A COOPERATIVE CONCERN.

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 26 March 1926, Page 5

A COOPERATIVE CONCERN.

PEOPLE OWN THE RAILWAYS

THEREFORE PEOPLE SHOULD SUPPORT THEM. Mr A. W. Wellsted, of the commercial branch of. tlie Railway Department, addressed the directors of the Farmers’ Co-operative Organisation Society of New Zealand, Ltd., at Hawera yesterday. He asked for a whole-hearted support for the national transport system, not only from a railway point of view, - but' on the broad "economic grounds of the welfare of the Dominion as a. whole.

As the railway system was the lifeblood of the community, sp.id Mr Wellstead, it was necessary that every section of the community should cooperate in assisting tlie railways ;. for, if the railways stopped, so would the wheels of progress. A sum of ,£48.000,000 was sunk in the. railway system and every inhabitant of New Zealand had a stake, in the enterprise. The railways were asked to earn a standard rate of interest, lately increased to 41 per cent., and it had been the policy of the department in the, past, "when the rate of interest had been exceeded, to declare dividends to the public in the shape of reduced fares and freights. The railways were merely a huge co-operative, concern, on a bigger scaV than the' Farmers’ Co-op. Organisation. “As your\organisation is a- farmers’ one,” continued the railway officer, “I take it that a large number of your shareholders are farmers, and probably that a numter of the, director® present are members of county councils, and that brings me to the question o-f road transport, a form of transport that has dor-e immense damage to the roads and increased tremendously the cost of their upkeep, for which, of course, you, as ratepayers, are taxed. But, touching on this question, I would like to- refer briefly to the assistance that the. Railway Department gives to the farmer. Our aim has always been to assist the primary producer, who is, of course, tlie backbone of the country. Wa carry his manures, grass seeds, fodder, lucerne, etc., at a very low, in some cases a barely remunerative, rate. We carry lime free for 100 miles, return his show exhibits free,' and assist him in other ways. But in order to enable us to maintain these concessions it is necessary we should get the carriage of the merchandise and other goods that are carried at higher schedules, and it is here we join issue with the lorries. They very often secure the carriage of the higher rated commodities, in other words .skim the cream off the milk, and leave' us to carry the lower rated commodities. We take practically any traffic. If this goes o.n the result will ultimately he that tlie rates on the commodities we carry cheaply will have to be increased. The more traffic carried, the less it costs to carry. “I think you must admit that in a young country such as this tlie duplication of the transport of goods is extremely wasteful from an economic point of view. The true function of the, motor lorry is to act as a feeder to the national transport system. If the railways do not pay you, have to make up • the deficiency, while at the same time you are rated for the upkeep of the roads. An immediate gain may frequently mean an ultimate loss. _We are here, one might say, for all time, the Virry driver plies when and where it suits him. We work under a published scale of charges, our competitors charge what they may get. “Some. co-operative organisations have adopted as their policy, a wholehearted support of the railways, mainly for the reasons I have enumerated, and I appeal to your organisation to do the same.” In the general discussion that ensued some, matters of local import were brought up, and Mr Wellsted promised to look into these. The chairman thanked Mr Weis ted for attending the meeting and placing the views'- of the Railway Department, before the directors.