TRANSPORT LICENSES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22505, 25 February 1935, Page 11

TRANSPORT LICENSES

TO THE EDITOR Sir, —Surely it is about time the general public took, notice of the Transport Board's wholesale refusal to grant carriers' licenses. Of course the idea is to force all the traffic to the but surely the carrying firms have some rights. They pay heavy taxes, give employment to many people, and afford satisfaction to their patrons. The railways want a monopoly, and it cannot handle the traffic it has ai present. For instance, take the stock traffic to the works at Burnside. These works are the oldest established in New Zealand. Ninety per cent, of the stock is carried by rail. One would expect that in the interests of the stock, to say nothing of the men who have to unload the stock, a service could be run which would land the stock at the works at 11 p.m. at the latest. Yet men wait evfery night till 11 p.m. to unload, and often receive only a fraction of the expected number, which trickles in at all hours during the night. It is amusing to read the instructions on the railway stations about the careful handling of sheep, so as to avoid bruises, etc., and never a word about reasonably quick transport and careful shunting. The stock traffic is a valuable one to the Railways Department, but it has never been a good service as regards Burnside. Having a monopoly of this traffic the department seems to take more interest in Sunday excursions, and carriers who could and do make a success of their business are refused licenses.—l am, etc.. Onlooker. Burnside, February 22.