The Temuka Leader THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1885. THE FROZEN MEAT TRADE.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1387, 3 September 1885, Page 2

The Temuka Leader THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1885. THE FROZEN MEAT TRADE.

The letter which Mr Postlethwaite addressed to us from London, and which we published in these columns 6ome time ago, is deserving of more attention than we have had time so far to devote to it. We are glad to find that it has been copied into many of our contemporaries throughout the colony, and that it is attracting a good deal of attention. Indeed it could not possibly go unnoticed. The subject matter of it is one in which the whole colony must feel a deep interest, unfoitunately our export trade <n this colony lias, in the paat,bpen limited to a few commodities, and consequently anything that increases our traffic wUu the outside

world in that direction must be of great importance. Importing goods means pending money out of the colony, and exporting them means bringing money in. An industry which brings money i into the colony therefore may be placed in the foremost rank. The frozen meat industry is one of these ; it is a recent addition to our export trade, and consequently deserving of the greatest attention. Mr Postlothwaite's letter gives us hope of future success. It assures us that the meat is of first-class quality ; tiiat it has been sold as prime English mutton at Is per lb, and evidently no one knew the difference. This is certainly an assurance that the quality of the mutton is excellent, but with this comes the information which gives us the uncomfortable feeling that we. have been and Bre being robbed. Mr Postlethwaite does not use these words but he means them. Ho says : " Also Kentish ewes have been sold as New Zealand mutton ; our wrappers have been put on Dutch mutton to supply orders for New Zealand meat, River Plate mutton has been hung up in shops, and enquirers who did not know New Zealand mutton were told it was the real article." We published some time ago an extract from a letter that appeared in a contemporary which was to the effect that Yorkshire butchers bought all the old ewes they eouid find, and palmed them off on their customers as New Zealand mutton. We may say that we thought the matter had been exaggerated, we did not altogether believe it, but when we find it corroborated by a gentleman like Mr Postlethwaite, whose words we cannot doubt, we can only come to one conclusion : that is, that those who are interested in this tiade must take immediate steps to counteract the the villainies thus practiced. There is more in this than appears on the surface. It is bad enough to find our mutton sold at first-class prices, as e first-class article, while we only get a second-class price, but it is far worse to find it represented by an inferior article, and thus given a bad name. RiverPlate, Dutch, and old ev*e mutton are of a very inferior quality, and when these are palmed off on people as New Zealand mutton, the product of this colony is bound to suffer by it. That something requires to be done to counteract the effect of such unscrupulous and villainous conduct goes without saying, and that the thanks of the colony are due to Mr Postlethwaite for drawing attention to so important a matter will, we are sure, be generally admitted. The remedies he suggested are well worthy of consideration, and though we do not feel sufficiently well acquainted with the subject to offer an opinion, we cannot but say that we feel convinced that the line of action pointed out by him is the only means of Becuring to the frozen meat exporters fair prices. From his letter, and from other sources of information, there is only one conclusion to be arrived at, that is, that the English butcher seems determined only to secure to himself the principal part of the profit, but also to give New Zealand mutton a bad name. The English butcher who buys our mutton at from 5d to 6d and sells it at Is has the best of it ; but he is not evidently satisfied with that, he must try to give increased values to inferior articles by calling it New Zealand mutton. Under these circumstances Mr Postletbwaite's suggestion appear to us to be just what is wanted. As regards his remarks about the bad condition in which the meat ariivcs at Home—sometimes through the defective working of the refrigerating machinery—we doubt whether a supercargo could alter that. The most effective way of meeting that difficulty would bo to " boycot" any vessel whose frozen meal went bad. If this were done, shipowners would not keep Engineers who would not mind their business, nor machiuery that would not work. If an engineer of a vessel knew that he would be " boycotted " as well as his vessel if anything went wrong, he would be more careful, while shipowners would take cara that only engineers who realised the responsibility devolving upon >hem, would be employed. However, this is a mere suggestion, and we just throw it out that it may be discussed, There is another point which Mr Postlethwaite treats lightly that is the high prices which the companies charge for taking the meat Home, This is killing the industry, but apparently there is no remedy for it, as both companies appear to have entered into a sort of a trades union to carry at a certain rate and no less.