COAL TRAFFIC ON RAILWAYS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9144, 28 August 1888, Page 6

COAL TRAFFIC ON RAILWAYS.

TO THE EDITOR. Sib, —There does not seem to be any more important industry at the present time in this colony than coal. It seems very strange that in the memo, you published on the 16th, Mr. Maxwell, the general manager of railways, who was directed by the Minister to report on the present conditions of revenue and expenses of the Whangarei-Kamo line, appears to consider the loss of 20,000 tons of mineral of little or no consequence, as the rates usually charged for "coal and mineral traffic are barely sufficient to cover the cost of conveying and handling." I can tell you this is very different in the old country, as the enclosed newspaper cutting will show you. The various railways carried over three million tons from Nottinghamshire to London, during the first four months of this year. Taking this at a per ton per mile, would bring in the sum of £750,000 for four months, equal to £2,250,000 per annum, and as the cost has been stated by Sir J. Allport to be under a farthing per ton per mile, it gives a clear profit of £1,125,000 per annum from Nottinghamshire alone. If Staffordshire, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Durham, South Wales, and other districts were added, the amount would be enormous. Up to the present our New Zealand coal measures have not had the attention of capitalists they deserve. The fields extending from Rangiriri to Taupiri are capable of turning out an immense _ quantity of first-class coal that, would give employment to a large population, ana furnish a market for produce that would be very beneficial to the country, besides bringing a splendid profit to the proprietors of the collieries, and a handsome revenue to the railway, if they would only consent to charge a moderate rate of carriage, which could be run during the night at a very small cost. It is obvious that no railway can pay without traffic is passed on it, and the more this is borne in mind by the managers the better will be the result, as the outlay on making the line is the some whether one train or twenty passes over it during the 24 hours.— am, &c., August 21, 1888. Lichfield.