RAILWAY RATES ON COAL

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 151, 30 June 1925, Page 9

RAILWAY RATES ON COAL

TO IHB SDITOB,

Sir,—Referring to Mr. -W. M'Arley's letter in your issue of 27th June; relative ,to the proposed revision of railway haulage rates, insofar as they affect coal, surely,, Sir, the Eailway Board of Management has dona right in deciding that for the future both classes of coal .shall be carried ,i at, the same rates. Otherwise, it simply means that railway rates are manipulated so as to give an unfair advantage to brown, coals and lignites' It cannot be contended that it costs more to haul bituminuos coal that it does to haul_ brown coal or lignite. I understand that the adjustment now proposed is not that bituminous rates be reduced to the level of lignite rates, but that the Jatter will be increased to somewhere near the level of -the bituminous rates and this procedure is undoubtedly correct if the the railways.are to pay their way. Mr. M'Arley mentions that some colliery in the Waikato district has recently paid a dividend of 8 per cent I know of at least, one other colliery in the, Waikato that has paid dividends of 40, per cent, in recent years, besides transferring large sums to reserve. As tar as 1 can ascertain, no bituminuos coal mine has ever paid such an enormous dividend; in fact, there are few bituminuos coal mines in New Zealand which have been successful,from a dividendpaying point of view.—l am,etc,

™• , , , COALMAN. Christchiirch, 29th June.