RAILWAY INQUIRY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 18217, 3 October 1919, Page 6

RAILWAY INQUIRY.

THE COAL SUPPLIED , [Per Press Association.! WELLINGTON. October 2. \ At the sitting of the Railway Com* missiou to-day Mr A. W. Blajr, soiicw tor for the Board of Trade, put in correspondence which he said showed thfl coal shortage to have been due to tha action of the Railway Department, offi ing to the fact that it did not press for sufficient tonnage. Mr F. J. Gunn, officer in control of! the Coal Supplies Department, said Hiat in his opinion the coal shortage was due to the uumbor of coal miners being greatly depleted during the war. and also to lack of tonnage for conveyance. Coal could have been goti from Newcastle, but there was no shipping to carry it. Ships had been diverted for Imperial purposes. He did not think that freights were unreasonable in view of the freights paid iu oSher parts of the world. It was only the patriotic action of a gentleman associated with shipping here that enabled us to get coal from America and Australia. Everything possible that foresight could sugcest was done to keep up the coal supplies of the Dominion. Alfred M. Adams, formerly chief executive officer of the Munitions and Supplies Board, said that the board always made every effort to assist tha railways, because it recognised thai they were entitled to first consideration. Witness criticised the Department for refusing to pay more than 25s per ton freight for coal except in isolated cases at long intervals. There would have been no acute shortage for the railways if the Department had been prepared to pay the price ruling for overseas tonnage in 1917-18. Through* this action on the part of the Railway Department, the Munitions and Supplies Department virtually came to an impasse. It could not proceed further. The Commission has adjourned una' to-morrow. DEPARTMENT CRITICISED. [Per Press Association.] WELLINGTON, October 2. In a statement handed in to tha Railway Commission this morning Mr A. S. Collins, deputy-chairman of tlio Wellington Coal Trade Committee, severely criticised the lack of initiative on the part of the Railway Depart-' ment. The shortage of railway supplies which led to the railway cut occurred from November to June, and during the whole of that period there were ample stocks of coal available at Newcastle if the Department had made arrangements for tonnage to lift it. Notwithstanding the seamen's strike the Wellington Coal Trade Committee was able to get the Overseas Committee to bring coal from Newcastle in overseas vessels.