The Daily News. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1921. THE MEAT TRADE.

Taranaki Daily News, 8 February 1921, Page 4

The Daily News. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1921. THE MEAT TRADE.

The British Committee which has been investigating the meat trade appears to have been chiefly concerned with the effect of competition of imported meat on the British and Irish cattle industry. The conclusions arrived at are that, so far as mutton and lamb are concerned, the Empire may be regarded as practically self-supporting, and that, though the meat industry of the United Kingdom has not suffered material injury from meat importations, the price of the home-raised produce has been kept lower than it otherwise would have been; also that there is nothing to fear from competition by Argentine mutton, and that the American Trust has no hold on the sheep-producing areas of Australasia. The case as regards beef is, however, very different owing to the Trust possessing nearly sixty per cent, of the beef output from Argentine and Uurguay, and about seventy-five per cent, of the capacity of the meat works in Brazil. In emphasising the danger 'to the British consumer, the Committee outlined the methods of the Trust by means of price wars, whereby they have captured the beef trade—forcing up prices of stock and lowering meat prices in England (a process whereby butchers on the Home market obtained meat at 2Jd per lb), pooling the output and eliminating competition so that they could buy eattle at their own price and achieve their aim, which is for world domination. The report should be of much interest to Dominion producers, especially . in view of the recent attempt by certain members of the Trust to obtain » footing in New Zealand, as

well as the purchase by Vestey’s of the surplus supplies owned by the Imperial Government. No fresh light has been thrown on Trust methods, which are already well known, yet, despite this knowledge, there are. those who are tempted to swallow the bait of higher prices offered by the combination, on the principle that “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” The enormous capital at the command of the Trust enables a large loss to be made by way of an investment in capturing output by the offer of more than the produce is worth, also in selling on the consumers’ market for much less than current market value. The argument used by some producers, who have only a very limited range of vision, that they would be foolish not to sell to the highest bidder, and that when outside buyers (such as the Trust) bring down the prices there will always be the local meat companies to fall back on, does not take into account that the Trust keeps I.'irge stocks in reserve and can reduce the selling price of beef in ’’ritain to a merely nominal fig-

re which would mean ruin to competitors. That is the position and Dominion producers would do well to note the following extract from the British Committee’s report: ‘‘We found through all branches of the meat trade a general apprehension that the American meat companies were aiming at world domination.” This apprehension is founded on facts which admit of no dispute, and in face of such a menace it would seem the duty of the Home and Dominion Governments to devise such means as will protect and fostei the trade of the Empire and secure for both producers and consumers a square deal. In the opinion of Mr. C. A. McCurdy (British Controller of Food) it is not likely that food prices in general will ever revert in Britain to the pre-war level if the increased wages of the agricultural laborer are to be maintained, and production in the Dominions is to be substantially increased “so as not merely to make the Empire more self-supporting as regards its food supply, but to lay the only solid and practical foundation for a higher standard of living and greater prosperity among all citizens of the Empire in the years to come.”