The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-23
WORLD BEGINS ID
 USE MORE MEAT Matter Is Subject of Inter-
 esting Pamphlet IS A BIG PROBLEM Extracts From Reports of Consuls Show Solution Has Not Been
 Reached in Continental
 Europe
By JONATHAN WINFIELD

l by
 Washington, April 22-(Special. .)-"The world meat question" is the title of an in- l teresting brochure recently issued by the Department of Commerce and Labor. It deals with the efforts made to increase the meat supply in various countries which have hitherto been confined to az ricutural development. In South Amer
 lea this campaign has been especially notable. Many of the smaller European states are finding 1t profitable to experi ment in the so-called "animal indus try" especially as they find that the foreign supply is being more and more used for domestic consumption every year.
 | Typical extracts from the reports of consuls to the department show that the meat problem has not been solved in continental Europe, and that practically all of the nations are dependent upon g. foreign supply Consel Britain at Prague, Austria, makes the following re- port:
 | Land in Bohemia is becoming too dear I for grazing purposes and even dairy cat tie are being disposed of by many of tho farmers in order that they may use their lands for agricultural purposes. The principal region of supply, the Alpine districts of Austria, are being more and more given over to forests and hunting
 preserves, thus lessening each year the area for grazing purposes. Tn the mean
 time people are suffering for the lack of nourishing food, and the danger to health is much greater than any which can arise from imported meats. There Is no general law regulating the inspection of meat, but local community authorities prescribe the inspection regulations. "A trial consignment of meat from Ar genuine, 25 tons, was received last Octo- Der from Trieste, and after a special in | spection by a committee of experts, the consignment was declared to be in per- | feet condition, and was placed upon the market in Vienna. The municipal coun- cil of Prague has authorized the impor- I tation of 25 tons of Argentine meat. | With the uncertainty of permission to | bring in Argentine meat there is great | hesitancy on the part of meat dealers to risk the expense of importing it. and the demand is being made that the bor- ders be opened to live cattle from the Il Balkan states.
 | "The other argument used in favor of | imported meat is the excellent health of Il the English people, who depend largely | upon imported meats for their supply" A new line of vessels equipped for cold storage will be prepared to bring car | goes of meat from Argentina if the en-
 bargo against foreign meat is removed.
 These vessels will ply between Buenos
 Ayres and Trieste and will, it Is said,
 make IS trips a year. To facilitate the
 import of frozen meats into Bohemia, an effort Is being made to have refrigerating cars built for the railway lines entering there. If meat can be imported from South America it appears that the new line of vessels between New York and Triese could equally as well bring mes from the United States.
 | The American amba ssador at Vienna reports that the imports of cheaper for eign meats to the extent of at least one half the consumption of Vienna, which is estimated at 104O00,000 pounds per year, will be demanded by the Austrian public The government has given per- mission for the further importation of 800 tons of Argentine meat, which is ex- | pected to reach the port of Trieste by | ships of the Austro-American line this | month.
 Consul Hazeltne, at Tencriffe, In the Canary islands, sums up the reasons why | the United States Is not making greater progress in her export meat trade as | follows:
 American competition has been ex- cluded from the southern European and African trade for several reasons the most important of which have been ex- | cessive freight charges and long transit periods, when goods were shipped via England to continental ports lack of proper local connections on the part of American exporters; the active campaign against all American meat products by l foreign competitors.
 | The local importers, however. would now welcome American meat products I imported via the direct steamship ser l vice recently established between New York City and these islands,
 There is no question whatever tliat the | shipping of American meat to the Cana ries and Northern Africa must increase | In the near future. The fertile soil of the Canary islands and Nothern Africa is de- voted almost exclusively to the cutiva- tion of vine and fruits, Sc that about 75 per cent of the food consumed must be imported Wheat flour is the largest item, nearly all of which is American Meat and meat products are next in inn portance to four and are largely i'm ported from England, although few 1 speciaties come from France and other continental markets. Exhorbitant prices prevail for many of these products, timed or other. This abnormal cond- ton of prices is due to the steady de- n1and and to lack of competition l This Hack of competition". is cond- | tion, however, which the American pack CTS promise to remedy soon. They are reaching out for the odds and ends of trade which formerly escaped them, ow- ing to their absorption in the larger Flu ropean counties, and have secured control Of the Argentine export trade. While there is a threat Of world -embracing meat trust, it has not reached the pro- portions of a peril and foreign nations do not take the threat seriously, as hth- erto they have proved more successful than the American government in copy ing with examinations in restraint of trade" and have no doubt of their ability to do this in the future. The American packing trust does not appear to be a bogey to them. They welcome it's legti- mate activities, but will not colntenance some of the tactics which it has prac- ticed in the United States.
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