THE RAILWAY TARIFF.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 3, Issue 849, 18 August 1881, Page 2

THE RAILWAY TARIFF.

• J . i PUBLIC MEETING. t-;-' • -

k-vvmo meetiug, 'which<was well attended, was held in the Tempi# Chambers yesterday afternoon, Mr A. W ftenall in tlia Chair.

The Chairman, in opening the meeting, said that he could not boast of any special knowledge ijf thej question io be discussed'' No doubt the present tariff was a high one. He looked upon Mr Ashcroft, the district manager, as an able manager, still the Government Ididiot appear to, be making the Wellington and Masterton i ailway a good paying line. y Mr Happ, at the request, of the Chairman, ttian read-letters from Messrs Feist, Corbett, and Caselberg, apologising for noh-attendaricßj" and expressingsyriipathy with the'movement. ; , . Mi' Worth then,,brought, the question before the meeting %intfving(the'following resolution''• That in the opinion' of this meeting the present goods' tin the Wellington and Masterton line is excessive, a great draw-back to trade, and oppressive to the public, And this meeting is thoroughly convinced that a reduction of rates would largely increase the railway, besides assisting the internal commerce of the district and promoting settlement." Speaking from personal experience, he had found some charges very peculiar, and the staff seem more eager, to-, get money than to encourage traffic by consulting the interests of the public. They took no trouble to ascertain whether consignments should,go by parcel or goods delivery, But forwarded them in the way by which they could make the highest charges. He thought a goods truck should; be connected; with every traiu to ensure cheapness aud'desDatpij. Mr 11. V. Smith R.e.oonded the resolution. Local carrying agent's in Welljiistoi) »iit tlieir goods sent hy the cheapest rates; but the general public were apparently ort different footing. A Mr Jones, carter, declared that'he hsd been insulted and wronged by railway ofljcials, ; He had to pay! ;they chose to chargo him, and'then fight it out with those (or whom he carried. His customers fancied, 'jlie said, that ''us carters is trying to collar the money," He complained, too, that'the railway wotila notgiyp rpoßiptgfor the money paid for freight, •

Mr Eastbope said settlers had to pay not only for weights carried, but weights not carried. Messrs Chamberlain, for example, had had to pay the rates for 4 ewt, of (foods, in two packages, that only weighed a little over 2 owt, 1 Ordinary business men would be prosecuted if ! they liwde sph charges, Mr Junes again spofee.- Jig &sjd that "poor old Jones, with one'arm, got e, case of lollies out of which lOi'tis had'boeil ; taken, and poor old Mlzsimmoils got' a sack'of oysters, Half of which had beeii abstracted,'' Mr Yile reminded fylr .Jones that he was malting serious charges. " Mr llapp then read a letter in which Mr Corbett had called Mr Beetham's attention to ilje jipgljlaf purges mad"e' Also, copies of replies rfccejved i]y |3e3t])am from Mr Ashcmf't 'and Mr Stevenson, denying the statements of Mr 'Corbett. Mr Rappaflji'med, limvever, tHat Mr Cor-' bctt's complaint pp, yroygd by the waybills in his possession! ' • Mr J, Yile considered that the real difficulty was the'minimum wei«ht on the railway for goods traffic—2cwt. If 281b were substituted as the minimum weight he. .belieyed tlipir wjsiiej \you)4 R)et, The tariff itself of £3* h ton was not too liigl). If, 100, the Department send several constgnrnpnis to one person, and charged them as one consignment, instead <>f making separate way-bilb for paph, : it would be more satisfactory. . The resolution was then put to the meeting and carried unanimously, Mr lorns then moved—That in tlio opinion of this meeting, tho existing rai]. way lioio-liiblp at Maetertop i(j ejtcpssive inconvenient, as owing to the want of sufficient Interval between the arrival anti dispatch of the daily train, visitors are unable to transaot any Uusincsß, and correspondents are unable to reply to communications on the same day they are received,

Mr po gupported tl)o rosolution, which would, 'in his opinion, promote the interests of trnvpilors,- us well ns those of tliu town. In Wellington there was an. interval of three hours between the arrival and departure of the train, and there slioijlc} Ija a .similar interval at I his end of tholliie, _Mr Bapp. then moved the .adoption of a memorial which ho road; and-which embodied the resolutions adopted by the meeting. Mr R. V. Smith suggested an addition to the memorial urging 011 the Govern, ment the advisability of periodical excursion trains. . ' ■ l&'Jtapp suggested tlmt.a deputation should he appointor], and the members of it should represent any additional points which it might be desirable to qall iiie attention of the Government to, '

Mr Worth suggested that the memorial should ask for (til goods sent as suoh to ha charged by goods, not parcel, rates, He recommended residents in Masterton in ordering goods to.'instruct merchants to insert tho.word "goods" on the address labels, _lfe thought a committee might he appointed to draft a memorial, T?he clVairman preferred a memorial to a deputation, as words spoken w.ere more ranescent than written ones. • ■ On the motion of Mr Worth, tho Mayor and Messrs Rapp and Vile were appointed a committee to draft au address, Mr Jones—Have I a right to speak. . The chairman—No, Mr Jones—Then I will | I fought my way in that railway station .more .than any other mftn! Let nib alone and you will see which is right or wrong I" Mr lorns suggested that'it miglitnot be wise to press too many points at once on the attention of the Government, / - , It was then arranged for the meeting to adjourn to that day week, and that in.tho interim committee should (Jraftftrer' port, *■ •' '