§ 81 Mr. W. THORNEasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that most of his agents arrive on the market about 10 or 11 o'clock in the day, so that hind-quarters sold on 16th September could not be for that day's trade, but could, at the earliest, not be marketed before the following day; whether he is aware that good chilled hind-quarters and fore-quarters were freely obtainable from Friday, 17th, to Wednesday, 22nd September, at 4s. 2d. and 3s. 4d. per stone, respectively; will he explain how, in view of these figures, it could be said that the Government were selling their surplus meat at the current daily market price;
(2) Whether, on Wednesday, 22nd September, any of his agents indicated to him that in consequence of the non-availability of the Argentine boat the market would be faced with an extreme shortage of beef for two or three days; whether he is aware that on the 23rd, 24th and 27th September an advance of price obtained, and that in consequence the working classes had to pay 2d. to 3d. per pound extra for their week-end meat supply; whether, in view of what was bound to arise, any of his agents suggested that 2,00 or 3,000 good, bright, frozen quarters should be released to relieve the temporary Argentine shortage; if so, why was this course not adopted; if not so, whether he will advertise for and appoint a capable butcher, who would promptly report to him the indications of the market and thereby prevent, as far as possible, this meat trust from exploiting the working classes;
(3) Whether he is aware that the indications of the meat trade point to higher prices ruling in the meat markets after Christmas; whether he has observed that a firm named Rough and Company, of Smithfield, have lately displayed great energy in discovering new sources of meat supply in Southern Brazil and Colombo, Central America; whether he has noted that much of this beef is of good quality, and that with development of the sources of supply could be greatly improved; whether, in view of what is likely to arise, he will confer with this firm as to the facilities required to increase and improve the supplies from those quarters so that the producers, in order to market their beef, will not be driven to throw themselves into the arms of the Chicago Beef Trust; whether he will adopt the same 1614 course with the field of supply in Venezuela;
(4) Whether he is aware that the failure of his Department to cope with the rise in meat prices which took place between Wednesday, 22nd September, and Monday, 27th September, in consequence of the non-arrival of the Argentine boat, caused a rise of prices which fell upon the working classes; and, seeing that his Advisory Committee is now limited to the vested interests of the meat trade, together with two Colonial representatives, both interested in securing high prices of meat for Colonial producers, whether he will state the grounds on which he refuses to include a working-class representative from the meat trade on that controlling or Advisory Committee?
Mr. RUNCIMANMy hon. Friend appears to me to be under some misapprehension as to the nature of the action which the Board of Trade are taking in connection with the purchase, transport and distribution of frozen meat. Their primary object, as I have explained to this House, is to secure an adequate supply of such meat at reasonable prices for the use of the British, French and Italian Armies, and it is the surplus supplies which are sold through the usual agents at the market rates on the day of sale, for civilian consumption. It is not practicable for me to go into all the details which my hon. Friend asks for. The mode of conducting the business has, I understand, given general satisfaction, and has certainly tended to keep down prices, but it is impossible to prevent altogether the fluctuation of market prices from time to time due to various causes of a temporary nature. While most of this meat comes from Australasia and the Plate, I have been able to allocate some refrigerated tonnage for the transport of meat from other sources, and I am prepared to continue this policy so far as insulated space is available, the necessities of the Armies being always the first consideration.