The Manawatu Standard. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) The Oldest Daily newspaper on the West Coast. THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 1885. RAILWAY TIMBER TARIFF.

Manawatu Standard, Volume IX, Issue 105, 9 April 1885, Page 2

Manawatu Standard. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) The Oldest Daily newspaper on the West Coast. THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 1885. RAILWAY TIMBER TARIFF.

By official notice m the Gazette we observe time certain alterations m the charges for carrying white pine timber for purposes of export will come into force on and after Monday next. White-pine timber consigned to Spit, New Plymputh, Waitara, Wanganui, Foxton.WeHuigton.luvercargill.or the Bluff, for shipment direct to A ustraHan ports, will be charged as follows : - 8d per 100 superficial feet for all distances from 1 to 20 miles inclusive, and at certain specified rates per 100 superficial feet for distances beyond : — From Paluaerston to Wanganui the distance is 61 miles, for which the new tariff will be Is 6d per 100 feet. It is further notified that consignments for Australian ports not made direct to the export ship will he charged the so me rate, upon a statutory declaration to that effect being furnish-, ed, such declaration being made under " The Justices of the Peace Act, 1882," sections 283 sind 234, m the form prescribed. In our opinion the tariff quoted might very well be reduced by two-thirds. There is nothing to hinder the railway carrying white pine, at 6d per 100 feet from Palmerston to Wangauui ; and a friend of ours of a practical and economical turn of mind, says the rate should be one penny a hundred feet. We would not be inclined to go so far as that, or even indeed so far as the prominent railway agitator, Mr S. Vaile, whose efforts at railway reform will, we sincerely trust, be eventually successful m achieving tangible results. There can be no doubt the whole system of administration with regard to our railways is fundamentally wrong. Traffic man agers and heads of departments believe m the theory that by keeping up taies and tariffs* to th« highest profit our railways will be made to pay. No idea could be more, erroneous, and more particularly so m a colony iike this which has yec but a limited population. We think the mistake made m connection with the tariff for white-pine is the most jmlnable of all. We have thousands of acres of this timber, which m the Colony is considered almost valueless, because better classes of timber at present abound. But this sh me unsaleable: commodity could be ship ped abroad m large quantities and find a remunerative mai ket. were the railway.tariff, not as at present entirely prohibitive: Let Us consider, for a moment , what a per eentage on the value of the timber is tin* cost of its conveyance to Wanganui. One shilling and six pence for every hundred feet 1 We contend that it should be conveyed for purposes of export at « price not exceeding sixpence per hundred feet. The difference between tho I'ailway freight that should be charged, and the freight that is charged, would be just the exporter's profit, of which now he has none. Meauwhile a marketable commodity is being destroyed to 'the oxtenfc of thousands of pounds a year, because of the shortsightedness of the Railway Department. It has been amply proved that a vast export trado m white-pine could be profitably carried on were the prohibitive tariff m force m New Zealand reduced within reasonable limits. Ifc is greatly to be deplored that a policy so ruinous to the country should prevail as the present high rate of railway charjres both for goods and passengers. Might not our oiling stock be just as well fully employed as that trains should run for the most part empty. The only occasion when the trains are patronized as they ought to be, and should be, were the tariff something approaching a reasonable one, is when holiday return or excursion fares are announced. But to this feature it is not our present intention to allude, our object m these remarks being to protest against the prohibitive tariff imposed for the conveyance of whitepine frir purposes of export, Were our railway ruler* open to conviction, and prepared to make necessary concessions, white-pine timber might yet rank among our staple products, and articles of export. Practically speaking there is an unlimited market for it, which, is now being supplied by American deal, but which for all purposes would be equally well suited with our commoner descriptions of timber. But here is the position. The railway authorities impose such a prohibitive tariff that to cut and export, except at a loss, is out of the question. Many of our mills'which are now only half eiti ployed, and some that are ai together closed, m preference to working unremnneratively, would soon be work ing full time, or re-open od, as the case may he, were the Government to roaliso Iho position, and use the railway to assist m ihe dove! op ment of a most important industry. Consider what a difference it would

make to a district. like this, were there to bo a large expert, of white pine. We suppose some day popular agitation will produce tho desired effects, and the Kail way autocrats will be made amenable to reason, business principles, and common sense. From Piilmcrston to Foxton the distance by mil is 24 miles, for which by tho. altered tariff, the rate for white j>ine f..r export is lOrl. Thore is no reason why it should exceed fourpenco. The eugines might as well haul full loads as n«» loads nt all. There need be no stipulation that the timber car ried at the special tariff (we will not call it a nominal' tariff, because we believe the reduced scale proposed ifj a paying rate tor the railway) should be taken by any particular train, and the waggons could, be shunted or taken on according to circumstances. Our Government apparently fails to see that their high railway tariff is assisting to strangle every legitimate industry, and is contributing to the small railway returns, which as every taxpayer is virtually a shareholder, is a matter which, concerns the public as well individually as collectively. Heaven knows our railways have been a dear bargain, and if they are not to assist m the development of the resources of the cohntry and the promotion of intercolonial ami foreign trade anil cornmerce^the sooner a fnmiumental reform takes place m tho manner ol" their working tho bettor for the Colony and those who arc paying such .a heavy interest on the cost of their^ construction, maintenance, and management.