DUES ON WOOL

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2604, 28 October 1915, Page 7

DUES ON WOOL

WHARFAGE RATES INCREASED

MAKING UP LOSSES DISCUSSION AT HARBOUR BOARD , MEETING A lively discussion, occurred •at the meeting of the Wellington Harbour Board last night on a proposal to increase tho wharfage rates on wool: Mr. C. E.-Daniell moved that the following recommendation of the Wharves and Accounts Committee,bo adopted:— l "That having 'reconsidered, as directed by tlie board, the question of wharfage charges oh wool and hemp, the committee reaffirms its previous recommendation that the wharfage be increased by threepence per bale." | Mr. It. Fletcher seconded the motion. Mr. J. G. Cobbe contended that tho motion was not in order, for the reason that the board at its last meeting had passed the following resolution: —"That the recommendation of the Wharves and Accounts Committee of aii,increaso in the wharfage charges on wool and liemp be held over, and the committee be asked to report 'in what direction economies in the board's operations may he effected." He urged that until tho board had the report referred to it could cot deal,with the motion as submitted. . To Spread the Burden. Mr. M. Cohen moved the following amendment: —"That if 'the goods, materials, and sundries .used in the genera] operations of tlie board have materially increased in cost, then the whole of the charges for .wharfages, etc., on goods and charges on ships be recast to meet such extra increases." In support of his proposal he suggested that the fact that wool and hemp had increased in value was not alone sufficient to justify the increase in charges on them, because in actual fact the value of niauy other commodities had increased just .as much as wool. He must object to wool, being singled out for special treatment. He was of opinion that the rates on wool had.beeh kept down in, the past because it was recognised that the primary industries were of supreme importance to the country. When the Railway Department wanted more revenue it made a! pro rata increase oil all diarges, and he would urge that this would bo the fairest wav for the board to set to work to get more money. The increase of 50 per cent, on one commodity was inequitable. He made a special plea for the flax industry, because hemp paid Is. 6d. per balo for dumping, whereas wool paid Is. 3d. per bale, and the service was absolutely equal. A Plain, Business Proposition. Mr. C. W. Jones said that the real reason for the extra charge was that owing to the increased charges on hoopiron and studs, the board would in future be dumping wool at a loss. The increased charges were not put on dumping, but on wharfage, for the simple business reason that-the. board feared the competition of an opposition dumping plant in Levin and Company's store. The board had no desire to hit the primary producers. It was a plain business, proposition to escape loss. - Jlr. A. MacFarlane said that in his opinion the hoard should consider, not the rates on wool only, but the rates on all commodities with a view to discovering how the burden could be spread. .- Make Cood the Loss. Mr. J. G.._Harkness argued that if a loss was being made in dumping the proper'course for'the board 4 to follow was to make good the loss on dumping. But the imposition of an increase in outward wharfage on wool would hit the primary producers, whereas the increase of dumping charges would hit the shipping companies who had already, by increasing freights, made provision for increased dumping charges.

Mr. Daniell: And by more than 3d a bale.

Mr. Harkness said that it was unjust to increase outward, wharfage'to make ■up for loss on dumping 111 view of the fact that some wool was put on shipboard undumped.

Mr. Fletcher:' Infinitesimal. Mr. Harkness: I'm not so sure of that.

Mr. R. E. Sinclair gave notice of the following further amendment:— "That the dumping charge on wool be increased 'by threepence per bale."

About Revising All Rates.. Mr. J. W. M'Ewan said he was in favour of the motion. Answering Mr. Harkness's contention, he said that if the dumping charges were increased the ships would at ci:ce pass on the extra charge. He did believe that Mr. Cohen's proposal was a very proper one. It could do nothing but good, to have a committee' of the best minds on the board review all the board's charges, taking account of material and: labour cost m handling all commodities. Mr. R. A. Wright said ho was surprised that Mr. M'Ewan should support a proposal to increase rates' all round, for this would have the effect of increasing the cost of living. The board had increased general wharfage rates seme little time ago, and should now look round for somo other way of getting extra revonue. However, if, as represented, tho loss was made on dumping, then he-thought the increase should be made in the dumping charges. He would therefore support Mr. Sinclair's amendment. He would like, if possible, to have an assurance that the ships would not pass on the increased dunging charge.

Facts and Figures. The chairman made tho following statement to Jiho board of facts as he liad collected'them"The figures submitted by the engineer show that on present cost of material a higher charge }nust be inado ior dumping to recoup the board. It is not necessary for tho board to make a profit from any particular section of tho work performed. Our duty is to do the , work well and economically, and charge for tho services rendered. The comparative list of charges made at various ports is very much to tho c: edit of Wellington, anil the abseuco of serious complaints is evidenco that the work is well dono. Add to this the fact that 110 increase lias been made in the board's charges for 31 years, and you liavo proof of effective service.- . It now cc-sts 3d. per "bale more than before the war. it inay be well to recall the fact that the boa.rd renders a number of services perhaps outside tho primary work of such a body, wool aijd llax pressing and storing being of .the number; but 01100 began, tlio business grew with strcli 6uccess that the' Wool Brokers' Association a few years sinco formally waited 011 tho board and urged it to extend its plant, till noiv tlio board has invested some £91,000 in equipment' for this special trade, and in making our basis of charges it is necessary to bavo respect to the whole business: bcnce the proposal to make tho new charge a wharf rate of threepence per bale. The special buildings and plant are used throughout tho year, but only for some three or four months is tho plant fully omployed. Indeed, tho largo show-room is this year only fully engaged for one month. Some misapprehension exists, as is shown by a tologfam received from the Farmers' Union, protesting against the proposed charge of threepence per bale. Seeing that neither tho Railway Department nor

