RESTRICTED SERVICES

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 251, 17 July 1919, Page 6

RESTRICTED SERVICES

SERIOUS EFFECT ON BUSINESS POSITION IN THE WAIRARAPA By Telegraph—From Our Correspondent. Masterton, July IG. -A fortnight has now passed since the restricted railway service came itilo force, and peoplo have had time to realist what the new order of things is eoinir to mean to them. With the object of ascertaining how local firm's were being ali'ecteil, a representative of 'I'u.u Dominion approached several oil Masterton's uromiuent business men to-day.

The, ireneral consensus of opinion among the produce agents and stoeK auctioneers seems to'be that tliey are well off 111 eumnarition with otliev firms. .No dilliouitv lias been found, so far, in arranging for the carriage of produce, bus. obstacles may crop up later on. This is tlifi oft* season tor tno man on the land, as regards iarm products, and jt is fortunate that it is so—otherwise produce audits would have no causu for couei attention. Cattle sales have been fairlv numerous during the past monUi; hut outside buyers have been at a premium, for the simple reason that they cannot. »et the stock away. In one instance a Waikalo farmer bought entile at a Pahiatua sale, but his purchases had to he resold because he could not transiiorl. Iliem to his district.

The cement industry has been one of the hardest, nil. Absolutely no cementis beine carried on the railways. The raw material is unobtainable, and it is iuinossihle even to send manufactured articles awa.v. The Cement Pipe ManufactuviiiL' Csimnaiiv is faced with the ugly fact that: it will have to close down within ten dnvs. This will mean that fourteen men employed at the local works, and an eounl'number distributed between the company's branches at Waitara and Hastings, will be left idle.' As will be seen, in the conversation with Mr. J. C. Cooper reported below, the meat companies can well be placed first on the list of firms most affected. Whichever way they turn they are confronted liv a wall of difficulty, over which there seems no way of escape. Kometbini' must be done, or millions of nounds' worth of good food will rot, and thousand* of men will be idle. The Member for the District. Mr G. E. Svkes, M.P., expressed the opinion' that things _ are vnrv serious for everyone in business and out of it, and that of the various trades the building trade would be the one which would suffer first and most. He said that the prosperity of a community was gauged by the activity of the builders, and when these people ceased (heir labours it boded ill for other businesses. Though the cause of the buildin" slump' had heen lack of timber, and not lack of wealth in the community, it was evident that the closing down of this trnde would mean a serious outlook all round. Unemployment would mean something worse than a mere hold-up of trade, and. unless drastic steps were taker, to allav the trouble the country would be faced with nn unprecedented crisis. As regards general business, Mr. Sykcs was convinced that every department was feelins the pinch, and the worst of it was that no definite remedy seemed to be at hand. As far as the Wairarapn was concerned. Mr. M'Villy had consented to a curtailment, of the passenger service to make room for extra goods (raffle; bvj: it remained to he seen how this arrangement would work. Hardware and Groceries, Mr. J. Caselberg. chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, and a director of the Wairarapa Farmers' Co-operative Association, said that undoubtedly the building trnde and hardware businesses were the hardest hit by the present conditions. His own association was feeling the pinch in every department. Although groceries were a class of goods favoured .bv the railway authorities, 10 was nvacticallv impossible (0 obbin sufficient quantities to meet the demand. Such articles as sandsoap, sweets, etc., had to come by parcel post, which was very expensive and then not an efficient means of conveying large orders. A\ hero his association was exDerieneing the greatest hardshin was in hardware. Lines used for building orders had, to be refused in this connection.- and it was difficult to nee where relief was coming from.

