NEW RAILWAY REGULATIONS.

Taranaki Daily News, 3 May 1917, Page 3

NEW RAILWAY REGULATIONS.

To the Editor. Sir,—These new ,railway regulations, by which certain articles are not to be carried while others may, require a lot of explanation. Why, for instance, is all building material, timber, cement, corrugated iron and all manure refused by the railways and yet beer is accepted for carriage? Is building material and manure less necessary than beer? Then, when it comes to the return of empties, bcei barrels arc taken but other casc-s — such as biscuit cases and tins—are refused. Now what would astonish a stranger—l am not astonished, as I know the ways of the place is that the newspapers take no notice of the Government clioicc of the non-essential beer to the exclusion of the essential manure, cement, iron, etc. Our New Zealand press is very local, if anything, and yet here is a regulation that is, and will be, a great hindrance to the building trade and the farmers and not a line of protest. Mctliinks that if it bad been the. other way about, and the restriction had been 011 beer and let the builders and fanners have the benefit, that there would have been a great outcry about men thrown out of work and the hindrance put on industry. If they want the beer they can make it locally, as a war measure, but they can't make timber, iron, or manure locally. I think it is a case of beer versus building and better crops; and of course the Beer Government has really no choice but to decide for beer; and than the loyal, patriotic press says nothing. Ido hope you will let me so briefly voice a very large public protest.—l am, etc., GEO. H, MAUNDER. 2/S/17 t i