MAILS AND FREIGHTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9218, 22 November 1888, Page 5

MAILS AND FREIGHTS.

THE DIRECT SERVICE. GROWING DISCONTENT. A SUBSIDISED MONOPOLY. OPINION OF A LARGE EXPORTER. [by telegraph.— OWN CORRESPONDENT.] Wellington, Wednesday. The reports which have reached the colony with reference to the accommodation provided by the present direct steamers have created a good deal of discontent among i exporters of produce. This discontent has manifested itself within the last few days by the public avowal of a desire for a new company with a new class of vessels, specially provided for the conveyance of produce of all kinds to the London market. This discontent is aggravated by the knowledge that three well-known sets of shipping proprietors have combined to increase the rates of freight from 25 to 50 per cent., and that proposals have been made to an outstanding company who own the Fifeshire and other steamers of that class to go into the " ring," so that their power to regulate freights may be complete and arbitrary. So long as there was a hope that this combination would be abandoned, I remained silent in obedience to the wish of some of those who had a very large interest in the result of the opposition that was being offered to this close scheme of rates and charges for the conveyance of produce from New Zealand to the London market. But there is now an intense feeling that neither are the ships engaged in the export trade from this colony suited to such service, nor have the owners any interest in such trade, except that involved in the highest scale of freights and charges to swell their own profits. That I may not be supposed to give an imaginary description of the state of public feeling on this matter I shall mention the particulars of a conversation I had lately with a, gentleman who possesses a large stake in this colony, and who described the recent combination by which freights were arbitrarily raised 25 and 50 per cent., as " A new and apparently successful attempt to bleed the unfortunate settlers of the colony," and the worst feature of the business is that Parliament pays a large sum to enable one of these sets of proprietors to draw from the producer and the colony itself an exorbitant profit, greatly to the detriment of its wealth-producing power. It is broadly stated that the present steamers, which arc sumptuously fitted up for passenger traffic, are not at all fit for the export of commodities, and, least of all, the export of perishable commodities, such as frozen meat and dairy produce. The fact that enormous sums have been expended upon their interior fittings for the use of passengers, is an addition to their cost in construction, and, therefore, an apparent justification for charging a higher rate of freight than would be required for steamers fitted up with a sole view to the exportation of produce of the colony, and none other. As the preservation of the commodities exported is the first consideration, speed is not a primary requisition. Steamers constructed with a sole view to the export trade would carry more in bulk for ordinary produce, such as grain. &c, and would have special compartments for such commodities as required special provision for their preservation, such as dairy produce, fruit, <&c. To illustrate what happens, I mention what takes place in ±ae case of dairy produce. The practice has prevailed of laying on a pipe from the "freezing-room" to the "cool-chamber." But a cool-chamber requires an equable temperature throughout. The effect of this torrent of frozen air has been to destroy thousands of tons of dairy produce and fruit. It is clearly made out that the direct steamers which would be suited to the growing requirements of our export trade should carry twice as much iD quantity, and with double surety, so as to keep the rate, say at a penny. This can be done and yield a handsome ' profit to the shipowner. To charge more is to " bleed " the colonist. If the colonist will continue to suffer depletion by such a process he deserves to be " bled," and the colony must endure to be "robbed." This strong language which I have quoted is not mine, it is the language of a large property-owner and exporter. Why should the Government of the colony be asked to give a subsidy of £30,000 a year to proprietors who would become a party to a combination so adverse to the true interests of this country and the struggling se tiers who live in it '! The idea is growing rapidly that a mail service and trade export cannot be satisfactorily carried on by the same steamer. 1 To the mail packet speed and passenger accommodation are essential for both, which qualities the State and individual passengers are willing to pay a specially fixed ' price. But for an export steamer carrying frozen meat, or cheese, fruit, and butter to the London market, the sole requisite is that she have the space and apparatus to preserve the goods exported in good condition till they reach the market. A week, a fortnight, or even a month later, is of no consequence, so long as the exports are i kept in such a condition as to command : the fair market price. Under present arrangements much of the produce goes i bad before ib is half way through the voyage. Under other arrangements it • would go all the way in prime condition, : unless, indeed, it was bad from the first. i When the above statement was made to • me, I could not help thinking how i strong ib was as an argument for the con- ■ tinued support of your San Francisco seri vice. The argument that the 'Frisco ; service was a mere letter and passenger ) service, judged in the light of the above ; statement, is immensely in its favour. The i fact that the colony gives a large subsidy : to a steam proprietory which enters a ring ' to keep up freights against the interests of every man in the colony, is so clearly a ) public wrong that no further comment is needed to condemn it.