PUBLIC MEETING AT CARTERTON.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 3, Issue 801, 23 June 1881, Page 2

PUBLIC MEETING AT CARTERTON.

THE FROZEN MEAT QUESTION. j. An influential and thdrpuKhly repr'euentative nieetinc!wwars r Held at the Carterton Institute yesterday, among those present; beincr Messrs G/Beeth'am M.H.R.,Oliairi man Wairarapa East County Council, C.' Pharazyn, Chairman' Wairarapa West County Council, W; o,'.Buchanan, ;Eresii dents Wairarapa and East Coast Pastoral and Agricultural Society/JaW Donald; M, Jackson,: Gundy, t and others from Fea ; therston. J. Tully, S. Haigh, Glreytowni E R. Buiiny,G. H: Lister-Kaye, B.Boyi', L. Nix, B-. and G. Fairbrother, W. Francis, A. .McKenzie, .W. Booth, and many, others.-from Carterton and,., neighborhood, D.' Donald, W. Perry, & Mawley, J. Stuckey,~o. A. Vallance, H. H: fiolraes, G. Beetham, and others from Mastortbn.'' The Maories being rep're'sanled by Wiremu Mahupuku, In all there were abbut'vlOO 'persons' mn thoroughly, in. earnest about the business : in : ha , nd:'- l '' T ' |l, '' ,:>i!i;,M! ''' I ''^ n;y r The meeting- convened .for 10.3Q, but this hour proved rtq be'top early, as business, did .not commence" till 13 o'clock, when' Mr W. 0. Buchanan moved that Mr Booth! take the bhair,' I; ■l.'Mr Booth said he was very much pleased to take the ohair on this occasion for two,reasonsj first, because .pf,thp. jni-,: portau'ce of the object for Which' tWna'd met,., which,was not a matter, .of..chance, but a sure thing/.and second,"' because', although not a farmer jor ownor -.ef. stock himself, he. took-, as ,much'4nteresVm'tb!e matter, and was prepared to go asfaras thoae whb'were. ; He had-watohediffith great interest the .development of the meat, freezing experiments and was , c^rflpletely-'Batisfiedy^hot^only/' thV' '■ present auccessof the undertaking, .butaUo !of th|linmet^^ 4ißtri6t of; this' mbv!ftment. w His' did not JJP?^<ißfJftß? tb>pg"whiglj bo 'inticti • )impprtanoß ; te,th,eißplqny aud Bible ' > I

