The Patea Mail. Established 1875. FRIDAY, AUGUST 31, 1883. THE "WANGANUI HERALD" GIVES PATEA A "LIFT."

Patea Mail, Volume IX, Issue 1080, 31 August 1883, Page 2

The Patea Mail. Established 1875. FRIDAY, AUGUST 31, 1883. THE "WANGANUI HERALD" GIVES PATEA A "LIFT."

The Wanganui Herald is making another attempt to crush a Patea enterprise, and making it in- a moan underhand manner too. In Wednesday’s issue there was a paragragh in the interests of the Wellington Meat Preserving and Refrigerating Company (prospectus advertised in .Herald) and .questioning the wisdom .of settlers “in investing their money in; the proposed small companies, as they cannot work without' the co-operation of the larger ones, and it is probable that they may not be able to meet all the expenses involved in :floating these,.owing to the complicated nature- of their working, coupled with the fact that the schemes are as yet untried, and can only be in a crude’ State at host.” This paragraph is in a crude state at best ,” and the meaning is not very clear. Are wo to understand that “.they’’ the “proposed small companies ’’ are expected to meet all the expenses involved in floating “ these ” the “larger ones”; or is it that “these” may not bo able to meet the expense of floating themselves “owing to the complicated nature of their working.” If the former, wo say rubbish; if the latter, then settlers had better leave the “ lurgou ones” alone and stick to Paten’s proposed small one. The Herald then goes on to remark that “the larger. companies must necessarily exist and it would be unfortunate that attempts should be made to float smaller companies at the expense of the larger, who will be enabled to carry on their operations on a greater scale, and with comparatively greater success.” How Convenient our friend’s memory is. The previous day he had a leading article, from which we. quote the following—- “ Now, would it not be within the means of Wanganui to establish a local company which would enable them to utilise the invention—[alluding to a new refrigerating machine] for sending away meat in the frozen state from Wanganui ? This would allow a considerable saving to be effected.:. ; The suggestion is thrown out in Crder that, unless all enterprise is extinct, steps may be taken to develop an industry which, at the present moment, offers the greatest promise of leading to good times once more.” Readers should note carefully; that by. sending away meat in a frozen state a considerable. saving would be effected. Next day he: tells all about The conveniences erected by the Railway Department at Manutahi and Patea, and the arrangements made by the Department to run night trains for the conveyance of stock from the former place to Foxton at a cost,of 9 shillings per head. ’ “ These ‘ arrangements ” says the Herald “ only' require to be known to be availed of.” By whom wo should like to ask. Certainly not by farmers in this district, until all hope of freezing our meat here, and thus, toquote the Herald “ allow a considerable saving to be effected” is dead and gone. Bnt until then—and the Herald will be dead and gone before-farmers here will not feel inclined to trnsl : themselves to the tender mercies of Wellington Companies. Besides the idea of conveying slock for freezing in the way advocated by our contemporary is ridiculous. First, stock would have to bo driven to. Manutahi or Patea; then it would undergo some knocking about in being got into the trucks. Eight hours or more on the journey would administer a few more bruises, and cattle would arrive at Foxton, ninety miles from their destination, and a big river to swim. The cost to Foxton is to be nine shillings a bead ; what it would be by the time the cattle reached Wellington we could not say positively; the contingencies are too numerous.. The probability is that the meat would be bruised and unfit for freezing, and the luckless owner would bo compelled to accept what the Wellington Companies chose to offer. Having paved the way by recounting the attractions of the night train business, the Herald in its last night’s issue goes a bit further. In a very cunningly constructed article, it douses the West Coast Meat and Produce Export Com- i

