RAILWAY FREIGHTS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 2170, 31 August 1920, Page 2

RAILWAY FREIGHTS.

' 1 & THE INCREASE ON HEMP.

REDUCTION. URGED,

At last night’s meeting of the -, Chamber of Commerce the question of the increase in railway freights, particularly fn regard to hem}) and tow, was discussed. *Mr Petrie said J ’ that at the present time (he railway freight on hemp from Foxtail to Wellington was 12s JOd per ton. The new rate would bring the freight.up to 37s 8d per ton. Tow at present was 12s lOd, and the new rate 20s !)d psr*t«n. It,was a very serious matter for the (laxmilfcr.s, who, unlikojunerehants and storekeepers, were unable to pass the increase on. Mr Moorlionse moved that an urgent telegram be sent to the Prime Minister, advising that the Chamber views with consternation the increased freight on hemp, and urges that the rates he reconsidered and a .substantial reduction made on hemp.

The motion was carried. The following telegram was sent to the Prime Minister this morning:

—“The Foxton Chamber of Commerce views with consternation the increased rales on hemp, and begs to request that as the rate under the revised schedule will seriously affect the llaxmilling industry in Ibis district, and, in fact, the whole Dominion, immediate consideration may he given to a substantial reduction in the proposed new rales.”

‘•The Hailway Department Ipts certainly jumped on the industry with hoth hands and feel,” said Mi« Alfred Seifert, to a Mamuvatu Times reporter last night, when he was asked to make a statement in regard to the Max millers’ position. "The increase is so great that it will have the effect of (dosing down a lot of mills immediately. The mills 1 control rail hemp from Shannon to Wellington, a of GO miles. The increase in railage over this distance amounts to £1 Os lid per ton. There is also an increase in, the rates of tow and coal. Although the additional rales will put a lax on (he industry which will he very hard to hear because the price paid for hemp has not been high for a. long lime, and the millers consider that the prospects are notvery bright'for the future. A large amount of sisal-hemp is now being stored in Yucatan, Monaco, and in the lAS.A., further large quantities are being shipped from what was German East Africa, and the production of Manila hemp has kept up. 1 am sure that the millers would not** he opposed to paying what it costs the Hallway Department to shift their hem)) and produce, hill I .cannot believe that it will cost the Department 5d per- mile to haul the hemp, considering Hint the millers pul. it on the trucks and it is taken off again at the oilier end. Hailing hem)) is peculiar in this way: the product ion is always uniform for ten months in the year, and the supply of coal roquived for the mills the same, so that the Department is not required to keep a large supply of rolling slock for an intermittent service. Previous to the last increase hemp was carried under Class E. The present classification moves it to Class I). To show what this means, taking-the old railway tariff, under class E one ton would bo railed 100 miles at 9s Bd, plus 20 per cent. Cuder Class D one ton would he railed 300 miles at 2Gs Gd, plus 20 per eenl. ‘As the Government has now shifted hemp' from Class E to Class- D on the higher tariff, the increase is out of all proportion to the increase in railage on oilier commodities. There are some mills in New Zealand'which have to rail raw material up to 150 miles to the mill, and the increased cost of the railage of raw material, with other increase mentioned, is likely to put them out of business straight away. If the Department had a uniform rale for hemp with all other commodities, it would make m»re money out of the railage of hemp than on I of any of the others, for these reasons: because the railage is regular for ten months of the year; because- in nearly all cases only full trucks are shipped, and because there is a regular amount of back-loading to the mills with coal and produce. In view of these fuels the millers feel that they have a right to ask the Department to look into the 'question will a view of obtaining a more reasonable railage elassilication for their produce,”