Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, NOV. 1, 1892. Trade.

Manawatu Herald, 1 November 1892, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, NOV. 1, 1892. Trade.

It is indisputable that water carriage everywhere is cheaper than land carriage. In the Old Country canals were the chief means of carriage prior to the railway era. At the present day there are 2800 miles of canals and 2500 miles of navigable rivers in England alone. When railways were in their infancy they were made as feeders to the canals for goods and minerals Prior to 1845 canals were subject to no general legislation, but in that year the attention of the Legislature was directed to the competition then going on between railways and canals, and it was thought advisable to give encouragement to the canals, they being monetarily weaker. Accordingly an Act was passed, giving to canal companies the same power for varying tb-ir tolls as was given to the railway companies. The railway companies fearing the new power, in 1846, presented as many as 200 Bills containing provisions for railway and canal amaigamations ! The committee appointed to consider these Bills reported that while amalgamations should not be altogether refused, each case should be thoroughly sifted : and they recommended generally the imposition of a low scale of charges upon all parties to the scheme, strict regulations for maintaining the canals in a fit state of repair, &c, and that power should be secured to the public of carrying passengers and all kinds of goods on canals. Thus evidently showing that the committee thoroughly understood the interest the railways took in the canals, and their disguised desire to close them up. The canal interest in 1858 secured the passing of an Act to prevent, without legislative sanction, the vir tual amalgamation of canals with railway undertakings. 'hese provisions being insufficiently prohibitive to the railway absorbtion of canals, the Act of 1873 was passed, which declared that no canal should be transferred or placed even under the control of a railway company, and that where power was sought to compulsory purchase a canal from a railway company such purchase should be favourably received. It further provided that no agreement between a canal company and a railway company, by which a railway company would obtain control over a canal, shall have validity nnless it is approved by the Railway Commissioners We may here parenthetically remark that the Railway Commissioners in England are officers whose duty it is to see that railway companies do not chargp too mnch and that they carry out their powers in accordance with the *cts relating to railways. The railway that did succeed in obtaining a canal was hound to keep it in good navigable condition. We have gone thus fully into the position of the two great powers competing with each other, in the )d Country, for freights, to show conclusively that railway companies so fully admit that water carriage is a most dangerous competitor worthy of being absorbed if possible, at all cost. We promised to Bhow how an interest taken by the country settlers in the Port of Foxton would be so manifestly to their advantage,

and we shall give instances which will fully bear out our. contention. In doing this we are considering the advantage of the many, and out of no spirit of opposition to the Manawatu Railway Company whose directors deserve all credit for the pluck they showed in the formation of the line. Still the settlers at Shannon and Levin are not all shareholders in the line, and though residing on land oiice the property of the company-, there has been a fail exchange made, arid it is the duty of the settler to secure the cheapest means of transport, and we will proceed to show how- that c"aii be obtained. Shannon is G9 miles from Wellington and Levin 60 miles, but from Foxton they are both eleven miles. From inquiries we have made we are able to state that carters, assured of a back load, would take a ton weight of goods from the port to either township at ten shillings^ Freight by steamer from Wellington to Foxton by steamer is ten shillings a ton, from Lyttelton to Foxton seventeen shillings and sixpence a ton, from Dunedin to Foxton twenty five shillings a ton. Wharfage en general merchandise is one shilling and sixpence a ton. The settlers at Shannon and Levin can therefore via Foxton get goods from Wellington at twenty one shillings and sixpence a ton. Can they by the Eailway ? Taking the Company's tariff we find that the charges are, for general merchandise, to Levin 45s 3d per ton and to Shannon. 49s lid per ton ; for fenc ing wire to Levin 82s 9d per ton, to Shannon 85s Gd per ton : for sugar to Levin 82s 9d per ton, to Shannon 35s 6d per ton. To these prices have also to be added cartage to the Wellington station. There are a few items were the railway charges would favourably compete with the steamer, but these are for articles little required l>y the average settler. In the instances we have quoted Shannon settlers could save from 29s 5d peii ; tort to 12s 3d per ton Which must assuredly be of consequence even to the most reckless. As to Shannon our quotations for carting are made for when the road gets dry, but wonld stand good befoie it is all metalled. The institution of a line of carriers between these towns and the port would be the means of •increasing ea"h others local trade We shall show, at another time, "how much more can be accomplished by working shoulder to shou der.