The Feilding Star. THURSDAY, JULY 26, 1888. Railway Bungling

Feilding Star, Volume IX, Issue 153, 26 July 1888, Page 2

The Feilding Star. THURSDAY, JULY 26, 1888. Railway Bungling

While the timber trade is brisk, and reported profitable, in Auckland, Napier, and Marlborough, the reverse is the case here, and our — one-time — staple industry is rapidly dying out. Of course it is to be expected that as the forests become cleared, and trees suitable for timber have to be brought from greatei distances to the sawmills, the business cannot be made so profitable as it was a few years ago. But as there are yet thousands of acres ot' magnificent forest land within a very few miles, where the sound of the woodman's axe has never been heard, that canuot be said to be the reason of the decadence. That lies in the fact that the cost of transit to ports of shipment are so great as to be practically prohibitive. A local mill owner has informed us that within the last two weeks he has been compelled to decline orders for 200,000 feet for shipment via Wanganui, and 150,000 via Foxton for that reason alone. On this section of railway when the sawmills cease working so does the income of the railway fall off. It is pitiable to see train after train pass through with nothing for the engines to pull but a few empty passenger carriages, with an occasional train of stock for the Wellington markets. The cost of hauling notliiug is equal to the cost of hauling a heavy goods and passenger train, but that simple fact is beyond the capacity of a railway official to comprehend. We have shown over and over again, that if the charges on timber were reduced, say from thirty to fifty per cent, the whole of the rolling plant now lying idle in the sidings would be profitably employed instead of — as it now is — falling into decay from disuse. The very bolts in the timber wagons have begun to rnst out, while on the rails in the unemployed sidings may be seen a thick coating of rust, proving how little traffic has gone over them for a long time. We hope our member, Mr Macarthuh, will see if some amendments cannot be made in order to aid our failing railway receipts.