MISSING BEER

Evening Post, Volume CXL, Issue 148, 20 December 1945, Page 8

MISSING BEER

While shelves and stores are being emptied this Christma^ for the heavy demand for supplies of liquor the Wellington railway yards are being painstakingly combed for a truckload of beer, missing since yesterday morning. . By noon today it had not been located. Destined for a Lower Hutt wine and spirit, merchant to fill Christmas orders and to supply at least a portion of the demand from late comers, the beer" did not arrive at the Lower Hutt station as scheduled yesterday morning. It is thought to be lying in the truck on a siding somewhere in the Wellington railway yards.

or otherwise, the situation as now presented has entirely changed. Greater volume of cargo handled will not benefit the board, and the special reserve fund, out of which losses could be met, has been practically cut in half, and on the basis of the losses at present being sustained would be entirely eliminated by March next. "Both the earlier application and the present one request a.revision of the board's dues and charges to such an extent as will produce approximately 37 per cent, increase in its gross revenue. It is considered that any 'increase granted by the Tribunal should be by way of a surcharge on existing rates, and no attempt made to alter the relationship between individual rates.

"The Tribunal is satisfied that the board must have relief, and that it must be substantial."

The Tribunal explained that m coming to its conclusion that a 30 per cent, surcharge was required, had regard to the revenue derived on the basis of trade during tho year ended September 30, 1945. "If trade remains at this level, it is anticipated that the board will, in September next, even after applying the surcharge of 30 per cent., be faced with a loss of approximately £69,000. This has been calculated on a basis of the. surcharge operating for a nine months period only, as nearly three months of the board's financial year have now passed. Had the surcharge operated for a full trading year, the loss on 1945 trading conditions would be approximately £30.000. The loss that may be expected at the end of the next trading period, namely, £69,000, can be met partly out of the special reserve .fund, which stands in the books at £56,000, and also partly out of the surplus from the over-pro-vision of the fund provided to redeem the loan which will be repaid in August next, and which will become available as a cash reserve. "The estimated loss for a full years working at the increased rates would be converted into a surplus by the saving in interest payments on the loan redeemable in August next, should the board not float another loan immediately. Furthermore, should the volume of cargo handled be increased, or the type of cargo handled change from the less profitable to the more profitable category (e.g.. a change from weight to measurement cargo) then the estimated loss may likewise be reduced. . , "The whole position will, however, be reviewed as soon as the accounts for the year ending September 30, 1946, are available."