MERCHANDISE BY POST.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 27, 26 October 1907, Page 8

MERCHANDISE BY POST.

' DISCUSSION AT HARBOURS CONFER, ■' ' ■ ENCE: ;.\. H AMENDMENT OF REGULATIONS ASKED :V " •' . ' FOR.. ~ ; •• Tlie i)onny. post and the, parcels office are useful., insitutions, :: but they were not intended to convey .grand pianos or, perambulators. .But this is what ,they, : are fast com' ing to. _ , : ; : The question of sending merchandise throughjitlie parcels post, to the. detriment of .harbour boards and shipping companies,' has been the subject of comment bofore, and the matter came before tho Harbour Boards 'Conference'on Thursday; ■ ! • 1 ■ .Mr. J. A 7. Brown (Napier) introduced tho' matter.: He complained r that thero .was a largo amount 'of stuff' going throngh tlib'' post that'ought never to bo allowed.' In Napier, ' recently, lie saw a load ' of' two or ; three tons of straw hats, which had been sent through tho post. As a resiilt, harbour Boards wero losing a great deal 'of revenue, and tho Post Offioo officials, no doubt, 'did; not like having to deal'with that kind of stuff. Soon, unloss an alteration was made, everything would be sent through the post, , except iron and fencing' Wire. The Postmaster ought to look into, the, matter , with a view to making a change.,' Ho moved ;that"; the .attention : of; the Postmastei'-Gene'rai' be called to tho matter.' ; ' In,seconding the motion, Mr. Ross (Otago) said the practico began in a small way, bill had now' grown out of all bounds. Post Office had tried to minimise tlieovu. by limiting the size of parcels that'woulcl be accepted; but that had 110 effect, a?, people now received their imports in four or more parcels, instead of in one. The Harbour Boards had already lost a great deal, and would lose much more unless something we're ,'dono.. : . Mr. Ferguson (Wellington) suggested that the following''words'bo added to tho motion: —"And that on all .merchandise goods passing through the parcels post, harbour dues bo paid." ' The matter, hp said, had been beforo the Wellington Harbour Board and the Post Offife, and tho latter had no sympathy with this system of trading. Ho kad in his office, . returns-of tho last few .direct l steamers arriving, and there wero from twelvo' to sixteen tons of such parcels post matter oiit each. Tho 'Conference, would not credit what tho sacks of stuff looked like, when.stacked at tlie Post Office; there wore groat piles'ns high as that room. Millinery, straw hats, and such liko wero sent through, tho post because tho freight that way .was less than that oil-ordinary bills' of lading. Tho shipping ■ companies had given notice to tho Post Office to torminato the arrangement,- and lie understood tlmt . the matter would soon be modified to sumo extent. At tlie samo time,. ho thought' the' resolution should bo passed,, so. as to strengthen . the hands of tho Pest Office officials. •Tho words suggested by Mr; Ferguson were added'to tho motion. , Mr. Murdock (Groymouth) remarked that one wholesale house, instead of sonding. one parcel, to a customer on the West Const, sent out fifty or sixty parcols, the intention clearly being to .evade the postal regulations. '' . ■ Mr. Connett (New Plymouth) said • every Harbour Board was suffering from tho'sanie thing. "Somo peoplo even get their whisky through the post," interjected a delegate. . Tho motion was carried unanimously'.'