"NEW ZEALAND" MUTTON.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXIX, Issue 8392, 8 April 1907, Page 7

"NEW ZEALAND" MUTTON.

UNSCRUPULOUS DEALER FINED.

(From Our London Correspondent).

-LONDON, February 16. As you are, no doubt, aware, a lot of Argentine meat is sent over here. It is usually sold at a lower price than yours, and is certainly a far inferior quality. Many dishonest butchers, professing to deal only in New Zealand meat, palm off the Argentine upon the innocent consumer, who has no means of telling the difference. This has a double effect. It causes the consumer to have a bad, and an erroneous, impression of your article, and decreases the sales over here. Further, it t would in time cause a complete subI stitution of the inferior meat inasr much ns honest butchers, finding themselves undersold by the dishonest, would be compelled to follow their example, or see their trade become gradually and beautifully less. In the case of public contracts, for hospitals, infirmaries, etc., it would become impossible for the firm tendering to get their price accepted T against a firm who intended to substitute. Having all these points in mind, Mr H. A. Cameron, New Zealand Produce Commissioner, is always on the qui vive to get hold of a case where the material 13 sufficient to warrant a prosecution, which is not an easy matter. But he has just had another success A certain firm tendered, and had their oiler accepted, to deliver New Zealand meat to the Herts County Asylum, such meat to be guaranteed New Zealand > produce. The official in charge at the institution had his suspicions i aroused, and communicated with Mr j Cameron, who at once journeyed to j investigate. The fraud was at once j apparent to his experienced eye, although, he says, the salesman had j wrapped the carcases in the same way, with New Zealand cloths, and j had affixed your usual tags, describ- j ing the meat to be guaranteed from ; your colony those tags and cloths j being, of course, removed from New Zealand me at in order to be used for the Argentine. The tags, by the way, are affixed in such a simple way that it is' the easiest thing in the world for anyone to remove them from one carcase and place them on another. It would be better if the 1 particulars on these tags could be f indented on the carcase itself. This 'iwou Id prevent fraud in the case of those buying the whole carcase, although it would not prevent the butcher from substituting, in the case of private consumers. As this matter will be of great interest to your readers, I give a lengthy account of the trial taken from a Trade , paper:— William Frederick Masters, trading as W. F. Masters and Sons, of Koßoman Street, Clerkenwell, was aummoned at Clerken,vell Court, for describing carcases of South American mutton as "New Zealand meat," contrary-to the Merchandise Marks Act. A second summons against the defendant was fjr having the meat in his possession. Mr Horace Avory, K.C., who prosecuted, explained that he appeared for the guardians of the Herts County . Asylum, Mill End, St. Albans. The 1 defendant, he said had contracted •to supply the guardians with Now mutton, in its original linen wrappings, and with the original labels attached. The officials became suspicious, and called in Mr Cameron, of the New Zealand Government He, and the experts also called in, were of opinion that the meat was River Plate or South American mutton, and worth three farthings to a penny a pound less than New Zealand mutton, represent- ' ing about forty-eight shillings on the whole six carcases. These were de- ■ jivered on October 31st, and were coutained in linen wrappers, , stamped either "C.M.G." (Cbrstcfcurch Meat Company), "lambs," or "Messrs Nelson Bros., Gisborne, New Zealand." One consignment should therefore have been from the North Island and the other from the South. The guardians communicated with the defendant, and received the explanation that the thing had occurred through the mistake of a clerk. But, said it had £ been a continuing'mistake. ">. . Mr George Goodchild, of the Mill End A sylum, proved the contract. Cross-examined, he admitted that the mutton 1 was in lamb cloths, and that lamb would be worth more. The guardians were still taking New Zealand mutton from the defendant. Re-examined, the witness said that the price of New Zealand mutton had gone up since October 31st. He did not see that the mutton was in lamb cloths until the carcases were unwrapped. Henry Charles Cameron, Commissioner of the New Zealand Government, said that he had represented his Government here for ten years, and had had experience in the meat trade. In this case the wrappings had been changed, and the meat was undoubtedly River Plate mutton. It was then worth a halfpenny to three farthings less than New Zealand mutton. Sheep carcases from New Zealand never had the breast removed. The price of New Zealand mutton on this day was worth two shillings and tenpence a stone', and the defendants contract was at two shillings and threepence a stone. Mr Ricketts (for the defence): And River Plate mutton was up to two shillings and eightpence, so the "''defendant would lose on that? I Mr Avory: Yes, but he reduced the loss. (Laughter). For the defence it was said that the occurence was an isolated one. It was difficult to say how it happened, owing to the lapse of time between the occurrence and the -,. actual taking of proceedings. The Wdefendant was an old man, with three places of business. Therefore the work was left to managers. On this occasion the meat was late, and the men made up the contracts—going rather by the weight per carcase required than by the place of origin. And a "lamb" cloth on mutton would never deceive anyone. It was an act of carelessness on the part of servants, for which the defendant was responsible. The difference in value was eight shillings, not fortyei/*t shillings', and th'.va was no prevailing complaint. A fine of .£5, with £2' costs, was imposed. The second s-.nmons was withdrawn.