WOOL FREIGHTS

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 23 June 1923, Page 6

WOOL FREIGHTS

I —♦—- . I MATTEE OP INTEREST T^X ! SHEEP FABMEES ; apparently published ™! |c" LtT gement G' H" ***" ™* I As this article is evidently written ito attract the attention of W" h "^ | owners and is special pleading .for ! °f .Particular shipping interest, it i* advisable that the general 'publi* should know more of the position, trom the Liner Shipping Companies* point of view. I In the article referred to it i« carrying out this policy " *"""&* operatxons as a busies, and, b£ other business institutions, their operations over the whole year havea nVlf f mt° consideration, and as., a natuial sequence the results ate r a t!s Verning faCt°r in fixin S f«igl* P,?lllte^ ,OUt that the rate to b£ charged for Greasy Wool was U ncr lb. plus 10% l ess V It is evfaiS therefore that G. H. Scales, Ltt ! «". ShiPPi*g Companies I to be a fair one, but in the course • f loading the "Bembridge" it seems | to have been realised that there wa« | likely to be difficulty in fillinr the steamer due to the fact that price* obtained at the early local sales induced growers to sell locally instead Oj. consigning Wool to the United I Kingdom and taking the risk of anr | rise or fall i n the market. Sheen' owners m the main elected to «ell at the local sales, consequently G H. Scales, Ltd., offered certain coneeasions to some wool buyers, which concessions were promptly met by the Ship- , ping Companies, who contend that th« concessions given by # G. H. Scales^ ■Ltd., presumably were not for the purP *St Of beating the sheep farxnenr o± JNew Zealand, but in order to minimise the loss resulting if the "Bernbridge" had to sail with empty space. The Scales Line also loaded the "Hannah" under somewhat similar circumstances. The same article points out: "The Scales Co. believes that with sevexal ships every year instead of one or two, still further checks can be kept on the i rates." It is apparently the idea of Ct. H. Scales and Co., Ltd., with extra. ! capital to be derived" from sheen i farmers, to charter, say, six steamera I next season to further check the Shipping Companies' rates of freight. Th* Scales Line charters steamers in the height of the season only.-when career is plentiful, but the Shipping Companies have to carry on the trade of the country during the slack season. when cargo is the reverse of plentiful and steamers frequently have ta leave New Zealand with their Meat and. General Cargo space half empty. The : Shipping Companies desire to emphasise the point that if the Scales Lin« really wishes to test what is a fair , rate of freight, it should, in addition toloading steamers in the busy season, load one or two in the slack season. and it will then have a better idea of what constitutes a fair rate, and realise . that profits made in summer can be seriously diminished by losses incurred in winter. , There is no doubt that in many previous seasons the Scales Company - made a profit on its small capital de- ; rived from summer loading of the class of tonnage they operated, but tk« SMp- , ping Companies venture, however t* : express a doubt as to whether the loading of G. H. Scales, Ltd., two chartered . tramp steamers in the summer of th» season just ended resulted in ether than- a loss to that company. owing t* the low rates of freight charged. Certainly this was the experience of th* Liner Shipping Companies. It is surely not consistent for Sheepowners to support such competition a»may result in loss in the carriage of Wool on the one hand, and on tfta other for-them to press for reduction*:' in the freight of Mutton and Lamb.*