THE TIMBER TRADE.

Press, Volume LXVIII, Issue 14289, 27 February 1912, Page 2

THE TIMBER TRADE.

—ftA HARSH REGULATION. (special to "the —ikss"). GREYMOUTH, February 26. Sawmillcrs are greatly exercised over a new railway regulation which was gazetted last week by the Minister. It is as follows:—"Where in any consignment note, waybill, or other document required to be delivered in respect of ( any goods delivered upon a railway, ! there is any understatement of the quantity, weight, measurement, or value of the goods, or any misdescription of their nature which, if undetected, might lead to their being charged for at less than tho proper rate, and whether the understatement or misdescription iB wilful or not, there shall be payable in respect of all the "goods referred to in such document double the ordinary rate of charges on the whole consignment, and these charges shall bo irrespective of any fine that may be incurred under sub-eection I of section 2of the Government Railways Amendment Act, 1910 (No. 2)." The regulation, it will be noted, applies to all goods, and is now being enforced on the Westland section. It is, however, in its operat-'on in regard to the transport of timber, that the undue harshness of the decree is made manifest. Under tho old arrangements the Railway Department, if its officers thought that the waggon contained more timber than tho consignment note stated, had the truck-unloaded and tho timber re-tallied. When remeasuring the railway tallies every inch in length, and does not, as the millers do, leave an inch or two for the carpenters to square when using. This way of tallying sometimes disclosed an understatement of two or three hundred feet on the whole truck. For this understatement the miller was charged 6d per 100 feet for discharging and re-londing the whole truck, which on 11,000 feet, came, on an average West Coast freight, of Is per 100, to £2 15s. Double freight was charged on the timber understated (say, 300 feet at 2s, which equals 6s), this bringing the total cost incurred to £3 Is, in addition to the ordinary freight. This impost is inflicted, too, where the misstatement is not wilful, as it is quite ensv in tho hurrying incidental to sawmill work to make a slitrht error. These mistakes,. often involving an insirmifiennt amount, will be dealt with by dispronortionate and eTtrnme penalties under the new regulation as,- in, future, tho intends to ennrsre Gd per 100 ft for unloading and tallying, and double freight on the whole consignment, if an understatement is found. This means that in caws where the shortage represents 100 ft. or 6d, a fi-e equiralent to £8 will bp-imposed. This is n«ld to be out of all reason, especially the amount of timbpr is not dpliberately understated, but is du~ pn+i-»lv to hurried cleric*! work. ' The Minister has been neked to re—ovo the r p-ti la tion ' and restore the old rule which, it is contended, a—nlv safptrunrdpd the Department against imposition.