FREIGHT AND TONNAGE.

Taihape Daily Times, Issue 219, 27 November 1916, Page 5

FREIGHT AND TONNAGE.

SOME IMPORTANT OPINIONS. OF INTEREST TO NEW ZEALANDERS. Received 9.30 LONDON, Nov 20. With reference to statements in Australian and Now Zealand newspapers that the Imperial Government controls the producers of the Lhiited Kingdom while controlling the prices of overseas produce in Britain, prominent authorities conocted with the handling of produce, interviewed, said the statements were fallacious, as the exportable commerce of the United Kingdom consists chiefly of machinery and manufactured goods, which the Government controls to even a greater extent than colonial produce. Moreover, it now controls all British agricultural and dairying industries. With reference to complaints of insufficient refrigerated tonnage in the Australian and New Zealand trade, and the suggestions to transfer some vessels from the River Plate for use of Australasian shippers, the authorities point out that such transfer is impossible, as the River Plate steamers arc built for that special trade, and mostly are unsuitable for Australasian trade, and moreover, the number of vessels on the River Plate trade is inadequate, and every month considerable quantities of beef,, which the army urgently needs, cannot be shipped because steamers are unavailable. Mutton can be used for troops in England, and to a certain extent in Franco, but beef is absolutely necessary for troops at the front. The Government might concentrate the refrigerated tonnage, bringing beef from South America. If this was done it would withdraw a considerable portion of tonnage engaged in' the Australian trade, but the Government refrained in order to maintain the export trade from Australia and New Zealand, though at great inconvenience and cost. As an illustration, beef costs about half the price of cheese, but it can be brought from the River Plate in half the time taken to convey cheese to England from Australia. Therefore it seems unreasonable that the dairying iompanies should consider themselves unfairly treated, especially as refrigerated freights are very moderate particularly when compared with freights ruling for Australian wheat.