RAILWAY RATES ON FROZEN MEAT.

Otago Witness, Issue 2206, 11 June 1896, Page 6

RAILWAY RATES ON FROZEN MEAT.

We have been reque3ted to publish the folowing correrp->udenM between the Minisrfr for Railways and the Southland Fr z >v Mi at Company on the subject of the rates charged the company on the carriage of its frozen meat :— Invercargill, February IS, 1896. The Hon. A. J. Cadman, Minister for Railways, Wellington. Sir,— l beg most respectfully to bring under your notice the question of railway carriage on frozen and dead meat paid by this company from its works at Mataura and Wallacetown to the port at the Bluff. These charges have long been felt to be most oppressive on our frozen meat industry, and have.

materially retarded the efforts of our company in its endeavour to reach a profitable position as a dividtnd-paying concern. Tho benefits accruing to the company from the splendid water power ut the Mataura works Lave been absorbed iv the excessive vato charged oa frozen meat from these works to the Bluff, the rate being (exclusive of wharfage) 22s 6 i per ton' (distance, 4!) miles). This lepresents one-eighth of a peuuy per lb, or one-third of our gross freezing charges. . The rate on frozen meat from Wallacetown to Bluff, a distance of 22 miles, is Us lOd per ton, and when, owin? to slackness of trade tho Bluff works are closed down, the dead meat has to bo sent from Wallacetown to Matauia to be frozen, the rates then amount as follows :— From Waliacetown to M'nraura, 1769(1 per ton. From Mataura to Bluff, 22s Gd'psr ton. In all, via Matauva from Wallacetown, 403 3d per ton (a distance of 71 miles, equal to 13d per carcase). The charges for rail on frozen meat in New South Wales and Victoria ate as follows : — From Eohuca to Melbource (148 mile.-), Is 2d p r 10-ton truck per n.ile. From Denilfquin to JSchuca (-15 miles), £2 per trunk per run. j From Dubbo to Sydney (280 mile*), £15 por I 10 ton ti uck per run. I Comparing these with the New Zealand rates, the following are the results : — Deni iqniu to Ecbuca— rate for 45 miles, 4s 4Jd per ton. Echuea to Melbourne— ratio for 49 miles, 5s BJd pei ton. | Dubbo to Sydney— ratio for 49 miles, Gs 3d per ton. Mataura to Bluff (49 mHes), 22s 6d per ton— or from four to five times more than those charged in Victoria and New South Wales. The rata charged on frozen meat from Oamaru to Port Clialmerois ouly ]5s per ton for a distance of GS miles, or about 3d per carouse for the tquivalent distance Mataura to Bluff, for which we are charged 7Jd. Estimating the cost on the Victorian and New South Wales railways for a like distance, we find it to be from ljd to lf'l per carense, against oarfl as stated above (7Jd). These figures speak for themselves. The treatment of the frozen meat trade by the Railway department is most remarkable for its want of appreciation <f the industiy a3 one entitled to special consideration. Frozen meat is placed in tho tariff under class C, ia the merchandise section, instead of b ing specially treated as a staple product and rated on a par with grain (cUes IS), which even then would place it considerably above the Australian rates. I feel confident in approaching you that the position disclosed will receive your earuc3fc attention, and I venture to hopo that the ovoi charge comi'l -lined of will be satisfactorily adjusted by you.- 1 have, &c, (Signed) John M'Quehn, Chairmau Committee of Management. New Zealand Government Railwayd. Head Office. Wellington, 11th March 18%. Sir,— l have carefully considered you latter of February 18 having lefeien^e to the freights charged for th*i conveyance of your pro lucn over t'*e New Zealand railways Mr Ct. W. Nichol hns also called upon mo, sind hns pointed out that the estimated weight of y ur sherp when frozen is GOlb, and that the average freight per sheep from Mataura to the Bluff is 7Jd. I think that these figures sue over-estimated, as I find that for a period of 12 months your sheep from Mataura to tlie Bluff averaged only 51 Jib each in weight. This «ill make tho freight 61 d per sheep instead of 7}<l. The whole <itie.-ti' n of the rate, for froz»n meat was fully leviuwed dining lusb Feasion of Parliament, when it was poiuled out that th« Government, in substantially reducing the live sheep rates and providing funds for largely increasing the number of bheep trucks, had already made very great concessions to the frozen meat industry, and I regret I cannot sso my way to make any i eduction in the ex stiDg rates for the carriage of your company's meat. — I am, &c, A. J. Uadman, Minister for Railways. John M'Quenn, Esq., Southland Frozen Meat nnd Produce Company (Limited), Invercargill. Hon. A. J. Caclman, Minister for Railways, Wellington. (Riilago on Dead Meat.) Sir, — Your favour of 1 tth Mai eh replying to ours of 16th February re excessive vales on deid meat has been duly considered, aud it is with very great regret the management of our company learn from you that you cannot see your way lo make any reduction in the exi-tin^ rales for tho carriage of our dead meat. You make some r&ferenco to a conversation with Mr Nichol, in which you end'-avour to ihow that our sheep do not aveiate GOlb c*ch cucaso in weight. Mr Nichol instructs me to say that what he stated to you was that a COlb sheep (which might be taken as an average sheep) costs 7Jd for rail from Mataura to Bluff as against ljd to ljd charged in Australia on the same weight carcase for railage for a similar distance. Of course, as the charge is by weight, a 501b sheep would cost less than a 601b sheep. The charge from Mataura to Blnff being 22s 6d per ton weight, equal to Old per lb on all sheep, light or heavy, the question of what is the average weight or our sheep ia therefore not pertinent. The next objection you who against reduction of rates is in effect that as the department has lowered the rate on the carriage of live stock, therefore the rates on " dead " meat cannot be reduced. What our company wish to point out is, that as our Mataura and Wallacetown works are situated inland, we as a company are necessarily interested to a much greater extent in the c»rrlage of " dead meat" than in the carriage of "live meat"; and while we view with pleasure the reduction in the carriage of live stock, we are equally solicitous to see "even-handed" justice done to the dead meat trade. - , . The whole auestion teems to be, What are fa»

