NEW ZEALAND BUTTER ABROAD.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 3, Issue 163, 20 January 1914, Page 1

NEW ZEALAND BUTTER ABROAD.

American Importer Offers Warning.

Questions Government Inspection.

SAN FRANCISCO, Decemb:r 16tb. An emphatic warning has been issued at San Francisco, the centre cf the Australasian trada on the Pacific Coast, by Mr Fratk E. Booth, the president of the Monterey Packing Company, and who is the largest importer in America of Australian meat and ot New Zealand and Australian butter. 'The difficulties encountered in establishing a market lor Australasian products .n the Pacific Coast have been accentuated by complaints of inferior quality of butter received at S«n Francisco recently from New Zealand, erd in consequence of this inr Booth, when interviewed, said the heavy importations of Antipodean butter had removed the feeling cf timicity which tad affected the Am rican market for the last few months, and the imported butter was now greatly in demand. Lie thought it necessary t) sound a rote of warning, however, to the exporters of New Zealand, and in doing so he did not mince matters.

"We have been buying New Zealand butter," he explained, "and paying for it in New Zealand on the strength of the confidence we have h the Australian and New Zealand Governments that the butter would be free from boric acid. We believed from the accompanyirg Government certificates from New Zealand that the butter wculd contain no boric acid preservative. Notwithstanding these certificates a small part of one shipment which came from New 7ealand to San Francisco contained toric acid, and the U.b\ Government inspectors refused its entry into San Francisco. 1 consider this most important, as if indulged io to any extent not only would our banks refuse to issue a letter of credit, but it would entirely disorganize the butter situation so far as purchasing from that country is concerned." BOYCOTTING NEW ZEALAND BUTTER.

Commenting on the importation of Australasian products into California and the neighbouring States of the Pacific slope, Mr H. btephenson Smith, the New Zealand Government representative of America and resident at San Francisco, said, viewed from a New Zealander's standpoint, the trouble with the importation of meat as far as Australasia was concerned was that New Zealand meat was 25 per cent, higher in price than the Australian commodity. "As a matter of fact," said the New Zealand Commissioner, "New Zealand meat ia 25 per cent, better in quality, but at the present time it is impossible to get the people of America to recognise that advantage in quality. I undeistand that the average American consumer do«s not care very much about the quality; in fact, he ia an extremely hard man to induce to eat frozen meat at all.

"The consequence is that irrespective of quality the cheapest mebt is the article that will sell in the U.S. nowadays. I am convinced that when the shortage of meat becomes more serious in America the majority of the consumers in the U.S. will have to depend largely on frozen meat. At present only the working classes patronise the Australasian meat, but when the circumstances arise which I have mentioned, the people to whom price is no object will have to come down to the better qualities of frozen imported meat, as with the scarcity of American meat snore pronounced, they will find the fresh article practi-

cally unobtainable at anv pric?. Then the New Zealand meat will fill the breach as that most likely to provide for the delicate and exacting tastes of the wealthy America-.s. "There is no question in tte world, but that there is a large demand and a correspondingly big sale for New Zealand butter in the U.S. during December, January and February, when butter is in the gieitest demand in America, and local suppliers are diminished. There is every promise of this branch of Australasian trade increasing immensely in the U.b'. during the next year. Anyone vithout a technical knowledge knows by tasting that Ntw Zealand butter is superior to the American a:tide.

"We reilise that the trade for New Zealand butter is still in its infancy in America. Ihe shortage of steamship t ccomir.oiation has shut out absolutely vast quantities' of Australian and New Zealand prcducts from California

"New Zealand butter has b.en placed at the market at Vancouver, Seattle, Porlland and Los Angeles in large quantities, but the big merchant purveyors of American butter have just declared battle on the New Zealand article. They have organised a combination among the American butter producers agaiaft the butter imported from New Zealand acd Australia. They are seeking any meats to throttle the foreign importation. They are endeavouring to placa pressure cn the dealers who are taking foreign but'er, because the dealers can only obtain the foreign article for two or three month?. When the foreign article is not obtainable from Australasia the American producers threaten to withheld the local supply, and the dealers have no alternative but to boycott the Aus.rala°ian butter if they desiic to ma ntain a tupply all the year rour.d ot the American commodity

"One tig Po.-tliiid dealer recently publicly complained that he would be compelled to cancel all his engagements for .lutter from New Zetland and Australia through the attitude ot (he American butter trust.

"lha', looks like very raw dealing, I con:ider. With increasing population and food shortage da'ly becomirg more emphatic, the peoplj of Amenca will have to cepend on Australian produce, and the sooner tha people and dealeia are educated to that certainty, the better for loth parties. I saw an aiticl-. in a Chicago newspaper, written by a meat expert, stating that in his judgment, inside of two years the choicest cuts of beef would be from 75 cents to a dollar a pound. Of course, if such a contingency occurred what is the recourse of Americans? The only recourse positively would be to make increased demands on Australasia and tha Argentine meat. "Figures prove that the importation uf New Zealand meat is falling off in America duiirg the last few months, but that is attributable to the price being in excess of its Australian competitor."