RAILWAY ANOMALIES.

Mataura Ensign, Volume 7, Issue 396, 30 September 1884, Page 5

RAILWAY ANOMALIES.

public that Mr Pearson, is to ask the Government on Tuesday — " Whether it is their intention, (to jg-a&jusjfi. TIM railwa^traffic, with a view to a substantial reduction onjttie grain rates befdreinext? ;je,af^P)?"yJfefJ^ijt son is entitled to the, ;£hiuiks, ,_of Jftie long suffering" farmers for t nis4fiueisvbr' ? to lighten the impositions laid upon them, but the tax .upon grain, is only one of tJie list of others levied by the railway 7 'pov^rl &jtoii fl eoQ!nfry settlers. I furnish . thrse within my own knowledge. r The first, has a touch of tha comical, but is quite 1 ' trii«i : '* : Hh'gVbthers are also true, but the reverse of comical. (1.) If I send one ton of oats to Dunedin I am chargedunder a certain cdass, lSs/j'bjutif J send i two tons, they are entered, or can be entered, under another class, -aM'the'railSgeT will be positively; be less than, fpr^ the. one., Jton.,. .A Dunedin merchant showed me 'ififa 'littfe wrinkle, and I find the tariff confirms its truth. "If ever you send, me anything. of moderate . bulk and ..weight," he taidf ■'" always have it entered ,| or double dfwfiftt it is, and ( 'j|t will come, cheaper, Fer ; instance,'when I send a ton" of 'flour '"' i to : ;Ay i; o| Waikouaiti, I put on the . ccnaignmea^'Adtfe, 10 bags of flour, two tons/ and- the LlJ &>nsignee saves' about '3s 6d, and the same when he sends me a ton of potatoes.'' I thanked my friend, and made a mental- note of the information. (2.) Again, a ton of grain from hence to Dunedin is charged 135. ; . but a^ton of grass seed either way is 40si Can 1 ataybne point' out the consistency, between, such rajtei. (3.) Here is another anomaly.. If I, engage a truck to send 30 sheep (whether iheir value pqr head: be LI, o'rLlOj or L2o);tothc Dunedin Show, I can send them for about Is Is per head, but if I engage a truek 1 to i bring Qut ,30 cwt. of -furniture, consisting .principally of well worn, tables and chaira, I am charged L 4 Bd. Yet the ' Railway dtepartment professes.no mdre responsibility in the one case than in the. other ! Lodge a complaint with the traffic 'm'ana ! ger^ 'Shd'ih due course comes the stereotyped, all the glory of a large sheet of foolscitp' :^-° Sir, — I have the honor to acknowledge-ieeelpteof your favor of the Ist, - and in reply thereto beg to inform you that the charges for con* veying your goods were strictly in accordance with tariff rates, and no alteration can be effected in your favor.— l have the honor to be, etc." Yet our paternal Government expresses; an : ardent desire- to; afford.;^QVery facility, to. promote settlement and _progre«s. Members of Parliament may'effect flbmetnin'g in the way l of : moving - r an ' inert -but the. Press, to-day w thelever tJiat^rnqfeß the world. .Everybody knows "well eaoiigh that froni the motions of Sirius to the°aiitfcs in Wellington nothing is permitted; to escape ,the Argus eye of the editor.- of .;&n. influential journal, if then K you, Sir, could bend' your attention; awhile on the extortions exercised by the railway department, qn. r ,fltraggijag settlers, doubtless , the , resuti.wpuld.be, we shbuld wfrryour able' ! advocacy, 'aiidydtf'Stir well-earned gratitude.— Yffurs, &c., 0 p;, i; ~r: . „ One ,ob; Them,. Pukerau, 26th Sept. 5 , 1884 l ": !' ; ! ' :lii " i' - ■ ... ■:• • •■■ ■ •■■'• >..s:^.-.. „••■... „