RAILWAY RATES.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1038, 31 December 1883, Page 2

RAILWAY RATES.

The President of the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce has received the following reply to the last representations of the Chamber on this subject : Railway Department, Head Office, Wellington, 21st December, 3883. Sir, —I have the honor, by direction of the Minister of Public Works, to reply to your letter of the 2nd instant, and to the points raised by you at tho recent interview with the deputation from your Chamber. The late Minister for Works considered the subject < f the Is 6d port charge for hauling aud handling goods ex ship for examination at Lyttelton, and concluded that it should not be diminished unless any portion of the work covered by it was o< rraspondingly diminished. It appeared that on the compl tion of the new Harbor Board shed at Lyttelton some economy would result, and on these grounds the late Minister agreed to reduce this charge to Is. The present Miniater is prepared to give effect to that decision in due

course, but does not see his way to do I, this work free of eharge, or to make for- l:< ther concessions in this direction. I Touching the matter of removal of place of examination from Lyttelton to Christchurch, it appears that such / a change, while it might benefit certain individuals, would preju ice others, and on the whole there would probably be little or no gain to the local community generally by making it, while at the same time to provide the accommodation which would be needed would entail an expenditure of many thousands of pounds in works and in the acquisition of private properly, and it does not appear to be a case in which the Government could justify a demand on Parliament for a vote. The demand for a reduction of the Port line rate from 5s to 4s fid is one which in the present state of the railway revenue cannot be entertained. It will be borne in mind that the rate was recentlj reduced from 5s fid, at which it had stood for many years, to ss, circumstances justifying this course. The Minister cannot admit that the railway rates are excessive or anomalous. They have never been so low, either under the Provincial or General Government management as they now are. The Government,likeany othercarriermust be to some extent governed by local conditions in fixing rates and charges. Because the relative positions of Christchurch, Ka'apoi, and Rangiora and other special circumstances unite to make it necessary to have a specially low rate on that part of the line, it would not be convenient to make this low rate a standard for the re-it of the colony, neither would it be reasonable that because the railway, in order to obtain revenue, has to lower its rates at Port Chalmers, it should make these rates a standard for other places. ! The other charge on merchandise is the wharfage of 2s per ton ; this is a charge imposed by the Lyttelton Harbor Board, and is one in which the Government is not concerned. ' Regarding the transhipment charge, re--1 cently reduced from 4s to 3i per ton, to 1 include a week’s free storage, the Minister does not see his way to making a further 1 reduction. With reference to the rate from Lytelton to Tiinaru, its purpose seem» to have j been misunderstood; it is made with a vie'., to securing the carriage by rail of goods imported to Titnaru via Lyttelton in p e--1 ference to letting them go by sea. It is not the purpose of the Government

to make such a very low distributing rate for merchandise from Christchurch to Timaru, because it would seriously affect the revenue from the distributing trade already existing with the South, both from Christchurch and from Timaru ; and while a much lowered revenue must certainly result, the action of the Government would have the appearance of sacrificing the colonial revenue to enable Christchurch traders to undersell Timaru traders in their own district The view which is sometimes taken of the subject of the relative profits on (dif ferent parts of the Hurunui-Bluff section seems to be a somewhat narrow one. The practice of selecting a part of a large system of roilways in the most settled districts and in the vicinity of the port, and regarding it apart from the rest and more remote portions, with a view to demonstrating that the former pays, while the remainder lose, appears to bo so fallacious that it cannot be consistently adopted in arguing for a reduction of rates on some particular part of the line. It could not bo anticipated that any one part would present such good financial aspects were it disconnected from the rest of the system, and divested of the othtr portions which serve to add to its traffic. I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant. (Signed) J. P. Maxwell, General Manager, N.Z.R. The President Canterbury Chamber of Commerce, Christchurch.