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Hokitika Guardian, 12 September 1923, Page 2

The through freights by the railway uro perturbing the East Coast people. The Vest Coast people are no less interested. and it- will be to their interests to see that cheaper freights prevail so that there "ill be wider competition for tfco Coast trade. On the subject the Christchurch ‘'Spectator" remarks: —Those who have l>een expecting Canterbury to collar the whole trade of the Vest Coast via the tunnel, can take up their pipes and do a smoke over it. Wellington and Blenheim "ill feel no anxiety or alarm when they seo the rates. From Christchurch to Grevmouth the rates for Classes will bo— A, £4 4s lOd; B, £3 8s 7d; C, £2

15s let; D, £2 4s lid. Class A comprises groceries, motor spirits, drapery, etc.; B bottled nle, boots, machinery, confectionery, etc; C ale in balk, barb wire, harrows, etc; D bacon, corrugated iron, butter, cheese, etc. It will thus be seen that against a ton of freight (unclassified) from Wellington to Greymouth, which costs only £1 12s lOd, covering freight, wharfage, and handling at destination. Canterbury has Buckley’s chance of doing business. This business opens up the whole question of the policy on which the rial ways are run. If any man, be lie General Manager or porter, declares it costs £1 4.s lOd to carry a ton of groceries under Class A from Christ church to Greymouth, we beg to suggests he gets his head read. The plain question is, whether, now the railway is opened, it is to be run as a business proposition, to make money for the State so ns to pay interest on its cost and a bit over for profit, or whether it is to lie run so as to leave Wellington and Blenheim a monopoly of the West Coast trade. That question needs no answer. The State has spent a huge sum in making the line. Tt now has to fix its freights at such rates as will command trade, independent altogether of opposition from Wellington merchants or water carriage.

The predatory practices of the Forest Service Department seem to have no limits. Even the unfortunate Acclimatisation Societies are now being raided for funds to keep this most expensive Department going. In the last balance sheet of the Forest Service there is a credit of £1,103 for “opossum revenue.” This sum was taken “by arrangement” at a conference in 1020, under which it was recommended that for the first two seasons Acclimatisation Societies should receive two-thirds of the net revenue derivable from license fees, royalty etc. Now it has been decided (it is not disclosed by whom) that in respect to the present season and until further notice, fifty per cent of the net revenue will be paid to the Acclimatisation Society, and the second fifty per cent U< the State Forest Service! This is very unfair to Acclimatisation Societies icsponsible for creating the revenue, and regulating the taking of opossums. The present is the best season We.st.lond has had, but it is not to reap the advantage—the Forest Service is to “collar” half the income. When it- is borne in mind that tho Westland Society carries on only by tho enthusiasm of a few supporters, this raiding system by a Government- Department is just about the last straw to kill the energies of tho Society for the district’s benefit.