CORRESPONDENCE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 6, Issue 1584, 16 January 1884, Page 2

CORRESPONDENCE.

THE EIMEN MEAT TRADE; i < . ■ 'fp |HE EDITOR OF TJIE TIMES, ; . Sjn,—Tip fojlqwjng infqrinotip.n onthe above subject wil|, | am suye } interest many of your readers, and iiiijy, perhaps, be pf use' to some of the con)panics now in process of formation. Blr John Eeid, of El|ersjie, who js now in London, seeing clearly, as I jjave always done, that t-Jie present charges on meat are too high, has entered into the following arrangement, ..viz, : Large steamers to.be built by owners, on their own account, and fitted with three of Bell 'Coleman's machines, under contract with MrEeid for six consecutive trips from Oamaru, at intervals of six months, The first load to be shipped in August. next; 25,000 sheep to be.taken each time, and to be; frozen on board, the steamer lying thirty-jive clays for this.purpose, arid fifteen without extra cost. Every detail ? has.' been carefully attended to, ; and splendid arrangements made for selling the meat on arrival. It will be' distributed all over England and Scotland -by a firm

largely engaged in the American; pieat trade, and who have numrousiejofe, ■ There is no reasim to Mm their ability to dispose of s thr ; i5,0Q0 satisfactorily within the ,fifteen days allowed. I-haVe seen the contract, and though not at liberty to state the actual amount payable., for freight, I may say that I have taken out the figures carefully and find that && compared with the total expense of freezing and shipping, insurance and selling under'the arrangements made by the Wellington, and Danedin Companies,. Mr<Reid; will affect 'a saving of at leastvld per lb, or 6s per sheep of 721b weight/; ; I mjist ask your readers to accepts this statement . from me without proof at present, but I think thoso who know ino'will be . prepared to do this. ■ They -'will* quite understand. that there -may, b?,' many reasons why the,details'of such an .. arrangement should only.bo told tome : in confidence. Of course, the principal saving affected is the cost ; of freezing on shore, but in. addition to this there is the difference of rate of freight, in) \ consequence of employing a much less JP exponsivo .vessel and giving her a Ml' v; cargo, There is also a very material"* saving on'this sido by treating the steamer iis the: .store for fifteen days, instead of incurring the cost of double handling, and rent of cold stores. It is easy to see that' 'in'- this way the saving of a Id per lb maybe shewn, and yet such, a'rate of'freight be paid as to be very-profitable to a steamer costing probably about £40,000, and worked at small expense. She will not bo built for high.speed, but will probably do the voyages in a little over 50 days, The owners aro so satisfied with their contract that,! understand, they are quite ready to build a second vessel on the same terms, which is an answer to those who will of course declare, in the interests of competing companies, that it will be done at a loss. Had I auuhority (:o dp so, I believe I could at qnce conclude suclf an arrangement for Wellington, and so add 6s per head to .the value of all sheep shipped from there. It may, perhaps, bo said that shipping so large a quantity in one ship is a dangerous experiment, but it must be remembered that there aro. three machines; tho chambers will be separated, so that, thongh in one vessel the shipments are really as much divided into thiee as they would be if in separate ships, with the great advantage, that in case of an accident to. one machine the other two can do fhe work. In any case it must be to be a bold' experiment'and deWving of success!" I feel the. greatest possible confidence in the plan, because it is wjiat Ihave advocated since my arrival in Epgjand, t havo always' adypd .thodifectarsof tho Wellicjgjion Meat Exdort Company lhat all the information that I coufd obtain pointed to jibe great economy of freezing pji land, amj sondjng large cargoes by special adaptpd for th.e' pupposp'.' They.' if} cqminon with the directqra of all qthqr cqmpiiiies,have differed f|pm'niqi aijd a very largo'capital has been sunk in wqrks, If this new plan, 'provejj'sujC£ f# tf wft "raf'fr'fr (*Ff>i mistajjp has bqpn ijjad.e,.am) it \youlq be well now to consider.:.this'pqinji . befovflfnrtliGvoamtalis auuk in'tjjte •direction. by other companies, It is. obvious that it will bp. impossible to ' submit to a continued. loss of 0a per sheep, and the company that first arranges to carry the meat attheroduced rate, which is now shown to bo IJObSibl" wjjl ttimmand tha trade. '' It may perhaps bo'considereo* necessary first par-go before following his esanij ■ pie, but even if so, it would clearly bp foolish to invest further oapital.in atone freezing works which may no longer be required. For urging' this new scheme lam aware that I am liable to be again accused of over caution, but I am.accustomed to this,,and am content to be judged by ultimate results. The advjooand information I gave- to the . -Directors of ttiti Wellington port Company was opposed to tkviowß of those who urged immediate action j . and I havo been amused to find that I have been spoken'of at'ohfiof'tlib meetings'as too slow and catitiouifj atjij ijy' mm mWi ipjtfj;')} now seemj ljkely tjiat 'my yjows will prpye tp be cpri'ec't, fpr whicVj ta)s no credit, as being on tho spot, and . having the opportunity of consulting the best authorities, I ought to' have known something about it; ■ but. of • course there are always-plenty to be found who aro quite ready to come to conclusions with very impeifactiknowledge.of the facts. On this occasion I think it better to put tho facts, as they now stand, before the public than to. confine, information to tho Directors, qf any'one Company. ' •-"■>, My object'is.tli do all I can to aid.. in the development of the trade as a whole. I Bhall therefore any: assistancr in my Company which may decido pn; ; making arrangements for a special Wellington, This may bp dopei'tßW by one of the existing Companies, orby a new : one formed for the purpose. In either case but littlo called-up capital will bo required, All that is necessary is a sufficient share-list to form a .good security on uncalled capital for the charter. The" meat can bo insured and drawn against in-the samp way 'as,wool. Tho vesse) canbS y pharterefj to lpad at any porf'^'po}^'J required.- - '''"'' ■• ' '" ly

I harcfly think it nepessary nosy tp. Say anything about the quality of the New Zealand mutton qr the certainty poufts aye sp securely established tfcjtf }t may bo considered as almost as safe a shipment as wool, though no doubt fora time there will be considerable fluctuation in value, Tbe system of selling will be gradually improved bv experience, and then the market will becorao steady, The one important point to consider is that expenses of transit must be kept down to a minimum. At present these are <sp high . that, unless a good price is obtainable, results are unsatisfactory to shippers.What is necessary is to reduce them . to a point which will leave a profit on . cyciv alow'one, This is.v/hat -ihopp. to find Mr Md will Bi)Csp in doings , , lam, &c,r'?p ''■';•■•'■ :; ;. & Phakastcn. , Condon, November;6, ; lßß3," * ;