pany with cold water. The writer commences by the somewhat contrary statement that the Company are pilshing the saltof their shares . ... while the country districts have not yet been canvassed, Then we get the first kick ; •* It is rumoured, however, Hawera settlers will not support the Company, and that several of the provisional directors are unwilling to do anything further in the matter.” The inference is that they had done something for the company ; the fact is that two or three gentlemen wished to withdraw their names from the directory, but they had never taken part in doing anything in connection with the company. The probabilities of Ilawera support point the other way to that indicated by the Herald, as it has been determined not to go on with the, formation of the Hawera company for the present. With a hypocritical “it is to lie hoped so ” the Herald goes on to say : “As it is, however, a number of Patea settlors will decline their support, on the ground that no definite arrangement has been made with any of the larger companies for storage or shipment.” This is childishness indeed. How could any “ arrangement ” be made until the company had been floated. Who would have undertaken the responsibility ? But negotiations wore entered into and sufficient assurance was obtained ihat if the Patea Comnany floated, storage could be had in Wellington at reasonable rates. What more could have been done in the very preliminary stage in which affairs were a couple of weeks ago. Again the Herald : “ They [settlers] also argue that the benefit to bo derived from floating this proposed company is not very evident, seeing that since there will shortly he three companies . in operation in Wellington, the settlers will be certain t) reieLe the greatest benefits from tbo competition likely to ensue.” This is the newspaper way of giving one’s opinions and saddling them bn the shoulders of others. With the last part we agree, because it will enable our local company to be more independent in the matter of storage than would have been the case had only one company been in existence in Wellington, but that is all. The Herald adds, “ They will thus be subjected to no risk, while their money will be sure, and they will niect with a ready market for their stock.” ' Yes, we know all about that. We know that sheep from Whenuakura went Home ia the Lady Jocelyn and realised over £2 per head in the London market, and yet the account sales of the Wellington Company gave the misguided shipper a return of between five and six shillings per head less than he could have got in Paten. The Company declared a dividend, but the shippers only whistled and looked bine. Allusion is made to settlers on the Coast having “large sums” invested in the Wellington Companies. To their sorrow they have money so sunk l , but confliction of interests is not likely to arise. Our contemporary then brings forward .the Manntahi-Foxton scheme again, and remarks that “ the question to be considered is whether the Patea, company, with its necessarily limited capital, is likely to be able to compete successfully with the powerful Wellington companies, whose resources will leave no stone unturned to divert as much trade into their channels as pos.sible.” Oar contemporary need not bo alarmed at oar (l necessarily limited capital.” It lias been ascertained, after careful enquiry, to be sufficient for our purpose, viz., the transport of beef and mutton in a frozen state to a port of shipment, Tnoiocal company are not going to buy up half a dozen butcheries and a couple of meat preserving, works as well, so their capital need not be so extensive as sornb others. The “ powerful Wellington Companies” arc ‘certainly leaving no stone unturned to divert trade to their channels. The Herald is one of the stones undoubtedly, and it is being turned,to the best advantage—mxcept of itself. The article winds up with a commendation of Patca enterprise, but—and here follows another appeal for the Wellington Company. After reading the, remarks of our contemporary, wn came to the conclusion that he is : jealous at Patea making a good show of floating a Meat Freezing Company while the attempt in Wanganui was a failure. Whatever its motives, however, it is an ungracious thing of the Herald to try and damage the local Freezing Company?., as it has done by casting all sorts, of doubts upon its basis. The basis , of the ~Cqrapa.ny : is: thought sound enough by men of experience, such as the Auckland manager of the Now Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency. That gentleman writes to a friend here—“ I must congratulate you on the stops, taken. The Patca report compares most favourably with any others I have soon as to-the collection of .information, .and the basis laid down for the formation of the Company.” ; Th is : opinion should carry more weight than oven that, of hj .travelling newspaper correspondent.: x\nollier point might' be borne in mind by the Herald. It enjoys fair support from people in this district, and hopes for more. How can it expect it when its efforts are directed against the enterprise. of its patrons. The least our friend might do would bo to let us alone, instead of, terrier-like, snapping at the hand that feeds him.