THE *M.\N.A(_JEWKVT OF Tl.'Fi FOXTON WHAHF.

Manawatu Herald, Issue 24, 23 November 1880, Page 2

THE *M.\N.A(_JEWKVT OF Tl.'Fi FOXTON WHAHF.

TO Till') EPITOK 01^ TUP. MANAWATU HEIIAI/D. Sin,— During tho past week our Di>trict Miii-Hg.-T has uchifcvcd one of his grentesi successes. It is now pretty well known that his policy of retrenchment Ims been tho means of anno. nig nil thoso who hav'-" had any dealings with tho wharf and railway, but because there has been no open demonstration of disgust und dissntisfaotion he h:is been paring down the labor, hoping, I believe, to have succeeded in at hist transforming the wharfinger into engine driver, guard, and clerk, leaving him the solo representative of the bpst paying half of the Patea-Manawatu TJailway, AVh«t are the regular haras employed at this end ? The wharfinger, who is also stationmaster, and onl y responsible person for recdvih, and delivering goods, a station cierk, n younar lad who is also sent on 'he trains as travelling clerk, and a man who looks after the horse — a grand total of ihrce, with sometimes a fourth ! Extra labor is taken on, not as it i* rrquired, but only when they cannot possibly do without it. This to superintend a regular traffin of two dcily trains inwards and outwards, three steamers per w< _!<:. a regular trudinar sailing vess'l. und the other crafts calling in, and a timber export of 000/'OO ft. per quarter ! What ♦.he result has been we all know, viz, that owing also to the most extraordinary arrangement that all regular hands working overtime shall receive no payment for it, goods brought by vessels cannot bo despatched the same day as they arrive, thus leading up-country ee' tiers to consider ''whether rightly or not 1 cannot say. though it is just possible a little more des patch may bo givt-n at thnt fnd) thafc thoy can got their goods quicker via Wnnnanui ; the delay (o storekeepers, by being refused delivery of their goods on arrival, and the expense to settlers at n distance of hnvin« their wool returned by tlie drays it was sent j n- because tho steamer is dischare.ing!!! A few facts of the maiuiifoncut of last ■week will demonstrate the above statements more than any argument. On Thursday tho 'lvi nnd Jane Douglas and three crafts wtr^ in. The Tui was loaded The Jane Douglas wa- not cleared from her berth after disch ircing, thou_h she had no outwards cargo, and one vessel lost half a day — why ? to ease the woik ot: the wbnrf. Mr Williams applied for a case by ono rf the steamers, havinor goods in that case he particularly wanted to send away by the train, and was refused delivery ; -why ? because the steamer wns discharging, ond the wharfinger being required on the wharf, had no one to depend upon to delivf r ! A dray with 10 bales of wool discharge nt tho shed for my firm, and wanting it ■weighed, . I hud to take one of our ow i men and weisrh it myself at the shed, and on arrival if the wharfinger was coolly informed that I had no business to brinatbe wool ; yet they undertake to weigh and to ship goods, but I ?uppose at some other extraordinary time when vessels are not in port ! Two more drays arrived with wool to be stored for ahipmeat, but after an hour'a

v» .diinir tiny w.to « odd to take tli-ir l'>ftds Q away, as tho sheds wen full— a statement «■ to triy own knowledge at variance with fact. * as the shed wis only parti illy full, and ' thafc from there being no hands to simply »' plico tho tro'.ds a little together. ° Afc 10 o'clock a.m. I gave directions to * have 1 10 b ilex afc Carnarvon station brought. <] iv by the ni-ht train, thus havin_r given r over 10 hours' notice. Trucks, be v remem c bered. Were lying at th? station This was J quite forgotten by som" irtesponsiblo person. * and apparently to tho rai'way people of * little mom»nt, though I informod thorn I ' hid t. -legrnphed /or tbo Huia to arrive by ' 10 o'cl'ck tho _ext moruinir, and that she J was to leav • here on the same tide. This was Thursday's work. Friday commenced by tho Huia arriving and no load ] having arrived for her ; and by tho receipt ' of a telegram from tho District Manager ' refusing permission to wharfinger to send j an engine out for th'? wool, though he had : been informed of all the facts ; permitting fche spirit of economy, for the sake of savin sr t<m shillings, to subject the owners of the sfce;imPT to a loss of £25. On arrival of Huia two vessels were discharging — one wheat the other coal. The HnK having no oag *, laid outside, but on th* Sfcormbird's arriv 1 with only 5 packages of inwu-d cirgo, shi was allowed to atop the wheat-discharging vessel for the rest of tho diy, though her cargo was put out before 12, and she did not tike timber in till near 1 o'clock. The captain of th it vessel is searching for tho justice Of course it wis not to ease the work. On arrival of midday train part of o :r wool only came down," 31 hal^s being left behind, some offio'nl on b ard interfering to stop tlie iruard from detaining the train whilst the balance wis loided up, feiring tbe train would be half an hour late, a not unheard-of occurrence. lam happy lo slate, however, that tho spirit of justice triumphed over pence, and the afteriw-n train's engine was allowed to run out. and bring the 3 trucls in. Tlie above is » simple statement of facts, showing how all parties, owners of vessels discharging and loading, s'orekcepers, aud farmers, were allowed to suffer ou those two days, a loss to those coucesiv.d of not less than £50 from the miserable, parsimonious system .practised at this end of the line. I do not wish to blame the wba finger to whom I have Ind to refer, further than this, that, as he chooses to accept the responsibility thrust upon him, he has no right to expect the public to wait his convenience, aud that they hive a right, to their goods and to his attention wtien such are Winded, and it is for him to place before his superior officers his inability to carry out his duties without having furthcasistance. As far as he could, he did well, but it is not in ono man to be ;n all the places at once. Eesponsiblc persons must be supplied. T daresay our District Manager's defend ers .vi'\ attempt to make out thnt this is an exceptional two days, and thafc afc any other time things go so smooth ; therefore I j siy thafc this mutter has been gradually going from bad to worse, but. certainly out minuted on Thursday and Friday. With an increasing import of goods and an export of timber which is equ-il for the y ast three months to tho total of the previous six months, our manager, on one of the <dd hands leaving two weeks ago, t»as endeavored to do without filling up hi 3 plnc^ ! Tho manager also encourages the vessels to this port by, as I pointed oufc before, refusing to pay any of the regular hands for overtime, so that to load to catch the t.id<\ stoamers have to pay 5 shilling- per hour for overtime to these Government servant*, to get attentii n ; to pay three men, for work done for the Government and for whioh tho Government charge shippers i wharfage as though they had really found tho labour. If this is not retrenchment 1 fear noihing better will be discovered ! I sinci'rely trust that some movement will be taken by all our business friends to demand a rectification of these abuses, if uu immediate alteration is not made. I am, Sec, Ernest S. Tjiysxe. Nov. 20, 1880.