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NORTHERN TERRITORY STOCK
EXPORT.
TO THE EDITOR.
I am, &c.,
H. W. H. STEVENS,
Contractor Cattle Export Service, N.T.
Palmerston, October 24, 1894.
Sir— lf any reliance can be placed upon the
rumors that reach the Territory our member
(Mr. Gri[?]the) is trying to secure for the
Northern Territory a portion of the earn to be
vi|ieDded by tht- S. A. Government in advanc
ing tb? frozen meat industry. Alter my
experience at the trade which ha? been carried
on by means of the cattle contract steamer
Darwin 1 may be able to. throw some light
upon the probable result of such an under
taking, and I think this can be bast
<!ooe by friving yon a ebon resume ol the 27
voyages that bare beta made by the cattle
steamer cinoe the contract started in April,
1692. I will commence at this end. From the
very outset the only Northern Territory sta
tion owners who have taboo advantage of the j
opportunities offered of establishing a market I
lor their sarplos stock bars been tbs firm of
GoldabrouglZ, Mort, & Co., and although, as is I
now generally known, most of the paatoralisa
were offered the best term* to join in the ven
ture on more than one oocaeuw none came
forward. Owing to the rang dry seasons, last
ing sometime* for seven mouths and generally
followed by severe wet sea&ons, toe diffi
culties of obtaining regular and steady
monthly eupptiea ot (took are great, and
whether canh> are frozen or shipped
alive the fact of having to concentrate four or
five months' supply on the coast, to provide
for the period daring which the country be
comes impasr shle. will always be a handicap
to the pastoral industry. Most of tbe cattle
that Late been tut forward by tbe cattle
rtnamer have been drawn from tbe Victoria
River otatrict. which inoiudec toe Wave Hill,
Victoria Doanr, and Auvergne runs. Next
comes Hodgson Downs, on the Boper River.
A drover is now on the Maeanhur for the
£r?t 500 bead offered by the Maoartbur
Station, reunites of stock from tbe table
iand* hare been made, and on one occasion
Crauwtil Downs guaranteed 400 head, but
never delivered them. Cattle offered by any
Northern Territory paetoralist have never
been refuted. Wish the exueptiou of the
Hodgson Downs cattle, which are among!*
ttie nnett tbat have been e«nt in, no oto«*
catUe trom the Roper districts have been tit to
go away. I look forward to better results from
tbe Macarthor, wbts those now en route from
Matsrt. Amos. Bra*, arrive bere. Toe present
citd price taid to pastoralnta for fat bollocks,
taken delivery of uo their respective rone, i*
>>■- perbead uaeh. In order to have sufficient
cattle to provide against all ooatiageoctes
fur tbe 23 voyages ending June 30,
lrt-I*, I purchased from she pastoralma
ii.Zto bead ot fata, oat of whiob 4.^14
were chipped; IT bones brought the nao
txv ap to 4,931, or say 5,009 head shipped.
During these 23 voyages the pa??aralisM
recei>ed a tosal of 120.241 lite- for the above
cattl* deUvwed to my dtorer* on tbe runs.
The supply frum stations of really weighty fat
ballouka at the present time is not by any
mmae setneient to jiwt fy the outlay of large
mm of mon<7 for freezing purposes. I base
my statement upon tbe reports of my drovers,
who rait all put* ot the Territory and attend
tbe mo.-ten for draught* of tat stock, and who
arc, toerefore, abie to judge of tbe numbers
obtaioib!?. Ido not preKume for a moment
tbat the Government will promise so assist
the otabitthmtmt of freeeang depots as
advocated by Mr. Griffiths, unless a gua
rantee can be given of a supply
•ü?ideul to keep ao ooetly aa undersakins
afloat, and I would like to *v where that
supply is to coma from if works are erected
on sas Koper or Macarthur river*. Kueptkn
v olten takea to die fact that tbe cattle
sauacM* does not call at these nvera. I ask
you, Mr. Editor, if you had fat clock to diit
jjor* uf wluuh you would prefer, delivery to a;
itruvtr at a, axvd price and no other expeues,
or to drove your oatele to the river basks at
yoar own risk end cost and there await th*>
?Mm«: Whetiier shipped from the Boper
ur from bere would nut increase the net
gsia to the brueder, I bold it it better,
to profit by experience and adopt that
system «hleh taisums the best re
calM. Not msnv of your rvaden naliae
the differonos in tune of transit from Korthem
Te«ritory port* to those of the East. May 1
point •*? as an iTamplw that to ship from tbe,
Koper wuold mean, with tbe ordinary delays
of getting down the river, an increase on the
voyage per steamer of at least fire days.
Anyone wbo has had opporrunitia* of judging I
uf the transit of stouk by land and water will!
prefer tbe farmer when possible. Special]
attention is olten called to the export of cattle
from tbe tablelands district, tbe figures
t*u!X taken Irom the published reports
o! the Customs authorities here. I am
of opinion that these figures ate wrong.
Mid that many of the etoek which have
been credited as crossing the border are
often composed of travelling mobs that hare
merely had to be temporarily shifted on ac
count of draught I would suggest that tbe
Government Kwident call on the pauoxaliets
in the Maoanhur district for a return showing
tbe results of cattln cent to southern tnsrkptn i
ur boiling-down depot*, and if it can be shown
chat the pro&t is within a pound sterling of
lh« 50*. paid by me for export by etaamer I
shall be surprised. Now to proceed to the
&>L The gradual decline of tbe dollar from
3a. 10d. to la. lid. made a diSerenoe of 50 per
cent, ou the value of cattle landed at Sinn
pout (from Australia only), and practically
closed that market until she value of the
dollar increases again. It was not before
January, INJ4, that an opportunity
offered of securing a atart in Java,
as up to that time contracts for supplying she
Dutch Commissariat Department were still
current. Since then, however, three contracts
have been..let, and each one secured by me —
two are now being carried out; the thud will
oommeace next January. la will be the fend
uf IS'JS before further opportunities offer of
seoarinf; other contracts which have not yet
been completed, bat there is at the present time
every prospect of increased busiaesa, as the I
Government are satisfied with toe meat put
down lor tbe troops. Ido sot feel disposed co j
publish , full particulars of these eoatraote, |
but I have accepted tbe present con
tracts np to 1897. From January next
I shall therefore require more cattle.
Now, Mr. Editor, whilst our member is con
templating freezing works I am puzzling my
brains and those of my drovers to ascertain
whether we can get a sufficient supply of fat
ttock to warrant acseptine larger oontraots in
die Kast. One alonx of them contracts, whiob I
will be thrown open later on, will take more
than three times the present shipments Sol
keep it going, and I very mneh doubt whether
the fctock are procurable. lam discussing
this matter with the best intentions. Tbe
letter is not written with tbe objeot of throw
ing cold water upon anything advocated by
our members to further the interests of the
district they represent, but merely to show
that it is doubtful whether any benefits could
arise by establishing freezing works. Of ocmrse
I sake it for granted that Mr. Griffith* is
aware that frozen me&t will not bell in the East
at any price and that his idaa v to freeze for
the London markets. I very much fear if
those markets were to rely upon the Macarthur
and Roper supplies then would soon be a
famine in the land. Many may oonsider my
opinions ao this subject biassed. On the con- ]
trary, show any possible ohanos of euoh aa:
undertaking bsnefitting the pastoralist? and I j
will be one of tbe first to come forward with !
support—
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