RAILWAY RATES.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 10150, 24 September 1898, Page 6

RAILWAY RATES.

It is evident from Mr. Cadman's reply to Mr. G. J. Smith and Major Steward, that Canterbury is to get no justice from the present Government in regard to railway rates. Tue Minister's answer was a point-blank refusal all along the I line. The Government will not reduce the passenger rates on the Lyttelton line, they will not reduce the goods rates on the same section,' they will not reduce the .freights on lime intended for the freezing companies, and they will not even grant the small concessions to Waimate fruitgrowers asked for by Major Steward. Mr. Cadman's attitude, of course, is perfectly plain. He has the Canterbury milcb cow firmly leg-bailed, and he intends to extract as much out of her as possible. As to the fairness or justice of the thing, that does not trouble him in the slightest. He hariily vouchsafed to give any reasons for his refusal, and those that he did advance were flimsy in the extreme. He could not grant any reduction in the passenger rates between Lyttelton and Christchurch, because if he'did "it would involve remodelling the rates on suburban lines all over the colony." In other words Mr. Cadman will not remove one case of injustice lest he should be called upon to remove other cases of injustice. That is the most charitable view to ' place on his conduct. The other alternative is that he fears if he makes a fair j re-adjustment for Christchurch, he will be pressed to give an undue concession elsewhere, and he has not the strength of character to resist such pressure. Surely he is not afraid that his Auckland friends will demand a further reduction on the AucHand-Onehunga section. At present for a distance of eight miles they pay the following fares: — First, single Is, return Is 6d; second, single 9d, return Is 2d. On the other hand Christchurch and Lyttelion residents, for a distance of only seven miles, have to pay—First, single Is 4d, return ls>9d; second, single lid, return Is 2d. As a matter of common justice the Lyttelton fares ought to be reduced to even a lower figure than the Onehunga scale. If the Lyttelton fares, however, are to be maintained at their present level, equally, as a matter of. fairness, the Onehunga tariff oxight to be "re-modelled" in the 4 direction of an increase. Again, as regards goods, Mr. Cadman's plea is that if he reduces the rates, the consumer will not get the benefit, inasmuch as in his opinion the freight on the line does not affect the price of goods in Christchurch. It is really surprising that a responsible Minister can stand up j in his place in the House and talk such ! stuff to an assembly of presumably com- j mon-sense men. If, acting on this theory, the Government, suddenly took it into their heads to double the rates on the j Lyttelton section, every householder in | Christchurch would soon know the; difference. Similarly, if the rates were reduced, the keen competition which exists in all branches of trade would soon lead, to the consumer reaping the full benefit of the reductions. But there is another important aspect _f thte case which Mr. Cadman apparently has never thought of, and that is the ruinous effect which the heavy railway tariff is producing on the distributing trade of Christchurch. This is what enables the Wellington merchants to undersell the Christchurch merchants, and so we find ourselves cut out to a large extent from our legitimate markets. Cheviot, for example, is largely supplied from Wellington, but it ought in reality to look to Christchurch as its natural centre, and would do so were it not for the heavy handicap imposed on the Christchurch merchants by tho extortionate railway charges which have to be paid on the double journey between Christchurch and Lyttelton.

! The gross injustice of the treatment which is being meted out to Canterbury j in this matter is such that if the Canterbury members had any real "esprit de ! corps," and looked properly after the interests of their constituents, they I would never rest until the wrong was redressed. As was pointed out at a recent meeting of the Chamber of Commerce, all the disadvantages of a differential tariff are heaped upon Canterbury, and any compensating advantages a_e carefully withheld. High rates are

maintained on the Lyttelton section on t the plea that the cost of construction V was very heavy. But there is no cot. responding lightening of the rates between Christchurch and Timaru, wher« the line was probably the easiest and cheapest in the whole colony to build. Independently of this fact there is one . circumstance which the Government always keep in the background, but which the people of Canterbury are not likely to forget. The heavy cost of construe tion in the case of the Lyttelton line was borne, not by the General Government, but by the province of Canterbury. The General Government, however, get all the benefit of the heavy rates. In other words, the fact that the Canterbury people, years ago, dipped their hands very deeply into their pockets to build the line, is now advanced as a reason why they should pay very high rates for the use of it; while other parts of the colony which had their railways provided for them by the genera* taxpayers, including those living in Canterbury, are permitted to enjoy the luxury of very low rates. Could anything be more impudent thnn such a system of fleecing as this? And can anyone understand tho so-called representatives of the people, sent up by Canterbury to look after its interests, calmly tolerating such rank injustice?