: ketf^sthji§|in\England—but';-for theii?;£■;£: BUfpl.Uß|atSol^tHeyliad no outlet^-and; this, ; discovery;of : ut•; great importance to all ' -■' especially \o ttie North liland would particu-. 1 V larly benefit from this discovery more v growing,district, while most oftteiNorlkv;.;, ; : Islandiwiifcovere'd witjibushjlalid jf only :'£)L: dairy jroduce.to of buWlinro/ tfia tfortß Islaild" to baT : ■ utilisedf' 1 this 1 reaWhe pl± andwoulddo all-in-> h!Sp!p,bTOr;to. s futthef' thV< ? 'moverfl¥nfejT •' spplauW)? ), Met Buchanan to lay before -the meeting' liia ! « | Mr Btr'O^ANAN hi/iei&arka would perhaps be better if prefaced by explaininwhow-he-came to-call ,the meet* ■ \ ■ iiig. , ; been in Wellington:and:.Ohmtohurch,.and f .- from what he heard and saw,in' .places he felt satisfied ..to be lost in the Wairarapa •• w jujilising the grand discovery of ;. : .meat and farm- produce/'"; Oifrhis (return, to the Wairarapa he sppke to' Several settiers found that' their" 'viewa were th'e;fsameas his own an to the inip6irt'atipe;'of ljer,.and.PUgae3ted,}he d . meeting. He .haii, been conipfr§ti ( vely but a short time among therq,aud lie felt he could not call them together as but thought; he/could, jn the name of the Pastoral Association;' He had alsofiii'th'e''capacity of-president of that association/writtenitpseyejal gentlemen on, the, WestppasJ, bating his intentioii' of' calling'a nie'etiiig, a'mKaskmg' their, co-oper at ton ili the" matter;' He had ieceiyed'ione reply;;frpm, Mf/Mclennan, who wrote, 'His hearty sympathy, and'pointed out tho necessity fur theMastand 'West Coasts to work together, On-the station of whioh Mr McLeVrfaiffwa'a 'manager the, surplus Btock',.fanged'from fOOO'to*l6oo.fiekd. JAnoiiie)petter he'-hiid ; received■ per'.Mr ' Iwhich s'ia(e l d-,iliat' ! ! 'lliere[ ; would ;T be no difficulty in with 400 tons from that dis'trjqt.'and ( wishmp the undertaking success, There wjii no doubt that more would have liked haye.beai) pre* sent at this meeting i ; .wh'o fi prevented from soine.oause;, from .attending, 'He had received a letter.f rom Mr Coleman which Btated that he had been away from home for some time; and found he could not pqaaibly attend.the/mieeting |thoughhe agreed .with(the< .proje.ctjand jwould take shares in'a uompsnyinlßo that [he considered;''thefi (export of dairy ;produce : ' the ■ moat important thing ithat could- happen to the district, iHe'(the 'speaker) thought all would go • with Mr Phillipson.jthis.ppirit,,..,There j was another thing he would like to refer ito while so many.: were present, and that was the rabbit question.' l He hoped before those present .wont. (homo, they would : discuss this question, and see if something more could notjbejauggosted'for?the destruction of'the peat than was doWat piesent, He gaye'a brief history of'the increase of stock iii' New Zealand, showing that up to the present tipie the only outlet for the surplus , had. been boiling it down, which, was simply a sacrifice, At shoiying! fho.Jnrpiioo'Ut prdeeht toaliaed," for stock he had soldi six months ago 801b wethers for lis each, while in Ohristchurch thei skin alonei was worth half that, For dairy produce the outlook had been still worse, ns'tliore had boon no outlet whatever fur that,' ..Those who had tried to export it had suffered a loss, He w alluded td'tHe Americaltriide in meat, jk and what the freezing done v for it. Stock-cattle especially— had been pouring into Europe by thousands of tons, Coming nearer, .home,' he what had.been done.iu Australia, 'alluding-to the■ firat shipment by the Strathlevon K and tho second shipment