THE RAILWAYS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXIII, 30 June 1939, Page 4

THE RAILWAYS

SIMPLIFIED TARIFF BENEFIT FOR SECONDARY INDUSTRIES (Uniter! Pres* Association) WELLINGTON, This Day. The simplified railways tariff, embodying a revised scale of charges for generaJ goods, to which reference has recently been made in the Press, will be brought into operation on Saturday, announced the Minister of Railways, the Hon. D. G. Sullivan, last night. “The main feature of the simplified tariff is that it introduces a system of rating that has long been pressed for by commercial interests by reducing the number of classes for general merchandise from four to two,” the Minister said. “This reduction in the number of classes has had the effect of bringing the railway tariff more into line with the requirement* of presentday trading conditions and incidentally stabilises the rates on a lower average level. REMOVAL OF ANOMALIES “By stabilising the rates in this way many inequalities and anomalies have been automatically removed. Unfori lunatcly, the conditions obtaining in the transport industry during the past decade have prevented the stabilisation of the tariff along the lines just referred to, as the various scales of chargee J have had lo be adjusted from time to j time to counteract the effect of intenI sive and uneconomic ro .d competition. ‘‘This in turn produced a lack of i balance in the transport costs for simij lar services as between the different | trading interests have benefited by ! trading interest shave benefited by I what has been a fortuitous reduction | in transport costs because of this acute I competition. While the position so created was naturally availed of by those who were so fortunately placed as to be able to take advantage of these highly competitive rates, opposing inj terests in other areas did not enjoy the same advantages because of the ab- ' sence of what was really ‘cut-throat* competition.

“The simplification of the tariff and the stabilisation of rates will in certain cases involve the removal of local rates. Though this will bring about an increase in freight charges on merchandise between certain points, the .n« crease will, very largely if not entirely, be offset by the general application cf the lower standard rates. “Simply stated, goods previously carried at the two highest rates, namely, ‘A’ and *B’ will in future be carried at the next lower rate, namely, ‘C,‘ and this position, generally speaking, will obtain throughout New Zealand. EFFECT OF STABILISATION “For the purpose of comparison th* following table will give an indication of the effect of the stabilisation of th* general merchandise rates:— New Present rate rate a ton.

“Though the new tariff benefits ordinary merchandise goods as indicated, there are, of course, certain articles of a light, bulky or exceptional nature, and goods which require special handling or transport, which will, continue to bear a somewhat higher rate than class ‘C*. BENEFIT TO INDUSTRY “Secondary industries in particular,** said Mr Sullivan, "will benefit materially from the operation of the new freight schedules which are so based as to facilitate the wide-range distribution of their products. In view of the present and prospective developments in the field of secondary produc- ! tion it is satisfactory to record that principals of important manufacturing i industries have expressed their apI proval of the intended adjustments, aa I have many chambers ©f commerce and i local bodies. “I may add,” concluded Mr Sullivan, “that what is being done is in line w’llh the most advanced thought in transport rating in other countries, and I believe that producers and tne business community alike will welcome this new and equitable rearrangement of the railway tariff.’'

a ton. Class “C” Class Class (IncludDistance “A" •B” ing A & B). Miles. s. d. s. d. s. d. 30 ... 10 10 26 3 22 6 60 .... 55 9 47 3 40 8 100 .... 76 0 63 6 51 9 200 .... 106 10 85 5 07 6 300 .... 132 6 102 0 80 6 400 .... 158 2 114 10 93 3