OUR RAILWAYS: PARCELS RATES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 10408, 5 April 1897, Page 3

OUR RAILWAYS: PARCELS RATES.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir,— was glad to see Mr. Speddiug's letter in your issue of to-day. because it shows that some people are beaiiiuinj; to see the frauds that are palmed off on them as " great concessions." For my part I have not lately sought to follow tho vagaries of the Railway Department. It is only the same old thing, a Halfpenny taken off here and ill its place a penny put on there. The Department makes a great talk about the " concession" in taking off the halfpenny, but it takes good care not to say that at or about the same time some alteration of classification, some local rating, or other railway dodge was resorted to in order to far more than recoup the " concession " made.

The fact is that the whole present system of railway rating is fraudulent and dishonest to the last degree. It has beeu carefully and elaborately built up for the purpose of rendering it impossible for the users of our railways to know what they ought to be charged. To give a striking illustration of these fraudulent statements about reductions, I direct attention to the railways statement for 1596, in which it is said that the revenue increased £13.762, " to which may be added the sum of £43,000, the estimated value of concessions made by the Government in fares and freights." It is thus sought to make it appear that the real increase in railway revenuo last year was i'5G,76-. In other words, that the 'department really earned this extra money, hut gave back to the community in reduced fares and rates £43,000 of it. I say that this statement is absolutely falso and untrue, that no reduction was made in either fares or rates, and that this £43,000 is as much a fraudulent boms entry as any of the cross entries recently exposed by Mr. Cook.

As regards fares, they were the same last year as they were the year before. There may have been some small manipulation of "local" tares, but if so, I will undertake to say that on the whole they were raised. As to goods rates, the charge for carrying and delivering each ton of goods last year was one halfpenny more than in tho previous year. If this £43,000 had been given in reduction of goods rates, then there should have been a reduced charge of sd—to be exact, 4'84 d—per ton instead of an in crease of id. I challenge the officers of the department to disprove the truth of my statement. _ If they are afraid of injuring their official dignity, perhaps Messrs. Maxwell and Hannay will come to the rescue— are no longer Government officials.—l am, etc., Auckland, April 1, 1897. Samuel Vaile.