by the Protqg )i .'jHe read "extracts i from: the circular of'the Frozen Meat Company in' Melbourne, stating .that< these shipments had arrived in tlie best possible-'condition;, and; at- the moat] favorable.tiniepin "JaSiuary ; ,' The net profit of With reforencß>tb.the ilow pfice}obtained for American meat, the. fact was, as was well known,' American meat could not compete with Australian for quality. In tho matter of. dairy produce New Zealand had exceptional advantages from her extensive seaboard, and the short distance from her interior to it, compared to :tl|o distances in Australia and-America,, Thpse places could not compoto with New Zealand in : dajry' produce,., , T.wo ( freezing works ! ware, ■being;;; prp'ptfiC-/!i'l%»lrife. Ono at Orange had.,BenV'Jipriie''for fiveadditional machines to add'to throne i alroady in iise there, which would enable them to dual with half a million of sheep, and 3000 head ofoattle,, A company was being .established fyOtagb'and another atSouthland! The Oriont line' bfusteamers •were' being fitted with: freezing chambers, and tho Peninsular Company.was following suit. If the foremost businoss men flther p]apesfeltfhetnsglves justified llieoxpeDse of. erects those wqrk'ipihqiili.^ot.(he : -Wa|farap| also be up' and dojltgi Thequestibp they had tfl consider was- the quantity of a'urr plus stocjc )liejr coqld calculate upon, and this was -rather di|fiou]tj The;only statin, tics he; had were from jHa'wles Bay. Messrs ;M,' R, jMiller & Co/, \ reported a, surplus last year of '4ooo' head, of whioh 1,600 were boiled down,; Wellington district did not nearly reach this quantity, If prloes for.their stock were higher and more oeftain, settlers would go to work in a business-like, manneron;their land. It was always found.that low prices and caroless;; farming^went together. The speaker; pointed qutJthV immense advantage ofltheir having a market that could absorb all'their Burplus stock, and drew attention to the fact that'ribt only would ■the* setders ','gain>, , .imme,diate 1 ' relief, but the', colony would ..alßp.', gain increased ..credit when this movement was'develop'ed;"' He urged upon ; .them the co-operating with the West ; Goast, as it wai'evide'ni'lhey- could jiot.do aB much as they' would like to, without such co-oper»tipn ( . He thought their first shipment should be'aentihome in the lime way as .that) by [tlinyProtos. - s Efi pointed: out that the wHval.offrneat'and produce in.,a sound state wis Jap 'lodger a \rnatter, jbf chance but a the ship, tn'a meat ftjjd parried,.it, while'a premium'p'f |5 Bi'nej cent, ifjsq'red its in London. This 'wasi'tho;j|fey i .of :t |he position., Any settler could sit dpwn, and 'calpuljtte h)a i probablejl feln ,pn ,g\ his meat and dairy produce with ! jqst as ," \ rhiioh ce j taiiity ias tjie.sheepi farnieriCfluld estimate his wool returns, and there "was no doubt the premium would be greatly reduced)-aS'thii,was,therate.quoted for pnly ; . a single ; rpyage and not'a permftnent trade. He shewed that sheep were selling at2li in Ohristchurch, and skips at from 2i to It 8d each, and'if it woiila pay them to send their stock to .England while getting those prices there, how much more would it pay,.the: iWaifflrap^i.lrconcjaded.by moTing— '. J_\\ ; j_„"-*;! ].!'' '■ '■'■■.'■'' ) s-i' ,}>|,_ 'meeting ivj;i;itvis,deß]sbje, f to^ "„- frozeiV meat and ! dairy : :■;"• f 'prddnce' to England M"noon . r.esrjrjie| |i||. ae|(t - -, ahJioT! copßtderabJeappUojseA . %Mr (?ii|BET|4M i«» - iec6n'din((.tthe|re!oltiy aincefei pleasure ;heinoticedslhe genßlne vS ; «;" §WMtfdiiiplay^inibq : ;jni^

