RAILWAY RATES

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 387, 23 November 1932, Page 6

RAILWAY RATES

FREIGHT CHARGES COMMERCIAL CRITICISM OF PROPOSED GOODS LICENSING. ROAD COMPETITION. Wellington, Wednesday. Fears that the proposed goods transport regulations by Order-in-Council might favour the railways at the expense of commerce and the public generally were expressed at the Wellington Chamber of Commerce meeting, when the inequality of railway freight ratings was criticised. The question arose through a committee's report on a Dunedin letter regarding railway rates on stock. The chairman of the Transport Committee (Mr. A. J. Curtis), reporting on the letter, said that railway ratings were so clamped together that the rate on any item must have some bearing on some other item. There was a vast difference between the rates, class A being 6s per ton and class H something under ls per ton. Railway rates were subject to so much competition that th'e railways were launching out in the direction of interfering with pi'ivate business. He did not say they had no right to do so, but the railway ratings were so complicated by suspceptibility to road competition that the time was not opportune to go into the difference beween the ratings on a pound of feathers and a pound of lead. Sectional Discrepancles. The railways wer© giving special ratings to various districts where there were various classes of goods, to compete with the gr owing road motor traffic, which would no doubt play a great part in the development of some lower scale of transport charges throughout the Dominion. To combat this, the railways had given lower rates between Palmerston and Wellington and in other sections. The rates had been reduced down to ridiculously low levels, at which anyone could see that the railways must lose. Where there was no competition by road, they would find the railway charges 50 per cent. higher than in the pre-war period. Taking all this into consideration, the committee had felt that it could make no recommendations of value regarding any particular class of freight, but it recommended that the Chamber should make representatipps in regard to any anomalies in rating which could be shown to exist. In some cases the ratings appeared very low, and in others very high, as in the case of live stock. Information should be obtained from stock brokers. Revision Needed. Mr. A. Seed did not agree that tbe time was inopportune to make recommendations regarding railway tariffs, but it was apparent that to make a comparison of the live stock rates with all other rates would take a fortnight. He was very definite, however, that the rates should be revised. Mr. Curtis said that the Government had brought an Act into force, but had been a long tim'a bringing it into actual work. He believed that the railways were doing their best to meet everybody in the lowering of their rates, but there was the question of waste, and the upkeep of roads. The railways had only spasmodically altered their rates in certain districts to meet road competition. When the new regulations came into operation it woiild be a good thing to ask the Railways Department to bring its rates down, enabling the country to get the benefit. After further discussion a resolution submitted by the Transport Committee in slightly altered form was approved. It was as follows: — "That in view of the fact that the whole subject of transport costs within the Dominion id at present under comprehensive review, this committee considers it is inopportune at the present time to make recommendations for alterations in the railway) tariff; but the Chamber should make representations to -the Railway Department in regard to any anomalies in rating that may be shown to »exist."