THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1909. RAILWAY FREIGHT ABSURDITIES.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 9620, 13 October 1909, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1909. RAILWAY FREIGHT ABSURDITIES.

While it is admitted that the railways of the Dominion should be so run as to pay interest on the money spent in laying down and maintaining them, it is, also, beyond dispute that they should be so managed as to render the greatest assistance possible in the development of the country. State owned railways can only justify the nature of their ownership by the excellence of the work that they do, on behalf cf the people as a whole. In no better way can State owned railways promote the object of their existence than by encouraging industries. That th e Government have rightly taken this viaw, and that they have done a good deal in furtherance of.it cannot be honestly gainsaid by anyone, at the same time peculiar anomalies and absurdities in railway tariff freights come under, notice every nuw and then. A case in point is referred to in a recent issue of the "Napier Telegraph." Our contemporary remarks:—- "Acting on the wise principle of making the railways aids to development and production, New Zeaiand grown fruit and vegetables are carried over the lines "any distance" at the rate of £1 per ton, the concession at that rate extending to small parcels as well as to large. Under this provision it is practicable to send a case of fruit orvegetablas from Wellington to Napier, or vice versa, for 6d. If the fruit or vegetables are dried, or canned, or otherwise rendered fit for consumption, they at once come under a much heavier schedule of charges. The results of this method will be best appreciated if we set them out in connection with the important local industry at Frimley. When it is desired to send fresh fruit from there it can be sent all over the Dominion, in any direction served by railways, and for any dis tance, at £1 per ton. If the fruit is preserved it is charged £2 14s 3d per ton, or within a trifle of three times the rate charged for fresh fruit. The inconsistency here lies on tho surface. ... As an illustration of ,

the situation as it affects Frimley, the following figures are instructive: A recent consignment of goods from Frimley went to Wellington. Had it consisted of fresh fruit it would have cost £5 10s for railway freight.

Ae it was preserved fruit and vegetables the schedule charges came to £l4 18s sd, the consignment consisting of 155 o»se?> weighing 5 tons 5

cwt, chargeable at £2 14s 3d per ton. This charge being practically prohibitive, the goods were sent by boat, the charges being as folbw : £ b d Cartage 12 0 Kail to hreakwater 2 10 11 Freight and charges, breakwater to Welling tun 4 14 Wellington wharfage 12 G

Total £1 16 9 —There was thus a saving of over hilf the charges payable if the consignment had gone to Wellington by train. From this point of view we not, only have to consider the ancm • aly of charging £1 per ton for fresh fruit and vegetable!:, over any ■distance, and charging £2 14s 3d per ton to Wellington fro n Hastings, on a general mileage basis, for pressrved fruit and vegetables, but also the loss of traffic for the railways. It would be wisdom on the part of the Department to try to meet cases of this kind, even though a minimum consignment were insisted upon as entitling to reduced freights, if only to meet the competition of carriage by water. That it is practicable to do this is shown by the fact that fresh fruit and vegetables are carried so much more cheaply. The Frimley j j management has applied to the Department for an alteration, and in applying has set out the facts as these bear upon the freight question generally, but the only reply vouchsafed is that the General Manager cannot see his way to authorise any reduction in existing rates." The Frimley Canning Factory finds, as any other industry similarly engaged must also experience, that the railway freights enter considerably into the cost of placing their commodities before the public, and they, of course, necessarily enter into the cost of living generally, and incidentally affects the progress of industries, which it is to the welfare of the peeple to foster. If it is desirable to encourage fruit growing, and the Railways Department apparently recognises that it is desirable to do so, how much more should assistance be given to I fruit growers who are enterprising enough to distribute preserved fruits for sale throughout the Dominion? It is extremely potent that the preserving and canning of fruits generally necessitates the employment of a great deal ot labour, in addition to that employed in growing the fruit, j while the commodities offered are I most wholesome for public consumption. The position is completely indefensible. The Department should carry canned fruits quite as cheaply aa it does fresh fruit. Moreover, ic is, perhaps, worth while observing that, in the natural order of thinrs, as the Dominion develops, present industries will become more important, and industries unknown to-day will comeint) existence, and those who are engaged in work of national value should be able to look to the Railways Department for reasonable assistance on a mutual basis. If assistance of industry, and laudable enterprise is not a plank in the policy of railway management, it is high time that it became so, and it is, therefore, to be hoped that those who are specially interested will leave no stone unturned in forcing the justness of their view upon the authorities in power.