RAILWAY CHARGES.

Press, Volume LIII, Issue 9366, 16 March 1896, Page 5

RAILWAY CHARGES.

DEPUTATION TO MR CADMAN. A deputation from the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce waited upon the Hon. A. J. Cadman, Minister in charge of tailways, at the Traffio Manager's office, Christchurch, on Saturday morning with respect to freights between Lytteiton and Christchurch, railway cartage in Christchnrch, and overtime to Shipping Companies and shipowners. The deputation consisted of Messrs I. Gibbs, (President), G. G. Stead, W. Chrystall, J. Gould, W. D. Meares, and F. Graham, and there were also present, at the interview, Mr Rouayne, Mr Gaw (Traffic Manager), and Mr J. Joyce, M.H.R.

Mr Gibbs pointed oub in reference to the railway cartage that the Government charge Is id uer ton, while the last contract was let at 9|d per ton, and the public were not getting the beuefit of the differeuce, as it was understood they were to. The absence of any reduction to the public had, it was understood, resulted in the Government, or the Railway Department, making a large profit. The deputation therefore asked that the Government should give the publio the benefit ot the reduced contracts. The next matter was the rate ou general merchandise between Lytteltou and Christchurch. At present the rate was 5s per ton, 4s being for haulage aud Is for terminal charges, exclusive of cartage. They asked that the rate should be reduced to the same level as on the Port ChalmersDunedin line. The other subject was that of overtime in Lytteiton. The Shipping Companies and owners now paid the whole of the wages of the men engaged after 5 p.m. in loading goods. The day labour was paid for at the rate of la 3d per hour and 2s tor overtime, and the deputation did not think the Companies and owners should be called upon to pay more than this difference of 9d per hour. Those were the points the deputation wished to bring belore the Minister, and other members would, no doubt, be able to bring forward arguments in support of the views of the Chamber.

Mr Stead remarked that originally the merchants did their own carting with respect to goods scut up from Lytteiton to Christchurch. The department, however, found this inconvenienb, and little disputes arose from time to time with reference to delivery in good order, &c. It was ultimately determined that the department should call for tenders for thecarting, and theexactprice they had to pay was to be added to the railway charges on the goods. This cartage rate had been reduced from time to time until quite recently, when the merchants were paying Is ld per ton for carting, while the Government were getting the work done for 9|d per ton. The Chamber of Commerce, a month or two back, asked the Railway Department to make a reduction, and they agreed to make the rate Is. The Chamber still thought, however, thab 2Jd profit on 9|d was too much, and now asked for a further reduction. In respect to the ordinary charges for goods on the LyttelconChristchurch line, he would point oub that the distance was 6£ miles, reckoned 7 miles, and.the distance between Port Chalmers and Dunedin was reckoned at 8 miles, and, consequently, under the present tariff we paid 5d per ton more on the seven miles than was paid on the eight miles between Port Chalmer. and Dunedin. The volume of business on the Lybtelbon-Christchurcb line was very much greater than on the Port Chalmers-Dunedin line, and Christchurch people therefore had a grievance which had existed for many years past. Their contention was that they should pay a uniform rate, or if they had to pay a differential rate it should bear some relation to the I profitable working of the line. The Lyt- | telton-Christchurch line was one of the most profitable in the colony, and yet thoy had to pay a higher rate than in any other part of New Zealand. Again, a first-class passenger ticket to Lytteiton was Is 4a, and a first-class ticket from Auckland to Qnehu'uga, a distance of eight miles, was Is; and 'yet bhe traffic between Christchurch and Lytteiton wa3 considerably more than between Auckland and Oaebunga. The present -railway prohibited the Christchuroh merchants from doing a coastal trade, and they had difficulties enough to contend with, without being hampered with higher rates than were necessary. Mr Chrystall pointed out that they had never got a reduction in the charges for carting without specially asking for it, while bhe Department had gone on obtaining reduced contracts. He pointed out that the charge for the haulage of customs goods in Lytteiton was excessive, as only a limited number of parcels were examined. It would be imagined from a recent letter from the Railway Department thab the Departmont ouly received the difference between 9|l and Is in the cartage rates, bub he pointed out its profit was much greater than that, as a very large quantity of goods were removed from the Christ-, church Station by consignees themselves, or/ sent to the country without being carted at all. The. Government received a large amount in cartage rates on those goods. His opinion wns thab the profit made by the Department in this way was as much aa the contract rate. The importers here were entirely debarred from taking part in the coastal trade as they had to pay 7s 6d per ton to bring goods from Lytteiton to Christchuroh, and 5s per ton for taking them back, the Harbour Bowd making no charges outwards, and that enabled the Wellington and Dunedin | merchants to do trade. The department should take into consideration the very large charges for haulage o,nd cartage, and he did uot think importers should be called upon to pay more than the per ton for the latter. There was no doubt thab bhe Government took advantage of tho fact that against the Chriatchurch-Lyttelbon". line there was no competition by land or water. In reply to the Hon. Mr Cadmau, ib was pointed out that the reduction in the cartI age rate from la Id to Is came into force on 1 February 2 .th last.

