RAILWAY FREIGHTS

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXII, Issue 221, 1 September 1932, Page 5

RAILWAY FREIGHTS

DISCUSSION ON CHARGES. LIVE STOCK CONVEYANCE. Wellington, September 1. Reference was made at yesterday’s meeting of the electoral committee of the New Zealand Meat Producers’ Board to the railway tariff for the conveyance of ewe stock. It was pointed out that to-day’s rates had been in force since 1925, and with the extra live stock now being carried by the railways, a reduction should be possible. Mr W. R. Hammond, of Winchmore, pointed out that the present freights on stock were rates that came into force in 1925. The Railways Board had stated that the service could not bo given any cheaper than at present. It seemed that the Railway Department could readily alter its freight rates when up. against motor competition, but when it had everything its own way it refused to make any reduction. If the freight charged in 1925 paid the department, surely it was more than payable at the present time, when increased numbers oi stock were being carried. Mr T. A. Duncan, acting chairman of the board, said the question had already been taken up, and the board’s letter to the General Manager of the New Zealand Railways on the subject had been recently published in the Press. Reference to cost generally was made by Mr J. 8. Jessep, of Wairoa. He said it was perfectly obvious that New Zealand could not go on producing at to-day’s costs for the present returns. The ultimate big remedy must come in regulation between the token they used and the commodity itself. Freezing costs had come down more than others. There had actually been increases on the railways, wharves, and in cold storage charges.