SATURDAY, MAY 4, 1878.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 915, 4 May 1878, Page 2

SATURDAY, MAY 4, 1878.

The arbitrary and peculiar charges made by the railway authorities for the carnage of goods on our local railway have long been cause for dissatisfaction and complaint. Clover and grass seed have been charged double freight, and between the* cost of carriage of new and old potatoes there has been also a difference of some seven shillings per ton. Settlers who fire deeply interested ! in these charges naturally ask why they should be thus regulated, and i what on earth difference there can be between new and old pototoes I that the one should be charged seven shillings per ton difference in freight over the other. Hero is n railway, such as the Auckland and Waikato line, not connecting two great centres of population with each other, but radiating from the capita! with the double object of colonising large tracts of agricultural and pastoral country, and gathering tUa carriage of their produce into the one ctonoj, Cloni-ty, tifVobjecfc of the managers

of such si line should be to fos'er as much as possible the agricultural | intcxresjfjS^not to put clonble freight ?g@|tfp-scicl^ but rather to carry ' lowest possiblo charge, forfpvcr%^nbrc sown iu grass means return prQclitcc to Jhe capital, which will*' bring vgrist to the mill of the railway, \i"otfor one* only but for all . time. Wfr arc glad to note that the remonstrances made in the press and elsewhere have had some effect upon the railway authorities though there is .'still" * rooni — JfoY^^furtlver reconsideration of tho rates of clnrges. In a gazette of the 18th April previous rates relative^ to the i conveyance * of seeds have been cancelled, and hemp aud mustard will be carried as class A, clover, grass and other agricultural seeds not specfiied, as class B. ; canary, carrawayj and turnip, as class 0. ; and flax; linseed and rape as class E. The double freight on slover is abolished ; so far so good. Why, however; make'different charts at all for the several seeds above mentioned ! Why not charge all alike the same tariff as flax, linseed, and rape ? Is there any reasou 'why turnip seed should be charged a heaver carriage than either of these, or again that grasses and clovers aud other seeds should be placed in a still dearer; category % A bag or a barrel of; clover seed is as convenient a package to handle, as- safe and every . way as erisy; to. carry as a bag or| barrel of turnip seed of the- same; size, and though it may seem; to the solqns 5 who arrange our railway tariffs a startling assertion to; make, we do not hesitate to say that; a ton of clover seed will not weigh a pound more than a ton of turnip seed. But, how about the potatoes ? We see nothing. in tkfc 'Gazet.e ' of the 18th ultimo to show that the absnrdidifference made in the charges on the carriage of new and old potatoes has been cancelled. The fact, is the whole system of railway charges needs a thorough and minute, and, above a}l, an-intjclligent revision, bearing in mind that the railways, as public property, constructed as much for the encouragement of colonisation and sefctlci ment as for a direct pecuniary profit, '■' return an indirect as well as a ; direct revenue to the Exchequer. It would be neither, jast nor fair to forego too freely the direct profits for the sake of fostering .settlement and increased traffic in the future, but it would be just as unwise, on I the other hand, to cramp and circumscribe the latter by too heavy a 1 rate of charges. There is a medium course between the two. the hitting upon which would indicate an amount of business ability in the railway de- , partment for which at ptbsent the i public (and very naturally so) does L not give them the credit of possess--1 ing. Nor does what we say apply [ solely to agricultural seeds. We I merely refer to them as one instance 1 out of many! Any article needed ; for the direct use of agriculture , should, come within the consideration of those discussing a revised tariff of charges, such as agricultural implements, grain, potatoes, und especially artificial manures. That the line will pay is clear enough from the monthly returns published,. , but why kill the goose for the sake of the golden egg ? — .why strangle the agricultural interest in its cradle 1 with the Laocoon of a heavy and excessive tariff. A wise and fostering Government would strike the ; happy mean, and, while it conserved , the present interests of the colonists by exacting a fair charge for the transit of agricultural goods, would yet so lightly handicap that interest . as to encourage its growth till it ' became the strongest and wealthiest and be*st paying supporter of the line in years to come.