THE PRICE OF MEAT. (To the Editor of the DAILY TIMES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 228, 12 September 1862, Page 5

THE PRICE OF MEAT. (To the Editor of the DAILY TIMES.

Sir,—The thanks of the community are in an especial degree dun to you for the part you have taken 'in respect to . the present famine prices charged for butcher's meat. 1 sincerely trust that you, supported by. intelligent correspondents, will not "allow the matter to rest until it has been well ascertained upon what grounds;.meat.should in this couutiy sell at double the price known to. any other part of the world. The cause of such a monstrous evil must be traced to its source, and a remedy at once applied to prevent its" longer'continuance*. With the finest grazing land in the world—with grass that will fatten .she/'p anci cattle through ali the mouths of the y<ar, frotit Jftiiusry. to December—with cheap land" and large s:\jasoffree grass, how is it, sir, that beef and muttoii are sold to the butchers at such prices that butchers must charge their customers from one shilling to one ai.d three-pence per pound, with the dread threat held over them that it will scon be much hiaherl Ido not profess to be deep into the mysteries of the meat icarkt.t, I ouly know what I liave been told, what I see for inys-ctt" and what is conjectural, itiiddraw my < onclusions accordingly. 1 have been told then that thrse or four of the large butchers have determined thnt the whole trade . of-Dunedin shall be shared only by themselves. To one of these laryc butchers I was speaking a few days since, when -?•! mentioned to bim that of my own knowledge I knew of-over a dczen 'butchers' shop*, wliich had b*-en opened within the last three months, all of which had since ciosed : When his reply was,—that the fey.- remaining small establishments would be shut up in a few days ; that only the large men—that is, himself ard the three or four butchers in qiusiinn, would be able to carry on the trade. I take ,1 c -in'icspretatkm tf thi:: to be that, the two or three 'hr^n cornpai.ies and capitalist butchers have combined, lv son:e way or other, to keep the small fry ofmeat-salts'uaen out of the market: And that they have fcueceedtd equal to -their expectations, there is ocular dtmnn&tration in f he closf d shutters and doors of nearly ail tht*sinall butchers shops in town, When the last small n:an has assigned his estate, or ruined himself, or giyi-n up to .follow some other pursuit, then v,-ill come tin* time when it is proposed we bhall have to pay ;m advance of fifty per cent, upon the steaks amijwj.ti. I have also been told (by a fniaU butcher this time, not a big oiie), that when eattfe are stated as hjrshfg fetched £%Q a head at the sale yards,-that this is oi;iv a little tradi- ficticn", the trmh being that the bargaiii is struck between teller and. bujer before they are sold publicly, ai;d that fictitious bids are given to show what enormous prices rich meat salesmen litive to pay for their cattle, and how it is quite impcssible to bell meat under present prices. From all this it may reasonably.be conjectured that there is no icai cause why meat is f-cld at the- present exherbitant price.s, beyond lining the pocket of a few butchers ' at the public expense. ■' I highly approve of your pi oposed plan for the establishment oi* floating abattoiis; but the inconvenience of Elfiugliteriug cattle on the water, to be afterwards latidtd in bofits mi|Jit, 1 ;hink, be obviated by the Qcvtriiixient allotting and securely enclosing some twenty tc .'fifty acres of land ss.a cattle quarantine "ground."."Within this space ' might be treet-d -abattoirs, where the importers of cattle could slaughter them i:i quantities regulated by the law of supply and demand. Butlfiar there will be too-powerful interests broughj to bear against any proposal intended to reduce tbe i»rice of meat until public indignation is arousf-<i, and a pressure brought to bear against such a monopoly as prevails at the present time. Failing immediatc*Tedi«si, it rests with the members of this town to form themselves into a Co-operative Society, for the.purchase of sheep'-and cattle at first.cost. I trust your most laudable efforts to ameliorate such a hea«y grievance \vill not relax until the desired object has been accomplished. I am, Sir, yours, &c, Veto.

Ei.opf.mest Extbaordijtary.—A lad, aged about seventeen '-years, and a rustic dnmsel, aged about £ftetn, were brought before the Drogheda magistrates,Uajs ago, under souiewhiit singular circumstanoes. The young woman, whose name is Katey Maguiie, eloped wnh the lad, -Willy Ho<i y, in consequence, as the latter asserts, of a dislike she had to a wan whom her father wished she should marry. Whiie tbe lovers remained in the court house Sliss'Magurie bur&t into te«rsj ami loudly declared that she would .suffer death beicre t^lte' would part with "her Willy." After counsel fix-in the Slayer, the entire party left the place, apparently rtconcifed, but whsn they reached the street-the'"'young couple gave them ''the slip," and were quickly owt of sight, a large crowd of idlers sur'rountiint; the father and his friend, and thus favouring the escape of the young couple- During thcevening, hcwfcver, the constable discovered there whereabout.*, and ::gain biought the young woman to her father. -Her lover, Wijly iloey, was htill by her side, anil up lo the time she was fciced on her father's car, •which was done with the iitnu*t difficulty, the girl almost goii.g into hjHerics in tbe street, (m leaving she hur.cled her lover a sovereign. The vehicle moved off towards Balbiiggsn amid loud cheers from a large crowd ; but it appears that the " stern parient" afterwards relented, and the young couple were to be married without delay. . ■; :

Kaxcbal History.—We are informed that there is at present in Sandhurst, a celebrated Frc-r.ch naturalist, with a party of six men, collecting specimens in bir is, &c., for the French Government. Three cf the party are " dead shots," and the remainder are the staffers and dressers of the specimens secured. The party liave" ainvAy killed aiid"i;itpared an inmient;e number of birds of various kmds.r~Ben(ligo Advertiser.—{Out ccnteni} orary may as -well caution thtm to respect the birds that are protected by the Game Preservation Act.— Hv,Mail.