LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 276, 18 August 1919, Page 8

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

CARRIAGE OF TIMBER THE POSITION ON THE WEST COAST. Sir,—The short Press Association telegram from Groyniouth which appeaved in The Dominion of August 15, containing a denial of an assertion previously made through the columns or ll'he Dominion (to the effect that discrimination is being made in respect to the West Coast railways by the unrestricted carrying of timber) does not make it sufficiently clear what a malicious niisstatement of facts has been allowed to appear in the public Press. The informant of The Dominion eays: "The Greymoutli railway service is kept extremely busy kinging down millions of feet of red and white pine "for shipment to Australia." He further says: "I have wen five or sbc vessels loading timber at the same time; and only recently found it quite a job to reach the wharf owing to the long line of trucks loaded with timber—all for the Commonwealth." As a matter of fact the only vessel that has loaded at Greyniouth tor Australia since the railway "cut" is the. Kaitangata, and she took 937,000 feet. Shortly before the 'cut th'e Ngakuta took some 750,000 feet, hut on this occasion she brought back 1301 tons of coal from Newcastle., The impression that has been sought to be conveyed is that "five or six vesj eele" had used "some 500 or GOO tow of coal each, say 3000 tone, in taking limber from New Zealand, whereas only one vessel has loaded timber for Australia eince tho "cut," and the other that loaded shortly before brought to New Zealand during the "cut" 1904 tons that otherwise probably wjuld not "have come. The nesd for discrimination 6eems to be on tho part of those responsible for allowing suoh deliberate untruths to bo launched upon the public. It is not fair to the Railway Department—lt is not fair to the Board of Trade or the Minister in charge of the • regul&tione restricting the exportation ot timber—that any person, hiding behind the fact that his name is not attached to his statement, ehould be permitted to utter such untruths; and, in fairness to those responsible for tho conduct of our railways and the control of timber supplies, the "Wellington residentshould verify this counter-statement and m&ko a suitable explanation above nis signature. A sum of would probably nowhere nearly cover the expense that has Tken involved by his—shall we call want of discrimination? And, u it is nothing worse than that, he can best establish his bona fides by placing that s«m in the hands of the editor ot The Dominion for contribution to the Wellington Hospital. • . Bearing on the question of retaining timber solely for New Zealand's i'se, it would be well to point out that precisely similar conditions to those t now existing in respect to our railway service, wouldhave bean brought about had the advocates of the, total prohibition of exportation of timber been permitted to have had their way during the past eighteen months. When the possibility of such prohibition was pointed out to the Federal Minister of Customs he led tho deputation that waited on him tt understand that, in the event of Australia being deprived of this source ot timber supplies, retaliatory. immui* would be taken by the Commonwealth.-. 1 am ' et °" W. J. BUTLER. [The statements to which Mr. Butler takes exception were made by a resident of Wellington who ha<recently returned from a visit to the West Coast Uβ referred the statements in question to the Minister of Railways before publication, and Mr. Hemes's peared in the samo issue. The Minister stated tint owing to special circumstances, which he outlined, the railway "cut" on tho West Coast so far as it referred to timber was not so severe a.? elsewhere. He also pointed oilt vessels carrying coal from Alalia to New Zealand wanted the timber as a back cargo.]