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Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 174, 27 August 1909, Page 2

TIIIS MEAT TKADE. The statement by Sir .'lnscph Ward i\t a meeting in London of Importers of N T ew Zealand meat, to the effect fhat lie would meet Mm l shippers in Xew Zealand with a view to regulating shipments, rn-alls a statement made to n Lvttelton Times reporter about. tiie same lime by n gentleman who for many years lias been closely identified with the moot trade botli in Uritain and the Doinini'on. and who has a thorough grasp of the business. The views expressed by this gentleman show coiiclii.-'ively the importance of the action that Sir Joseph Ward is taking in regard to tlio regnlation of the frozen meat export. The

only means, in this authority's opinion, I whereby an end can be put to the pre-1 vailing deplorable condition of affairs is the intervention of the Government in order to regulate the output, with a view to spreading the exports over the j whole year, as this would have the I effect of preventing alternate gluts and | shortages, such a&' are inevitable under the present haphazard methods. At pre- , sent, us soon as the meat is frozen the companies are in the habit of getting it placed 011 board with as Jiltlc delay as possible, since the storage aecoimnodation at the majority of factories' is I limited. In the colonies meat can be I stored much mote cheaply than at Home, where ground rents are much higner, and another consideration is that meat ifcoml at the point of slaughter would ' coop in much better condition than if itored at the conclusion of a protracted voyage. If the industry is to be preserved on a linn basis, if the producers ;>f the Dominion are to receive the return for their labors and efforts to which they are entitled, regulation of shipments is absolutely necessary, and as the directors if freezing companies, or at least many of tiiem, do not look beyond the dividends which can be earned for the shareholders, and do not foster the industry as it should be fostered in order to keep it in an unassailable position, it is imperative that the Government should s'tep into the breacn. ami by regulation and inspection try to do for the meat trade what it has already done for the butter and hemp industries. One of the chief reasons, in this authority's opinion, for the present glut is that too many agents are at present handling the Dominion's produce, and hp considers that meat should be consigned only to those who have a thorough knowledge of the trade and of the best markets. Under the pre-1 sent system, <ir rather want of system, i immense tjuantities of mutton and lamb are dumped into London and other centres from the middle of July till the end of August, the hottest season of the year, when the consumption of meat is reduced to a minimum, and the natural result is that supplies quite outdistance the demand, and of course there are accumulations.