Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, AUGUST 21, 1894. Coal.

Manawatu Herald, 21 August 1894, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, AUGUST 21, 1894. Coal.

i » »• Stbanch idea is that of the Government's to propose a bonus of two shillings a ton on the export of coal, when thejery is heard from allparife of thai cplotfy that that • miners j (is unobtainable 4 at a reasonable rate. During a slight discussion in Parliament it was mentioned that coal could be delivered aB the wharves at thirteen shillings and two pence a ton, and to this freight must be added.,. Do consumers get .coal at anything like this price? Ten shillings a ton should be a good freight for coal which is loaded into a vessel within a very short time and with practically no handling. The cost would thus stand at twentythree shillings odd a ton, and the prices charged range from thirtyeight shillings to forty shillings a ton. There is something wrong somewhere which would be to the interest of the colony to discover, as the present charges are a great handicap to all industries using steam power. The absurdity of proposing a bonus for export is shown by the statement that 150,000 tons of coal

arjß annually mipp^edi and oply last \yee!c the Wingamii pap6i*s'\ xecoided bfee 'arrival of a v v s fteset af tbafc.pbrt with a cargo of $ew South Wftles coal ! though steauiel's torching at the South Island coal ports trade regularly to Wanganui. It is also -asserted that-the 'New* South' Wates' coal can be landed in this colony ten shillings a ton cheaper than what the colonial coal 3an be purchased at. It ' ap" pears" a" Question that demands early attention jast as clearly as it shows the Government are more inclined to be lavish with the taxpayer's motley, than desirous of really examining into facts.