The Star. Delivered every evening by 5 o'clock a Hawera, Manaia, Normanby, Okaiawa, Eltham, Mangatoki. Kaponga, Awatuna, Opunake, Otakeho, Manutahi, Alton, Hurleyville, Patea, Waverley. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1920. THE TRANSPORT PROBLEM.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXX, Issue LXXX, 14 February 1920, Page 4

The Star. Delivered every evening by 5 o'clock a Hawera, Manaia, Normanby, Okaiawa, Eltham, Mangatoki. Kaponga, Awatuna, Opunake, Otakeho, Manutahi, Alton, Hurleyville, Patea, Waverley. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1920. THE TRANSPORT PROBLEM.

Considerable anxiety ig being felt among producers throughout the Dominion because of the unsatisfactory disposal of frozen produce, especially meat, in Great Britain, and the Premier is being urged by deputation and resolution to,do ail in his power to move the Imperial Government to carry out urgent reforms in the present acute position, so that the stores throughout New Zealand may be cleared to make room for next season's production. That the situation is very serious many statements from reliable sources affirm, but the plain statement of Mr McCurdy, Secretary to the British Ministry of Food, denies the glut on the market. We have to assume, therefore, in the face of his statement that the congestion is due to the inadequacy . of., the British facilities .-of distribution — a reasonable enough explanation in some ways. We in this country cannot realise the enormous steam which the war put upon Britain'e railways and shipping services, and, with the sudden flooding of the ports with raw materials during the past year to set the great manufacturing industries going again, it is not to be wondered at that the transport services have failed to meet the demands made upon them. For months past the English papers have been referring to the hardships and difficulties with wliich business concerns have been faced, and New Zealand exports to the United Kingdom have naturally suffered along with others. The London Times of December 20, which came to hand this week, gives numerous instances of complaints against what it callß the "transport muddle," which had caused the Association of British Chambers of Commerce to communicate with the Board of Trade on the matter, and cases are cited of goods taking two and three weeks to be delivered only 150 to 200 miles distant from the places where they are handed over to the railways. At the time the mail left England a controversy was taking place between Sir Eric Geddes and waggon building firms over contracts. Considerable help towards understanding the posj&ign, is given in the following comment by The Times: "We are able to print this week a long list of actual instances in support of the. very serious complaints against the railways which have been growing in volume for many months. Arbitrary regulations and restricting the routes by which goods may be moved, refusals to receive consignments, losses of goods in transit, and inordinate' delays are among the principal complaints put^forward. The instances given show that the transport situation in this country at the present time can only be described as chaotic, and it is obvious that the effect on industry generally and on the 'export trade in particular must be little shoi't of disastrous. If any indication that the Ministry of Trai^orfc was -making a serious effort to remedy the existing state of affairs could be djscgvned. there would be leas dissatisfaction felt by the commercial com- | munity. Yet, although waggon shortage is a considerable factor in the situation, the Minister of Transport appears to prefer to conduct a protracted public controversy with waggon building firms to making a genuine attempt to get the necessary trucks built." We do not think that much can be done in the way of expediting unloading and releasing ships within reasonable time until the transport services in Britain are improved, but no doubt with such a chorus of complaints from British traders and overseas pro- j ducers the Imperial Government may j be expected to hasten to provide the i necessary rolling stock to meet the demands. There is also the fact to be borne in mind that the adverse balance of trade with the United States makes it .imperative for Britain to turn to the Dominions for a greater portion of her imports, and we may expect that many more ships will be made available for the Dominion's trade during the next few months. However, New Zealand producers are justified in ■ watching the interests of this country's primary industries, and on all grounds I they are entitled to the best treatment the Imperial authorities can give them. They have consistently kept faith with the Mother Country, and it is her duty not to let them suffer through giving preference to others or by failing to provide ships to clear our stores of the meat which she has bought. The country will welcome an early announcement from the Imperial 'Government to relieve the anxiety which is so apparent at this end. One of the greatest lessons the unsatisfactory state of affairs teaches is that, whatever may be said in its favor in wartime, Government control of transport in peace time has been a gigantic failure. Enormous though the difficulties must have been, one feels that company control and competition would have been far more successful.

For exposing unwholesome fruit for sale, Sam Hop was fined 10s, costs 13s, and solicitor's fee 21e, at .the Stratford Court yesterday (reports the Post). In the past year the Wanganui Borough valuations have increased hy £17,00©, from £IM,OOO to £211,000.