Wairarapa Daily Times. [Established 1874.] THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 1895. TRANSIT ECONOMIES.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XVI, Issue 4969, 7 March 1895, Page 2

Wairarapa Daily Times. [Established 1874.] THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 1895. TRANSIT ECONOMIES.

The fall in the price of commodities both raw and manufactured isJorc-J ing upon all concerned the necessity for economies, and a good deal of attention is being direoted to the cost of conveying commodities from tne pjace of production to the markot. •Phe question p,f the reduction of freight is njjt cgnjjnsd' to shipping alone, hut embraces railage' and cartage. The tariff, by various modes of carriage s'epms to vary towards a reduction pnly when a combination of circumstances forces those who frame the tariffs into conceding pedoptions. Variations on an aseeudipg scalp are nqtabje foK their frequency and their pungent quality. The shipping freight charges are the moßt unyielding, and rcqujrp considerable force to bring aboujii'cducr tioiiß, whilo a firm front nipst be exhibited to provent an increase in rates, On 16th January the cables informed us that thp leading Austrian shipping fjrp were endowing fa form <j combipatipn a gen•ViocrfiaM of freight and fores. If era. - ««i ancoeesful and the ele- *■%« it will tend to oppple the -*l™ trade of the colonies . at a.„raost,ln[opportune time. Tho W!? na ™: anticipating the difficulties that will • result upon tbe increasing of ship- \ ping charges, are endeavouring to . make such arrangements as will . leave them untouched by any "pool- i ing " o£ shipping.intoreste. , The inebW proposed ty the

people of Victoria for dealing with the shipping ring is worthy of consideration, and the Victorian Minister of Agriculture, Mr J. W. Taverner, is taking the first steps in the matter. It is reported that he intends to consult; the other Colonies with the view of inducing them to devote some of the money paid for mail contracts to providing better and cheaper accommodation for the export of produce. So far as Now Zealand is concerned there is not the least doubt that we are not getting the best returns for the money spent on mail contracts. We subsidise the 'Frisco service to the extent of several thousands of pounds annually, and what do we get for this expenditure. Our letters reach us four or fivedays sooner than if they came by the direct steamers, and with this we have summed up the total benefits of tho 'iVisco Mail Service. It has been, and still is, a service of a political character, and is a sop to the Auckland district. It has brought us none of those trade developments which its backers led us to expect, and beyond quick letter delivery, we receive no advantages no 'Frisco. To the bulk of our population, it is a matter of indifference, whether mail matter is received five days sooner or later, and the stoppage of the' Frisco service would cause not the slightest inconvenience. Such being the case, would it not be better for the Government to utilise the 'Frisco mail money, in subsidising the direct steamers that carry the produce of tho Colony, and so help them to lower their charges. It would be quite feasible for the Government to stipulate for reduced freights for produce with ample accommodation, in their mail contracts. The advice constantly tendered to our settlers in the present depressed state of the markets, is to increase the volume of their produce, but this can be done only under favourable conditions, that is to say, there must be some profit in the game by way of inducement. It is quite out of the question to expect the farmer to extetid operations for the benefit of others, and the matter is therefore reducible to a matterof" itjiay i"' If freight, railage, cartage, storage, commission and the numberless other items of expense that the farmer must pay out of his produce before he can claim anything for himself, wore adjusted to correspond with the lower value of commodities, there would be profit in production. The matter is one for the producers themselves to take in hand and carry to « successful issue.