FROZEN MEAT SPACE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 297, 25 May 1915, Page 6

FROZEN MEAT SPACE.

Till; POSITION IN SO('TiII',AYI). By Telegraph. • - Prc.-.-i Association. Jnvercargill, L;od. Night. A .Southland Times reporter was informed that in regard to the allotment ' of frozen meat :,,i,\l-.-. the N.n-lh I'antcrbury branch of the Farmers' Onion were taking into account figures for the whole of the season, which was manifestly not right, since a large quantity of meat \ had been shipped 'before tile Imperial | authorities bought produce. The letter, it, was stated, made it appear that the ' commission had favored Southland and the North Island a.s against Canterbury, ! but the writers of it should have borne in mind that the Commissioners could : only deal with the position as it was : when they took office, and such being tins case the figure, relating to the period since they took office should have . been quoted in any complaint against them in preference to the figures for the ] whole season. The North island "season being much earlier than that of the j South Island a great many shipments , were, got away from the north before - the southern works started upon the season's work, and taking the aggregate figures it was made to appear mat Ule Commissioners had, acted with favoritism.

This year the South Island started operations much later than usual, owing to climatic conditions. The peculiarities of the seasoni demand that farmers should have feed well into the first month of summer, failing- which the stock do badly, and Canterbury farmers were helping to accentuate the difficulties, which were ahead of S.niiiia.'id ill this respect, by sending thousands cf their sheep down to graze, and they were reducing the chances of Southland being able to carry its stock through the winter. From this it would be apparent that Southland's difficulty would arrive at a later date than that of Canterbury, and they required to see that, it was not made greater by; other provinces unfairly claiming Southland's fair share of freight

allotment. Even now stock accumulating for killing through inability of works to ileal with them (only being able to work half time) were eating out feed which should lie conserved for late, winter. In view of the difficulties which Southland had to face they were not asking for sympathy or assistance disproportionate with what was being given to other districts. A good deal of the present trouble was due to the large : . shipments of beef which had been sent forward. Enormous quantities of heef had been put through, and this had ere-1" ated a tremendous demand for shipping : space beyond the usual requirements. j A gentleman interviewed stated they; had no doubt that the Commissioner was I doing his best to cope with the position.! The fact that they had failed to please , everyone and were making some sore was i ' indirect evidence that they were tackling the. question thoroughly. To ask the i Government to take the matter over ; would not give anv more ships than are. available, ft was also pointed out that the Canterbury works had been increasing their killing capacity and neglecting to provide corresponding storage. Had < they not made that mistake they would | not have so much trouble at this time. , The present position of (Southland iscer- ' ! iiiiulyi a most serious one and will i)>o!' brought home to us all directly, as the months of April, .May and June are the ' flush months of the season and as jail ; the works are full at the present mo-', ment and the freight allotment for the next two months will not provide one month's killing. There is sure to be a large number of lambs go off in condition through feed being finished, and these will not find their way into the works. [ Jn a statement regarding the South- j land allotments made on previous occa- i sions by the Canterbury fanners, Bal- ] clutha. had been wrongly placed in the Southland total. In the May allotment ! Southland was said to have 'had 7O,t)00, whereas it had only 50,000, the balance being from Balclutha, which is in Otago. Consequently Southland was credited with something it; did not get. More- j over, June and July allotment from Southland was 04,000, not «4,,>00 as \ stated, whereas freight for approximate-1 ly 100,000 was required, so that only one-third of the requirement was heing met.