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Shannon News, 24 November 1922, Page 2

The enormous handicap upon New Zealand producers caused by the present rates of freight, railway and wharf charges, storage and expenses at London docks, and so on, is well exemplified by an account recently presented to an Otago grower who shipped 200 bales of wool to London, states the Otago Daily Times. The charges considerably exceeded £7OO, and totalled between £4OO and £SOO more than the same shipment would have cost in the i year before the war, The late ad van ces in prices from the ruinous figures of the slump is on nothing like such a proportionate scale, and it looks as if the resumption of income tax paying by our producers is still an ideal of the future, though it may be hoped not a remote one.

Twenty-five years ago a gumdigger, named Reynolds, sinking holes for gum in the Mahakirau Valley, found lodse gold in a slip and from the spot £2OOO worth of gold was secured. From time to time efforts to locate the reef from which the gold came were unsuccessful. Four years ago O. W. Andrews, a minei with 40 years ’ Australian experience, commenced the quest and single-hand-ed without Government assistance, persevered in a claim which he named "The Lone Hand.” Ho lias now discovered a reef which is exceedingly promising and from which in a few feet he has secured specimens and quart/ to the value of over £2OO. The claim is close to the main road to Coromandel.

A great deal has been done by the Government during the past three years, but much had yet to be done, stated Mr W. F. Massey at Pukekolie. We had to find the war debt of £IOO,000,000, which would include the war pensions, if capitalised. With the additional cost of the requirements of the 'State Departments and the total of the bonus paid to the State servants, this made the Government’s difficulty even more severe, but on top of that the slump in ‘ the world ’a market had come, and on his return from England last year he found that the revenue for the year had fallen off by about £6,, 000,000. He had therefore to face retrenchment., and by the constant and valuable aid of his officers the position was very creditable at March 31st, and they just missed having the balance on the right side. Retrenchment was still going on.