the board have made increases the following information is notable. Who Cots the Profits? "Ko cost of marketing wool: Taking the mean of a number of shipments of wool from the Wairarapa to London in fivo separate years, and including all costs from the nearest railway station to Wellington, port charges, 6teamer fire and marine insurance, port charges and warehousing in London, it has been found that an enormous increase of ccst is taking place, showing that others beside the farmer are making n oi,ey out of wool. To tako a 4001b. bale of wool as indicated, tho cost was in: ID]O-11, £1 135.; 1911-12, £1 lis.; 1912-13, £2 as.; 1913-14, £2 45.; 1914-15, £3 :.s. 4d. This year, 1915-16, tho.cost, ho said 1 , would be £4 15s. 6d. Tho cost of marketing wool in Wellington had increased in the years under review by Bd. per bale only, so that the money -.>as not made in Wellington. Mr. M'Farlane: Then where does the difference come in between £1 13s. and £4 15s. 6d. ? , , Mr. Daniell: There aro brains in I/ondou, and they are operating yn New Zealand. The shipping companies are controlled from London. Wool Long Escaped. Mr. E. Fletcher said he thought the board should have increased the wharfage rate on wool by 3d., and have also added a further increase in dumping charges in proportion to tho rise in the cost of material.. He had for a. long time been in favour of the impost of 3d. per bale oil wool, for tho reason that wliilo the board had increased rates on general cargo, inward and outward, wool had beon passed over. In 1874 t'lio rate on wool was tho same as now, and wages and material were very much lower. Meantime with the increase in labour charges, the rates on all other commodities rise. "All this outcry about robbing the poor fanner makes me sick," he said.."Threepence a bale! Why' you can't find it in the corner of a bale of wool!" He said it was absurd to say that the increase would have the effect of driving wool to other ports. The fact was that Wellington charges on wool were 50 per cent, lower than in auy other port in the Dominion. Now that we wanted more revenue the propel' thing to do was to charge it on the commodity that had escaped so long! He would support any 'amendment to relieve flax from the extra charge because it already paid 3d. per bale extra for dumping. Mr. H. L. Nathan said he was in agreement with the .proposal that the increase' in the cost of dumping should bo charged for the servico of dumping, whatever might be done about wharfag6, •

The Country Viewpoint. , Mr. J. G. Cobbe said that the chairman's citation of the increased cost to the grower of getting bis wool to Loudon was the strongest possible argument against further increasing that cost by more outward wharfage. Tho new charge would be an advance of 50 per cent. Ho protested; strongly against the increase being put on one commodity only, and he did not agree that a general increase in the wharfage rate would increase the cost of living to the people, of Wellington. Such a small charge as * 3d. per ton would be so infinitesimal that it would not affect the selling price of commodities. Any man who had been an importer knew this. What members did not consider was that these higher charges were increasing the cost of living to the unfortunate farmer. Of what use would the port of Wellington be but for tho farmers up country producing wool. Mr. Jones: What'if t'here were -no ships? Mr. Hindinarsh: Supposing there were no people! (Laughter.) Mr. Cobbe said he was sure that this increase in the rate on wool would be resented by every farmer shipping through this port. He was sure that the result of the increase would be that more wool would be shipped through the port of Wanganui. Mr. A. H. Hindmarsli said that Mr. MacFai-lane and Mr. Cobbe had made much of the higher shipping freights on wool. To them he would reply that the increases in freights were not disproportionate to the rise in the value of wool. What the farmers seemed to contend was that the on wool were to bb retained hv the farmers alone. The board now proposed an increase of 245. on 100 bales of wool, worth, say, £2500. Any objection to that was ridiculous. The Votingj The amendment was defeated by 8 votes to 5. Following was the division list:— Ayes: Messrs. Cohen, Harkness, MacEwan, and MacFarlane. • Noes: Messrs. Daniell, Fletcher, Hildrctli, Jones, Hindmarsh, Nathan, Sinclair, • and Wright. Mr. Sinclair then moved the amendment, of wjiich he had given notice, but it was ruled out of order, as being in effect a proposal to alter the by-laws, therefore requiring notice. He then moved as an amendment that the words "and hemp" be deleted. This, amendment was carried by 7 votes to 6, the voting being as follows:

Ayes: Messrs. Cobbe, Cohen, Daniell, Fletcher, Harkness, MacEwan, Sinclair. Noes: Messrs. Hindmarsh, Hildretli, Jones, MacFarlane, Nathan, and Wright. The original motion was carried on the Voices.