Timber and Ironmongery. Mr. C. E. Daniell, a member of the : Wellington Harbour Board and head of the firm of ironmongers and builders bearin" his name, said that his firm was in a more fortunate position than most of those engaged in building. I hey would be able to carry on with the timber in hand for some time to come. But i- was inevitable that, sooner or later stocks would be depleted, lhe stock of timber at present, in his vara was sufficient for immediate needs; but cement was a material that would constitute a serious obstacle in the building ot houses, and through the lack of (his alone it might; be necessary to suspend nnerations. As regards ironmongery. Mr. D'aniMl had little to say. Ihe effect in that department was Hip same as in other businesses. AVhere "non-essential goods were concerned they had to mil up with things and rely as best they could on present stocks. Builders' and Contractors' Sorry Outlook. Mr. J. M. Coradine, ex-Mayor of Masterton and principal in tho ,firm of Messrs. Coradine and Whittaker, builders and contractors, was very pessimistic regardings the effect of the railway service curtailment on tho building trade. He stated positivelv that a fortnight hence his firm would be unable to supply timber at ■ill. No employer liked tho idea of shortening hands, but he had been obliged in do so already, and in tho near future .rould have, to curtail his staff still more. A sunnlv of building materials of any Mirt could not be looked for per medium of (he railway, and it was apparent that unless local relief came very shortly thiiiL'a would be pretty hopeless—ami this source could not be relied upon. ij'winjr to the quantity of material renuired all the building firms in the \Vniritntnn would have to close down. Clients Inn! begun to send in orders for forward deliveries, and in consequence limner was beinc dispatched as soon as it was received. As regarded the local sources .if supplv. there were only two sawmills in the district, and these had no chance io sunnlv the local demand, as the small nuantitv of timber milled was suKicient cnlv to meet the needs of farmers and others in the locality. Only recently ,\tr. Cnrniline had received a letter pom h local mill in which the writer stated his inability to supply him with red wine. Mr. Contdine, however, is in a msilion lo take the timber which usually coes to Wellington, and thus somewhat relieve the situation at the mills. 'I'houu'h building operations will cease comr.let.elv at no distant date, the niauuEi'clunmr nart of tho business will bo carried on for some lime from the scaI soiled timber in 6took.

The Moat Trade's Heavy OUstacles.

Mr. .1. C. Ceoper, manager of the MnsItKUin hunch ut tho Wellington Farmers' Meat Co.. Ltd.. wan of the opinion that "tho coal crisis bad hit _no one harder than the meat companies." They were heinu' nllccled m two directions. Thtv could not dispatch their (allow or oelt's. so loin: as these products were in store at Wellington. Neither could Kiev obtain sufficient coal to carry on the refrisorntine Dlanto. Killing operations had had to be suspended. About halt a million nounds ot meat which was in store at his company's local works had twice been in danger of destruction owing to pending' stoppage of refrigerating plant on each occasion. However, enough coal had been obtained to avert (he calamitv, but tho machinery could be nin for another three weeks only on the coal in stock and in view. To make matters worse, a cargo of oversea coal consigned to the Farmers' Meat Co. had been commandeered by the 'Government. They were now eating up their reservo slocks, and there was no prospect of obtaining enough coal to start next year's business. Extensions to the lx>x factory and boiler-house had been suspended owing to lack of cement. The pity of it was that, while the Government was refusing to carry tallow,polls, and canned meats, prices were soaring on the Home market,

Soft Goods and Motor Accessories. ' According to Mr. J. Shearer, partner in the firm of Messrs. Huso ami Shearer, drapers, the coal shortage hail nut as yet materially affected the soft goods Iraile. His firm were now working on stocks in hand, and whatever goods were urgently needed were coming by yarci'l post. Next month might see a change, for goods (.11 order from ' thu wholesale (inns would then be held up. He thought: the drapers' time of trial was to come, but for the present at any rate they were better oil' Hum other trades.

Mr. S. jr. [laird, of Baird's garage and motor works, slated that so far he had nol been materially a fleeted by the coal crisis. Tyres and olln-r motor accessories reached liini by parcel post, while a good quantity of molor goods was brought by car from AVellington. This did not mean, of course, that he was getting a sufficiency of goods. Alotor traffic had increased owing lo Ihe curtailment of tho (rain service, and it w = difficult to meet Ihe extra demands. Mr. Baird had had 110 recent arrivals of new cars, but when consignments became due there might bi some difficulty as to delivery. Benzine was being carried on the railways, and he had no serious apprehensions as to an immediate shortage. On the whole, Ihe molor trade was not jot feeling the pinch as much as o'her retailers.