rates for the railway to charge the frozen meat industry on sheep wheher alive or dead? To apologise for an extortionate rate on dead ' meat, by referring us to a low rate on live meat, is surely nqt seriously intended by you aa au . answer to our plaint. We must confess that ifc seems to us very much like giving us a fatone, • when we ask for bread. We cannot understand how you can Hhow that our interests as a company are conseived t>y a low scale of carriage on live stock, -which is a minor interest to us, when you so unmeicifully rate us on dead stock, in which we are almost solely interested. What you give with one hand you far more than take from us with the other. The department not only charge our company four and five times the cost charged in the faister colonies of Victoria and New South W&les, as Bhown in our letter of ICth February, but strangely enough charge U3 in excess of what is charged iv New Zealand, on what miy be termed "JoDg distance carriage." For instaoce :— Miles. Per ton. Oatnaru to Port Chalmers ... 68 15s Od Woodville to Spit 95 28s 0d Xongburn, via Manawatu, class D a lower claBS than class G Mataura to Bluff, class C ... 49 22s 6d . If our line \jijere full of tunneh, heivy grades, or otherwise had soms special circunistances as against other line?, we might understand our being more highly rated than other lines, but oura to the Bluff is a fairly level one, hua no tunnels, and the ordinary trains cairy the whole of our trade. Our meat carriage is all found traffic for the railway. .For some years we have been contributing nearly £4000 per annum to ths railway. If this aniouub represented f.»ir value for services renderel we could have nothing to complain of, ' but we as a company consider we have conclusively proved tbat we have been unfairly rated. - whether we compare our rates with those charged in Australia or even iv New Zealand. The Southland Frozen Meat Company seems to have been specially isolated, while other companies have received concession!, We instance Oomai'ii, Woodville, Longburn. We therefore again approach you 6n this subject, and respectfully request you to reconsider your refuaal to lower our rates.— l have. <fee, (Signed) John M Queen, Chairman Guarantors' Committee, Southland Frozen Meat and P.K. Company (Limited). Wew Zealand Railways, Head Office, Wellington, April 25, 1896. Sir, — I have the honour by direction of the Minister for Railways to acknowledge receipt of your letter of the 10th iuet. in regard- to the rates on dead meat, and to inform you that after giving the matter further careful consideration he regrets ho cannot see his way to make any reduction in the rates at present.— I have, &c, ■ (Signed) H. J. H. Blow, Under Secretary. The Cbairmnn Guarantors' Committee, Southland Frozen Moat and P.E. Company (Limited), Invercargill.