The Daily News. THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 1914. THE SHIPPING SERVICE.
A very strong and convincing case for an improved steamer service between New Plymouth and the South was put before Mr. Aitken, the general manager of the Union S.S. Co. by the deputation of New Plymouth and other Taranaki importers yesterday. It was clearly shown .that whilst the trade of the port was increasing, and whilst the carrying trade of the Union Company was correspondingly benefiting, the service was deteriorating to a degree that was causing a great deal of inconvenience and actual loss to tho local business community. Matters were certainly not minced. The service, it was shown, had to be improved, or else they would bt, forced to take such steps as were neeffesary to protect their interests. The speeches of the various speakers have only to be read to see how very much in earnest they are over this very vital matter. Mr. Aitken, naturally, perhaps, did not commit himself to promising all that was asked. Indeed, he stated that he could not see how the company could give them a service comparable with the service that existed in pre-Main Trunk days. One reason for the inefficiency of the service, he mentioned, was the lack of back cargo from New Plymouth and the necessity on the part of the company to look for compensating trade on the West Coast, the delay in connection with which he acknowledged had an effect upon the New Plymouth connection. He prombel this much, however, that when the boats got stuck up on the West Coast, as they often do, the company would consider the matter of substituting other vessels. This, no doubt, would effect an improvement, but we should imagine that tin trade of New Plymouth witli the South—by that we mean trade with the South. Island anil the Wellington transhipments —is now big enough to warrant the company giving us a bi-weekly service, even if it entails the running of smaller ves-sels. Regularity is everything in commerce, but it has been conspicuously lacking in the service during the past year. We hope Mr. Aitken's visit will result in a substantial improvement in the conditions; if it does not, then tho importers will have to tuke. the matter into their own hands and act promptly and effectively. The development of the trade of the port cannot be retarded; it must be facilitated in every possible manner. Otherwise we might, as a trading community, as well shut up shop.
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TDN19140430.2.17
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 281, 30 April 1914, Page 4
Word count
Tapeke kupu
417The Daily News. THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 1914. THE SHIPPING SERVICE. Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 281, 30 April 1914, Page 4
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Taranaki Daily News. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.