The Hon. Mr Cadman said that the deputation was only one of many he had received in reference to railway rates, bub it was au awkward position to be in—to make reductions all over the colony, without knowing what was going to happen in the future. So far as bhe cartage rate was concerned, he thoughb bhe department had acted very fairly in taking off ld when the last contract was a reduction, of l£d On the previous one.. Tbe minimum weight for which the contractor was paid for a parcel was 4cwb, and thab did away with any profit the department might otherwise make out of the difference between what importers paid and tbe contract price. He was very much surprised to hear thab tbe department was making as much profit as had been stated, and he did not kuow how that could be arrived at without reference to the returns oi the department. He would, however, go into the question. It was very easy to arrive at what goods went oub and what was paid to the contractor. With regard to the ohargeH on general merchandise he pointed oub thab they had to make differential rates because of competition. They had, however, made remarkable concessions ou the railways all over bhe colony. They had given away revenue to the amount of £10,000 or £15,000 which would not be recouped. They had made concessions in other ways that would in some cases lead to an increase of business. They bad made reductions ia haulage rates and in sheep rates. They had aho been ab great expense in providing rolling stock, and in the last twelve or fifteen months they had made reductions and increased expenditure in ways that wonld nob be thought of by any outsider. Daring the Christmas holidays they had carried 30,000 more people than in any other year, and they lost £3200 by the reduction in fares. A reduction of 20 per cent, was made in the charges for tbe carriage of sheep, and they carried very nearly a quarter of a million more sheep, making a little profit, and had spent £10,090 in rolling stock. They had beeu ready to meet people, and he did not think they could afford to make any further reductions. The question of overtime was a difficult one. and he bad had a proposal made by the working people in Lytteiton thab they should let bhe work by contract, and do away with overtime. "That struck him as a point worth considering, and probably something would arise out ol it. He admitted the Government had made a little profit out of the overtime, but nothing worth speaking about. Mr Stead said it seemed .to. him that Mr Cadman had missed the deputation* .owb. $hes did aot aeeee-

sarily ask that a reductioa should' ba oiade in the railway rates, bub thab they shonld bo placed on the same footing as their neighbours. If, however, it paid the Rail* way Department to carry goods eight miles on the Port Chalmers Hue at a gross oharge of 5s 8d per ton ib would surely pay th« Department to carry goods for six and i quarter miles on the Cnristchurch for le«« than 6s per ton, and if it did nob pay al Port Chalmers the rate should _9 raised. The Chamber of Commerce had no desire to see rates lowered uatil there was no profit, bub ib wished to see the Christchuroc traders put in a position, so far as railway rates were concerned, to compote with th< traders in the other large towns in the colony. He had already pointed oub that the Christchurch and Lytteiton line was the most profitable one in the colony, and it was unfair to make thorn pay higher rates foi both goods and passenger fares than W6r« paid by other largo towns. He did not agree with Mr Cadman that the towui should be compelled to pay rates that would make up for losses on tho railway lines in the outlying districts. Laud was and leased in the country ab priaes baseq upon the distances from the seaports, and therefore the country settlers should pay proportionate races. He doubted if Mr Cadman was correct in stating that they had lost £5000 by reducing tho fares at Christmas. Possibly the Department had made £3000 less profit thau heretofore bul thab waa quite a different thing to making a loss. It was unfair to make the people ol Christchuroh pay higher passenger rates than their neighbours merely because the Department had a monopoly. They wer« prepared to pay equal rates for an equal service. He a>>_iu repeated tbat it was unfair after compelling the Christchurch traders to have their cartage done through the Railway Department to charge a profit of over 23 per cent, on the cost. The busi uesß of the Department was to carry goods by rail and not to do ordinary cartage and theu make an excessive profit; from it.

Mr Cadman questioned whether the profit made by tho Department out of th< cartage contract waa auythiug like 50 per cent, which M. Chrystall had i .prcsanted.

Mr GAWsakl there was a small quantity of goods sent to the oounbry witnout dolivery being taken. Ib might be 10 or 5 par cent. Ouly a few hundred tons per mouth were taken away by the importers' own carts. Mr Stead instanced the holiday traffic on the Sumner tram Una to show what could be done by making concessions in the passenger rates. After some further discussion the deputation withdrew.