“ON THE ROAD.”

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXIV, Issue 16326, 23 August 1913, Page 12

“ON THE ROAD.”

COMMERCIAL TRAVELLERS’ GRIEVANCES. MORE CONSIDERATION ASKED ON RAILWAYS. TROUBLE WITH SAMPLES. Commercial travellers in Christchurch have at least oue grievance against tho Railway Department. It is not against one officer or officers, but against the Department, on account of some of the regulations it imposes. Commercial traveller’s, of course, use tho railways daily, and are good customers on that account, and also because, being accustomed to travel, they know all the ins and outs of the business, and cause less inconvenience than is caused by other passengers, who are less experienced. A case in which, it is claimed, unnecessary restrictions Were imposed, was placed before a reporter yesterday. Each traveller is allowed to take lewt of samples free. The representative of a soft goods firm bought a ticket to enable him to take 7c\vt, at £2 10s a cwt. On that , arrangement, therefore, ho could take Bcwt, the term extending for a year. On a Monday, he left Christchurch for Ashburton with 2cwt of samples. He completed his work in Ashburton in three days, and he.went to Temuka on the Thursday, tho railway authorities sending on his samples from Ashburton. After spending two days in Temuka, he returned to Christchurch, leaving his samples in tho sample-room at Temuka until his return. When ho went to his warehouse on Saturday, .he was told that fresh samples had arrived from abroad, and that when he went back to Temuka on the following Monday, he would have to take 2cwt of them. There seemed to be no reason why that simple and reasonable arrangement should not be carried out, but when tho traveller reached the railway station at Christchurch on Monday, he was surprised to find that the stationmaster refused to forward the fresh samples to any destination whatever until the samples left in the sample-room at Temuka had been returned to Christchurch. To abide by this arrangement, and do as he wished to do, tho traveller would have to go to Temuka, get his samples there, and bring them back to Christchurch, an operation which would cause him the loss of a whole day’s business, and which certainly would impose extra work on the railway officials themselves. A good deal of annoyance, also ; is caused by a regulation wbicb provides that when a traveller leaves Christchurch with, say, 2cwt of samples, lie must, on return to Christchurch, weigh in the same 2cwt. If lie cannot do that, he is asked to pay parcel rates for the shortage in weight. It sometimes happen that the lines represented by tho samples are sold out_ at headquarters, but be cannot sell his samples promptly, and lias to bring them back, although the circumstances might render them valueless.

There is a strong feeling amongst commercial travellers that the railway authorities should give them more consideration, and should encourage their custom instead of framing regulations that throw stumbling-blocks in, their way. In Australia commercial travellers often are consulted bv the authorities before regulations and time-tables are enforced, and it is thought that the same principle might, with advantage, be applied in New Zealand.