Grey River Argus THURSDAY, October 23rd, 1930. EXTORTION ON THE GREY WHARF.

Grey River Argus, 23 October 1930, Page 4

Grey River Argus THURSDAY, October 23rd, 1930. EXTORTION ON THE GREY WHARF.

The fact that just now its charges are coming under review draws attention anew to those of the Rialways Department which inflict upon this district an injustice unexampled anywhere else in the Dominion and one that amounts to nothing short of gross extortion. We refer, of course to that old sore, the wharfage exactions, as to which a fresh protest was voiced only as recently as the last meeting of the Chamber of Commerce. ,ln general, it may be said that the Department has taken quite an unfair advantage

of Greymouth on the strength of the fact that the Government some years ago practically made a seizure of the Harbour Board’s property in the manner of an allpowerful mortgagee. It is doubtful, despite the fact that the Board had then a considerable liability on its outlay in making this a serviceable port, whether’ any other community in a siini-j lar situation would tamely have submitted to a similar exaction. It is safe to say, however, that had the consequences as they have [ since been suffered only been; foreseen, a kick far more vigorous, than merely a verbal threat to I take the matter to law would have, been forthcoming. Those consequences were definitely shown by. means simply of a few figures and; comparisons which Mr T. E. ■ Coates submitted to the Chamber | of Commerce on the occasion in question, and these deserve to be! marked and digested by the pub- 1 lie if justice is to be obtained/ The port of Grey is for the user: quite the most costly in the conn-[ try. Compared with tonnage handled, the charges are enor-i mous. This is the sixth port of ! the Dominion in point of tonnage,! i but so far as the Railway De-1 ipartment is concerned about developing its own trade in cornice-1 tion with the port, it might be the i [least important of .any. ” There is

a song the refrain of which might form a motto at present for shippers here, it being to the effect i that the longest way round is the' sweetest way home, for it is a .fact that the longest way round is ■the cheapest in sending goods from this town to other parts of .the Dominion. To quote an instance from those mentioned at the Chamber of Commerce, it costs four shillings and four pence lo send a case of goods weighing a quarter of a hundredweight from here by rail to Lyttelton and thence by sea to Wellington, whereas to send the same [consignment directly to Welling-1 ton by sea from Greymouth costs no less than six shillings and [threepence, or a margin of almost, la couple of shillings more than .by the route where there is both railage, double handling and shipment to allow for. The difference is due wholly to the wharfage charges here, which swallow up more than threeeighths of the total, or 2s 9d out of the 6s 3d, as against 3s 6d for, actual freight. Even on a consignment of only 451bs weight the difference in favour of the roundabout rail and sea route is 6d, the direct rate being 6s 3d as against 5s 9d by the indirect one. If Ithere is any other instance of -the [kind to be found elsewhere in New Zealand, it would be interesting ’for the Railways Department to illustrate it. Then as to the minimum charges, the other ports are [all cheaper than this one. At Wanganui the minimum is Is 6d, whilst in the ease of Christchurch, where the cost of railage to and from Lyttelton has to be included ,it is Is Bd, but at Greymouth we have a minimum of no less than [2s 9d. On the other it is only sixpence at Napier, Dunedin, and Wellington. The figures, however, which Mr Coates submitted to the Chamber of Commerce were most illuminating when regarded on a tonnage basis. The inward wharfage rate here is seven shillings and five pence per ton, and the outiward rate is six shillings and

ninepenee. The import trade is penalised to the extent of four shillings and three pence per ton for haulage between ship’s side and shed. This undoubtedly deserves the designation of extortion. America can send a ton of goods all the way across the Pacific Ocean for less than the New Zealand Railway Department exacts to carry a ton across the Greymouth wharf! Is it any wonder that our railways pay so handsomely when they go so far out of their way to encourage patronage? The Department stands lo gain more than any other interest from the development of the trade of the port, and yet it is imposing almost an embargo. The minimum wharfage charge for a single package, be it ever so small, is three shillings. No other place would stand that for a day. As regards the imposition of a rate of 4s 3d for haulage between shed and ship, there are any number of private firms that would jump at the opportunity to do the work at less than a quarter of that charge.

it was mentioned at. the ( liamber of Commerce meeting indeed that one transporter has offered to put up a bond of £lOO and undertake this haulage at the rale of one shilling per ton. The Railway Department has obtained a magnificent property in the wharf and its railway equipment, the value of which with the most reasonable charges must in a few decades run into millions, and no account meantime taken of the value of the property for shunting purposes entirely apart from the shipping trade. The monopoly is thus being abused in a manner that, is little less limn rank profiteering.