43

I.—loa.

H. C. CAMERON.]

28. You say that horses and drivers could be hired for your shops ? —Yes. 29. Do you mean to say that a livery-stable man would do to recognise the joints and deliver orders—l ask you whether the ordinary man you would get out of a livery-stable would be sufficient to take out and deliver orders for the customers ?—Yes, under my system. 30. Would that system include cutting off the joints and parcels of meat, wrapping them up, labelling them, and so on? —Yes. 31. Would that work out satisfactorily in London on a muggy hot day with frozen meat ?—lt worked out very satisfactorily in my own business in Manchester. 32. Would you wrap up the damp frozen meat in paper?—l always have my meat thoroughly thawed before sending it out. I always wrap it in parchment-paper first, and afterwards in brown wrapping-paper. 33. Would you say that a butcher in Wellington, who learnt his trade in London, and asserts that that would destroy a high-class trade at once, would be stating what was incorrect ?—lt is very commonly done in London now. The C. C. and D. Company, John Eose and Co., and other butchers send their meat some distance outside of London, and wrap their orders up in the way that I suggest. 34. You estimate certain weights for legs and shoulders off a 60 lb. sheep ? —Yes. 35. Would you contradict an expert butcher if he said that the weights given are too high ?— Certainly I would. The weights given are not too high. 36. Have you served your time in the trade yourself as a butcher?— Yes, I have, as a butcher in Manchester. 37. And you assert that the weights given are not too high ? —They are not too high. 38. And do you assert the same with regard to lamb? —Yes. 39. What about the average purchasing-price?— The price of 4d. a pound delivered on trucks at the ship's side in London, which I allow, is a higher average than that of any previous year for New Zealand mutton. 40. Are not the prices that you set down in your report to be paid by the shop on the average too low ? —Fourpence a pound for mutton on the trucks at the ship's side is higher than it has ever averaged in any year yet, and 5-J-d. per pound for lamb is higher also. 41. What about the breasts and necks in summer : would you be able in a first-class shop, with a high-class business, to work them all off in summer, as you have assumed in your statement ? —At the price I have charged I would. 42. You do not think that a lot of them, which could not be sold, would have to go into the fat-bag occasionally ? —No ; because I should take good care that they would not. I have had experience of this before. What I did was to supply them when fresh to certain institutions at low prices. I have put down in my estimate an average price for breasts of 2d. per pound. You will see that it is 2-J-d. on other retailers' lists. 43. You have given us so-many shops at so-many carcases per week ?—Yes. 44. Would you not in a high-class trade have to buy extra legs and shoulders to meet the requirements of the shops ? —Yes ; at a week-end you probably would have to do so. That would be an extra profit which I have not counted upon in my estimate. 45. Would not the profit on specially purchased legs and shoulders be very small ?—Yes; you would probably only make lid. or 2d. per pound. 46. In the case of a person establishing a lot of shops in England, would it not be a pretty fair success if fifty out of a hundred shops opened were established permanently—in short, if it were stated that about fifty per cent, of the shops opened would have to be closed because they did not " catch on " ? Would you deny the accuracy of such a statement ?—lt depends upon the locality, and upon the person conducting the business. 47. Would you consider that a misleading statement or assertion?—l should say, if you refer to my suggestion that the Government should do it, that it is a misleading statement. 48. I ask you what you consider the probabilities would be in the case of any one attempting to establish a lot of shops in various centres ? —A private individual would have much more difficulty than the Government would have, because a private individual has nothing to appeal to the public upon. The Government gives the public a guarantee, and that guarantee the public would accept. I think there is no chance of failure. 49. You do not answer my question : I did not say " the Government." I asked you whether you thought it would be a misleading assertion if that statement were made ? —lt depends upon the district and the man. 50. The £400 rent that you propose to pay for a shop indicates a high-class locality ?—Yes; it is an extravagant rent. I put that too high. 51. If you put that too high, may you not have made mistakes in other estimates?—ln my estimate my maximum amount for expenses has been made rather excessive. On the other hand, my profits have been put as low as I could make them. I have not tried to make too good a statement. 52. What about the goodwill of the shop : you have put nothing down for that ?—No. 53. Would you expect to walk straight into a shop without paying anything for goodwill?— Certainly. 54. In other words, you would have to create a business ?—Certainly. 55. What about the fittings : do you not consider £40 too low for them ?—No; I could do it for much less. 56. For a high-class shop ? —Yes; my shop in Manchester did not cost me £40. In my estimate you will see £40 is for rails-fittings. 57. If a butcher in business at Home made the assertion that it would cost from £100 to £120, would you say he did not know anything about it ? —Certainly. I would say he was a most extravagant man.