RAILWAY RATES.

Taranaki Daily News, 24 November 1917, Page 2

RAILWAY RATES.

TJIE REVISED TARIFF. MINISTKU'S LAME EXPLANATION. Wellington Xov. 22. In tho revised railway tariff the following exemptions are made with respect to parcels and such packages which come under part 2 of the tarill of tabulated parcel rates: Checked luggage, left luggage, lost luggage, left parcels, bread, (lour, fresh fell, fresh igeat, fresh milk, tea and sugar. The following are exemptions under part 3 of the tariff by which goods rates are fixed: Bread, flour, fresh fish, fresh meat, fresh milk, tea, sugar, wheat, timber, and trucks for conveyance of ma'ih. • All charges in operation with respect to railway wharves on November 25, with the exception of the charges on bread, flour, fresh fish, fresh meat, fresh milk, tea, sugar, wheat, timber, and the charges for ships working overtime, are to he increased 10 per cent., subject to the same exceptions as for railways. Fares and freights on the Lake Wakatipu steamers are to be increased by the same amount as on the railways. The Minister of Railways stated to a reporter that the additions to rates and fares was made necessary by the fact that the whole of the war bonus granted last year, and the additional allowances granted this year to married employees, were being charged to railway revenue. Tlie increases, said Mr. Herries, are calculated to counterbalance the. increased annual expenditure due to increases to the staff and the general increase in th cost of material, more especially coal. The aim is to obtain an average return of 3J per cent, on the cost of construction of tho open railways. The last financial year was an exceptionally good year, but, in view of the uncertainty pf the shipping problem, which governs almost. entirely the question of railway revenue, it is a prudent policy to take a cautious view in estimating the revenue, and, at the same time, to make ample provision by way of ways and means to meet possible eventualities.

tl must also be remembered that the customs and railway revenue are tho mainstays .of the 'Finance Minister's budget, so that a strong finance should be maintained. Tho necessity of placing the railways on a purely war footing, so as to permit as many men as possible to go to the front, has compelled a considerable shortening of train facilities, and in. some cast's the cutting out of traffic which was, from a purely revenue point of view, desirable. This emphasises the necessity of eliminating as far as possible all unreinunerative and superfluous traffic, so that the whole efforts of tho railways may be devoted to the transport of men and goods that are considered essential to winning the war.