The sun., 1916-09-15
LAST YEARS TRADE IN FROZEN Ann,
CHILLED BEEF.
Some Curious Effects Of the War on North and South American rrodr,on
and on Buying by the Countries Of Europe.

The trade IN frozen meat. teef, NUT
ton and lamb has undergone some
strange vicissitudes during the past
year. In an article on the worlds
commerce In frozen meat in 1915. Pro-
lessor Marchis Of the Faculty Of
Sciences of Paris has made a COM
potent effort to the difficult
ties which besct the path of the writer
on trade returns. The difficulties are
considerable in tracing the influence
OF the wal On exports Of frozen beef.
For in the a%urgings Of the nations 1t
is easy to lay too much stress on the
immediate rather than the universal
bearing of events; to count only ex-
ports for the use OF armies. and lose
sight Of the vast cross currents Of
trade between Europe and North and
South America. An instance Of this
kind IL supplied by the trade between
the Argentine Republic and the United
states. In 1915 more than twenty-five
per rent. of the exports from the Ar
Eentine and Uruguay came to this
country.
Professor Marchis has not missed
these great issues. His brief report.
owing tn the nature of the
subject. IL somewhat difficult to con-
struc. II discloses quite remarkable
figures. or exports from the United
States, for example. he says: I'm the
actual state of their herds. which
scarcely suffice for the food ~ the
country. the United States should not
10 considered n country which. under
normal conditions. is an exporter Of
meat" In another place he classes
the exporting countries. in their order
nf Importance. az follows: Tho Argen-
tine Republic. New Zealand. Australia.
! ruguay and the United States. Such
1gures viii strike many people as I'M
satisfying and d~isconcerting: they GER
tainly convey n distinct impression Of
n decided drop in our exports Of prod
ucts for which this country has been
famous.
Yet there Is no doubt that they are
exact. They agree with those Of Mel
vile and Rommel. published In their
article on Meat Production in the
Argentine and Its Effects Upon the
Industry in the United States" year
book of The Department Of Agricul-
ture. Washington. 1914. p. 3S1.) 1t
appears that as the Argentine chilled
heef trade has grown hat of the Uni
ted States has declined. The case is
the same with frozen beef. though
there is an increasing tendency on the
part Of Argentine traders to export
chilled beef. At the present time
chilled beef commands a higher price
on the London markets. and this fact
and the immense superiority Of Eng
land IN ships with cold storage rooms,
suggest an explanation Of the way in
which Argentina has taken the place
Of the United States as a source Of
british supplv. The effect on our
trade In the future may he serious.
Some satisfaction may he got from
the results ~ Argentine production in
1913 to 1915. Since 1912 there has
been a decrease in exports of frozen
and chilled beef. the figures for 1918
showing n drop Of 2G3.5l1 quarters
compared with those ~ 1912. The
figures for 1915 are stlll more unfavor-
able. Exports of chilled beef from
Argentina in this year declined 10y
1902. lo4 quarters or Ii0.025 tons. APP
parently the war IL having a depress-
ing influence on Argentine trade. or
else Argentine farmers and cattle own
crs are not Strengthening 50 many ami
mails for export.
There NAV he another cause. United