NEW FREEZING WORKS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 22 June 1938, Page 3

NEW FREEZING WORKS

SOUTHLAND PROPOSAL. DIFFERENCE OF OPINION AMONG FARMERS. (By Telegraph—Press Association. INVERCARGILL, June 21. A meeting of farmers in Invercargill all day today and again this evening discussed a proposal to apply for a licence to establish a new freezing works in Southland. Tomorrow they will meet members of the Meat Board, when the case for and presumably against the granting of an additional licence will be stated. During the past few weeks meetings have been held in various parts of the province and delegates were appointed to attend a meeting held in Invercargill at 9 o’clock this morning. An hour later the provincial executive of the Farmers’ Union held a special meeting, and at 2 o’clock a big meeting, convened by the Farmers’ Union, took place. Difference of opinion between the two sections was apparent at the afternoon meeting. Members of the executive of the Farmers’ Union had not reached finality on the best remedy to overcome the disadvantage experienced by fat lamb growers, but delegates from country meetings announced that they had decided definitely to demand a licence for another works. . The Farmers’ Union executive refused to adopt this view and a deadlock was reached. Both sections held separate meetings this evening. The Canterbury Freezing Company, which has been described as “95 per cent a farmers’ concern,” is, it is understood, keenly interested in the question of a new licence for Southland, and, along with at least three other companies or syndicates, is prepared to erect a new works in the province if the Meat Board decides that another one is necessary. An Otago freezing company, described as a farmers’ concern, as well as a firm in Gore and another in Winton, are also stated to be applicants for any that may be issued by the board. Two companies have been operating in Southland for many years, the Southland Frozen Meat Co., Ltd., which owns works at Makarewa and Mataura, and the Ocean Beach Company, Ltd., whose works are near Bluff. At Balclutha, on the border of the province, is the South Otago Company’s works.