THE MEAT MARKET.

Taranaki Daily News, 13 February 1920, Page 6

THE MEAT MARKET.

WHERE THE TROUBLE LIES, (To the Editor). Sir, —In common with most yroducers, T wish lo congratulate Mr. Massey on his latter to Sir James Wilson upon the meat question. It is true that, to some of us the suggestions contained in the letter may appear .like an attempt to lock the stable door after the horse is stolen, but it is gratifying to find that the seriousness of the situation has occasioned the Minister's absorbed attention. Perhaps 1 may be allowed to make some comment upon the situation. It seems to me that it is now too late in the day to talk about clearing our stores by the next meat season. Had Mr. Massey given the farmers' proposals fhe serious considerate last year which they are now receivii.. from him the position might have been very different. 1 would ask you to cast your mind back over the past nine months, and recall that the position which has now arisen has been accurately prophesied as far back as July last. You Will remember that I myself pointed out what was bound to happen and what has since happened. I stated at that date that the continual cry of "ships, more ships!" was actually misleadihg the producer. I supported my statement by cablegrams from meat authorities at Home, extracts from the trade reviews and other evidence that the English stores were rapidly filling, if not altogether full. Mr Massey's reply was to quote a cablegram from the High Commissioner that only somewhere about two and a-quarter million carcases were in store. Since then there have been frequent Press cablegrams and statements in the English and colonial fress concerning the glutted condition of the stores throughout Great Britain and the hold-up of shipping which was actually being utilised for cold storage until space could he found for the meat ashore. Mr. Massey's recent answer to this was the soothing statement that the congestion was occurring in London alone. Now I think that the latest cablegrams and reports from the English newspapers to hand must make it manifest to the most faithful believer in Ministerial dictum that the congestion has reached such an acute stage that the Imperial authorities themselves have awakened to the seriousness of the problem from, their own point of view. Nor was Mr. Massey's information in regard to the commandeer much more enlightening than his information about the condition of the refrigerated stores. I stated positively to the Dominion Conference of the Farmers' Union last year, and also to sfr. Massey, that from information which had come into my possession I was Ratified the. Imperial Government would not extend the commandeer, and that it was useless to ask for it; and I explained confidentially to the Farmers' Union and Sheepbreeders' Association the nature of the information. I had received. While I do not wish to pose as an authority on the subject, I think that Mr. Massey would have been wiser to have investigated this aspect of the question than to hove repeatedly held out hopes of an extension of the commandeer. as he has undoubtedly done. All through this controversy, which has occupied so many months that might have been utilised in'remedial measures. I have been hammering away at the noint that reduced consumption, caused by high prices, and thus occasioning a glut at the English end. was the crux of the situation, and not shipping. Mr.Massey, on the contrary, has g<,no nap on shipping, and in his letter to Sir James Wilson'he still harps on thtvnccessity of obtaining ships to clear our stores. As a matter of fact, the official figures show that there are n.ore insulated skips, and of greater tonnage, to-day than before the war, while many more are nearing completion. In my opinion, shipping in the near future will be both cheap and plentiful, but what is the use of talking about shipping when,if we had .all the refrigerated steamers on the globe to-morrow morning, they could not handle our frozen meat because there is nowhere to put it? I suggest that Mr. Massey has beon mislead by his officers in regard to the situation, and that the remedy which was approved by the Dominion Conference of the Formers' Union last year, and which included a commission to England, was the proper solution of the problem. And now, Sir, may I say a word about the proposed commission, of which I happen to be a. member? Mr. Massey now tells us, if the telegraphed summary of his remarks is accurate, that- lie will only send the commission if the farmers and sheepbreedcrs again go through all last year's formalities and ask for it onee more. In fact, his attitude can only be explained in two ways: either he had no confidence in the men appointed, or he has no sympathy with the proposal. How can any commission proceed to England under such auspic.es as these? Public confidence must be shaken and the dommissioners themselves discouraged. Personally, I made one of the commission with considerable reluctance, and at great sacrifice, and I want to make it plain now, that under such circumstances nothing will persuade me to ac' on any commission. I still consider that a commission would have done good and valuable work, but that any commission proceeding to England now will have its efforts stultified owing to the attitude of the 'Prime Minister, whose fear of doing anything displeasing to the English authorities has become almost an obsession. May I say in conclusion that it has been my habit to carefully refrain from saying anything in criticism of Mr. Massey's policy in any addresses I have delivered on this subject. My only object has been to try and help in the solution of the difficulty which faces us as producers. I fail, therefore, to understand why Mr. Massey' should have gone out of his way to suggest tiiat I am merely crying "stinking fish." I have not referred in any terms of disparagement to the meat at this end, and have been content to quote public option as expressed in the Press at the English end. It is surely time the producers realised the position instead of living in a fool's paradise, and in spite of anything Mr. Massey may say to the contrary, New Zealand farmers should be wakened up to the fact that their interests are suffering through the hand--liiiij of our meat in the Imperial stores and by the Imperial authorities generally. and that drastic and immediate steps must, be taken to put matters right, steps oven more drastic and immediate than Mr. Massey's letter to Sir •Tames Wilson contains any hint of. —I am, etc., W. J. POLSON. Ferdell. February 7.