lsnd.^Hear,, hear);. f Not, only slisepfannM, battle farniei-a,- and dairy fathers, 1 ' tut all-.New,;Zealand would.'.secnre.a'. direct advantage'from the iucce'sa tof this movement,. proposal would.-aJM ,a readymarketT fbr'aU .New,. 2ealHiid'*' iith>' . . plus jjrqduce. He regarded ihe'dairy interest'as'orte by these shipments,' aa'they' alVrays lii'dan out-. let fop stock by boiling dairy ' i%fariniuj' ! "W ; ''ooiripletely paralyzed by ( \#having:np outlet.;; The'frewingrprMsa'' \- would'' 1 enable V the clear) their surplus stock' _now, and the . immense-additions••'To.Vif which,jt. would create ktlie future?; (Hear, Hear). He -alluded to "Mr Murray''Jackson and Mr.M.jPflßelbergas among those.'wlio had' done,thei.r; best to create a i market toiv dairy pTo'duce/.but had only .suffered loss. He;- regretted': tliat i more 1 statistics had not been placed .before tham,-arid quoted: froifr'sheepreturns to show that a million' sheep .were •' available. for exportation' th&Cdlony; In the :Wairarapa district estimated there would be 106,000 for ™ export,•but' he ; would'liki- ! to point out' that' it was not the surplus they had how that' they should go by, but what they would have in, the ; ,future under this* stimulus' in the 1 market, (Hear,.hear,), .They could produce,an enormous surplus of stock for export' if they could only get fair priced for their lambs., He had often thought it a sin that'splendid sheep (Bt'for any table)! should have no batter fate than to be boiled down for thq take of their tallow, i' 'Now' i these' sheep will 'help to feed the population: of-other, parts of the world. There would: soon be no necessity to look for a market, as English firms would bageekine to import from us, • instead of lis seeking to export to them? Mr Costa,'manager of : lb'e ; Nevr Zealand Shippijig Company,:is now.in England arranging for the establishment of a direct line of steamers for New Zealand, and had offered to take meat home at 2d a pound, He had no hesitation in;saying that a direct line of steamers for New < Zealand had not offered to carry meat | at 3d per pound without calculating the | profits : »nd knowing it ; would ■ pay, Mr Buchanan had made a reference to rabbits, and lie (the speaker) hoped (hat,; in order to take advantage of .this discovery, nil should go home' determined to put their Souses, in order-that is, determine to overcome the abominable ci] me of rabbits, as they must he able to prow 'tlioip shepphejore they could agll thorn. -He wfts. glad to be able to oongrai tulato thedisirict on what they had alieady dope. A few weeks ago he passed a place where.: he : could count the rabbitß' in thousarjdsjbut'riow 'they could hardly cou|)' them in tens, He had given notice In his place in'the Bouse for a Committee to consider the rabbit tjuoalion, and he gbnsjdered it his duty to endeavor to qompel'the Government to undertake their share" of the work to exterminate the p§st. (Hear, hear). He. alluded to the meeting recently held.in.Wellington on the frozen meat question, and had been very glad to fjnd such an. amount of interest taken in it, Ho thought probably the outcome oi this meeting would be tho Issue of a pamphlet containing much valuable information on the subject. He could not sit down without expressing his opinion on Mr Buchanan's action li calling the meeting. Though he might be comparatively new amongst them, noono could take a- mnro llvolv .and practical Interest in all public matters than Mr Buchanan had done. hear.) ■ In oonolusion he statod that Mr Bunny had asked him to express his regret at not being able to bo present, Mr Beetham V then resumed his seat amid, loud applause, The Chairman before putting the resolution stated that they ha 1 nothing to fear with rogard to ; the shipments froni; Amerifti or Australia. The climates of! those places would no! give them the advantages that New Zealand had, They could not grow by any moani the aucculont meati that grow- bo naturally and to such perfection 1 in New Zealand. The latter-vould lake the English'market at the best time, and with the best article People, might say what they like about local, industries, but for generations to come dairy produce and live stock would be their best local industry (hear, :hear),''and- they ,'mijihl- with perfect confidence put their money and 'timo into the scheme they were discussing. They would, in time, get a ateadior market for their meat and dairy produce . than they had now for their wool, Ho made'lheae remarks to engender the same confidence among them that he had as to the perfect success of thi3 undertaking.i (Heafi heap, i»hd applau,so,)— ■'Mr-B, Phaiubyn was glad'to see ao large A.meeting, which he considered had ■ been tery property called by the President ' ; of the Pastoral Society, and showed the '' advantage of having such an institution as 'the latter.V He thought the objectof the '.meeting .would be better served if the dis,'cussinn took a less discursive turn. They .'should narrow the meeting : to what they ..could do ■■: They have got the simple fact (: that' if wealth: were produced in the Colony' it must' affect all, beneficially. ; |[B agreed 'most ! cprdjalty wjth the fflijjaAa of Mr Booth, on (jair.y prqdu,cq. ; Another pbin(! was, if' we .could qetl meat to tho people of Epgland cheaper than .they were gel|ingit at presept, it would ', opable'the poorer classes to buy more, clothing and thus increase the demand . fop New Zealand wool—so that they would .; be increasing, their wealth in two ways, ' They could all make up their minds at / once thut if the.thing would pay it must be desirable to atart immediately, There was uo heed to talk of the quantity of the surplus, the fact was sufficient that they had a'surplua;. If'they only had enough ' for.one shipment/let them send that Bhip•'irieiit, if only to ascortain the 'minimum price, to be. obtained. The matter was ' beyond the experimental stage,, and it U] was a well known fact that they could .' ; put meat ih.the market at 3|d or'4d per pound, and then get 2ld or more profit. ! ,',They;had established the fact, and that wiis all they.wanted.: He strongly advocated that a committee should only be c/constituted for the purposei of electing a ■ ; Bub-committee df about five to do the ■■• work, as a large committee would kill the -'-project at once. With regard to rabbits, '■'• the'edict of creating a certain market; for rid of this pe'st,„aß it would give t * lahdownefa Heart to Bnend'mofi nippy ~, jqr. tt|fl purpqae// % w.qujfj not say any jpr'fii as they had met for huajneaa,- rjot r {aljf,'.(Applause.) r- . . The resolution was then 1 put and carried. |lMr'ByomnAtf then proposed the fpllowing gentleji'ien to act as a. Committee '.;' tjjiqo-aperate'with residents .in'Welling- '* 'ton arid on the' West Coast to carry out . the previous resolution:—if. P. Eussell, McMaster, J. Martin, jun., W. Bidwill, H. H. Beetham, f, Maunsell, B6bth,' Gilpin, Lucenai, A. MoMastrr, J, Tully, Murray Jaok' ■' soli; ; A'. Matthews,'' o.' A. Valiant, ft Beetham, R. •. S, Hawkins; E.; Meredith, CMaokay,J. Holmes, J. Donald, J. ;Y. ,i. Smith,: J.: Sfcuckey,; H. R. -Bunny, It . Oaielberg, J. Gear, J, and H. Barber, and W.'O. Buchanan. ' ! , ;; ;; .The OHAmMAK explained that the com,,:Lmittee,.,would, only,be.temporary,-as a 1 company would be certain' to be formed '-'' after the first shipment • c ";' ';"'• j"'

