggest icm. That was not under requisition until liecomber Ist, 1916. The greasy and scoured wool and follmongorß’ elipo wool total in value, and have been paid for, 2137,744,702. Tho number of bales naid for is 1,537,204. There are 652.087 bales available for ' shipment. The operations in connection with - the requisition of freezing companies’ slipo wool were not commenced until March 31st, 1017, and with respect to such ' wools payments aggregating £4,068.715 have been made. Most of the wool has been shipped to tho United Kingdom on account of the Imperial Government, but some 118,268 bales greasy wool and 9399 bales slipe wool have been shipped on account of other Governments. The wool business has been a very heavy factor in tho transactions of the Imperial Supplies Department. Sheepskins and hides, repreaantine values of £1,651,352 and £730,179

respectively, have been purchased by.the department; also scheelite, from which tungstic acid is obtained, has been requisitioned since ns far back'as September 30th, 1.914, and with respect'to that commodity, has been paid out, representing COP tons. "Other business'' covers a largo variety of commodities purchased on Imperial Government account, and it represents a. total or ■£1,733.463.' •'

i'l.r Guthrie put the losses at sea at 18.839 quarters of . beef, 197.310 carcases of mutton and lamb, 63,816 crates cheese. 9668 bale,s wool, and 18 tons of scheelite. Considering the vast quantities of valuable produce carried from New Zealand on the Imperial Government’s account, and, the merciless activities of the enemy's submarine warfare, the loss if certainly a light one.