South Canterbury Times, SATURDAY, APRIL 2, 1881.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2507, 2 April 1881, Page 2

South Canterbury Times, SATURDAY, APRIL 2, 1881.

There is a weak point in connection with our railway system which seems to he generally overlooked although it is of very considerable importance. We refer to the want of proper facilities for the storage of farm produce during the grain season. Passengers travelling by rail at present have their attention arrested by huge hillocks of sacks built in squares and placed like monuments of a prolific harvest at intervals of a few miles all along the line of route. In the Canterbury district alone there are some hundreds of tons of grain exposed in this way, without tarpaulins or covering of any

kind. The servants of the railway department are not to be blamed, for with the trucks and plant at their disposal they have performed an astonishing amount of work. Even if the grain could be conveyed to the adjacent seaboards, the fleet of ships is far too limited and the stores of our merchants are stuffed from cellar to ceiling. An exceedingly large proportion of the yield.-of. s the present harvest is thus exposed toa quite unnecessary risk for want of proper storage accommodation. This is partly the fault of the growers, but chiefly the fault of the railway department. We have taken the trouble to make enquiries, and we find that the difficulty might readily be overcome if moderate facilities were conceded by the department to farmers and settlers. The erection of stores in the Vicinity of the various sidings need not cost the Government a shilling, for there are plenty of farmers who would be only too glad to erect sheds if the land could be borrowed for the purpose. We have been informed by an indisputable source that such concessions have been asked and refused on the ground that the owners of stores in the large towns would regard it as competing against them, and interfering with their vested rights. Why such a silly dog-in-the-manger objection should be entertained we are at a loss to know. The railways are as much the property of the producers as they are of the merchants and the interests of growers should not be triffled with in this manner. Every year a large quantity of grain is partially sacrificed in the Horae markets, because through being badly harvested or through exposure prior to shipment it arrives in a damaged condition. This is the,cause of, the failures that so often take place in connection with direct shipments and it is this consideration that induces many a shrewd farmer to accept the low figures usually rulling in the local market rather than run the risk of exporting. The railway department, we submit, if not prepared to erect ample storage accommodation along the line, should grant' reasonable facilities to those who are prepared to do so. We understand that there are numerous farmers who are prepared to erect good serviceable sheds for their own and their neighbors’ grain, provided that suitable sites are allowed. In an important matter of this kind the railway department should not stand in the way. If necessary, conditions could be imposed so that the structures might be removed if necessary, or the Government at any time might take them over by compensating the owners. The erection of these stores'or sheds would relieve the railway traffic during the busy season, and would therefore fully compensate the railway authorities for a concession that costs them nothing, and which it is their own interest to make. No damage would accrue to the ° legitimate merchant; on the contrary he would be able to take delivery at his convenience. The farmer would realise a very obvious advantage, for instead of rushing the railways, and accepting the current rates in a temporarily glutted market, he would be able to hold his grain over until fair prices or moderate freights were obtainable. The suggestion we offer is not our own. It has been made to us by farmers of considerable influence in this district who are prepared to undertake the construction of sheds at the railway sidings for the shelter of their grain, if the Government will only allow them the use of the necessary land. ' The land is lying idle at present ; and the railway department cannot gracefully refuse the boon that is asked. We have said sufficient to shew that by allowing sheds or stores to be erected along the railway lines an advantage; will be derived mutually by the producers, the railway department, merchants, and exporters, and the scores of tons of valuable grain which are annually subjected to the risk of damage or total destruction from exposure to the weather, will be placed beyond the reach of danger.