';,■:■:. (jqnsißt of the srnallest possible number. siv-ii" Qii the'suggeition if iMr CisEtBEBO jthe »:l) #bMi'i ,^fiwI to' l form I ''a 'quorum" were to'tjjertsoltition.^''' •,-.) r-

of forming a'Oompahy, If a- Company Mi to be-" formed that waß the. time to form it. Thoy nil knew -the ( advantages of ithe a.oii'emei batihV thought some (gentlemen, would ,haveT.placid- 'something tangible before them as to the f brining'of a Company, and how the shares were to '.be ailbtted^-(Hiiari ; iiear)r !:;li ' lV >' ! - 'Mr BEETHA^,was ; m,uch in accord with ~Mr CASELBBKCf.''- ! Pe'rhftp3'Mr"Buchanan had not touched sufficiently on some .points, He ; had not alluded to mi important arrangement' that had been' made with-Mr Levin" and'Oaptain' Hose who had been interviewed by Mr Buchanan and hiimelf, and had stated that if the settlers guarantee 400 tons of meat and dairy prbW duce'two ships Would' be' forthcoming to 1 take it.; The putcome. of the meeting would certainly be the formation of' a Company, but in, shipping .thesa .two' 'cargoes a Company was not necessary. As to stock available, speaking for his brothers, of Brancepeth, they were prepared to provide 2000 sheep and 50 head of cattle; and. Mr Buchanan would do the same, and he wished 1 tlie - Btocknwners : present would > state, to the committee what amount of stock' they : ivould be : prepared to send; so 1 as to form a data to work upou. He, thought the sub-committee should also' communicate,with,dairy fnrmers-to the same end. This was not a hostile movement to the butchers, and Mr Gear,had told him that he would contribute a share to the shipment. • , ■-, ■) Mr Buchanan in reply to Mr Caselberg, said that they 'had taken the only practicable stop possible at that stage, as they would have to secure the co-operation of Wellington,, and. West Const residents hef ti proceeding further. ' -'' •- 1 :■ Mr Murray Jackson said ho had understood ' from tliß remarks made by the different speakeis, that the duty of the sub-committee would be to gather information' for the purpose- of starting a company. , Mr Phaiuzyn, in answer to Mr Caselberg, said that apparently the lattor wished to travel too quickly—(A. laugh). The meeting was simply called to authorise a committee to take the necessary steps to kin'a company, ;

Mr Caseblerq was sorry to liavo caused so much discussion ind consequent waste of time, but thought he had elicited some valuable information,

Mr Booth thought Mr Caselberg had done good by his question, but the meeting had, done as much as it could. The committee chosen 1 was a representative one, and if it did not ohcose five good men among them to act as a sub-commit-tee to do the work required it would be their own fault. ' The resolution was then put nnd (juried, and the meeting adjourned at 2,15 for lunch. On resuming, Mr Buchanan stated that having been down to tho post office he had received a letter from the secretary of the Ity.ea Pastoral Association, that they wifj willing to co-operate with the present meeting. The meeting then took under consideration

THE RABBIT PEST, After a lengthy discussion on this subject, a committee was appointed to take steps for the introduction of the natural enemies of the rabbits, [A full report will appear in to-morrow's issue,] . COMMITTEE MEETING,

The Freezing Committee met after the close of tho rabbit meeting, Mr Buchanan in the Chair, all the members of the Committee being present. The following sub-Committee was appointed, viz,!— Messrs Buohanan, Stuckey, Pharazyn, Gear, and Booth. The duties of the sub-Committee wore discussed, and it was proposed by-Mr H. E. Bunny, and seconded by Mr H. Beetham—That the Committee guarantee the necessary expenses to be incurred by the Biib-Committee,

Mr Jackson moved a vote of thanks h Chairman, and the meeting adjourned.