MAILS IN THE COUNTRY

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18587, 22 December 1934, Page 16

MAILS IN THE COUNTRY

LICENSES FOR CARRIERS

IMPORTANT PRINCIPLE

(Per Press Association.)

CHRISTCHURCH, last night. An important principle concerned with the issuing of goods licenses for country districts as affecting mailcarrying contracts by the Post and Telegraph Department has been decided by a reserved judgment announced to-day by the- No. 8 Transport Authority. The effect of the judgment is that the licensing authority maintains its right to overrule the Postal Department by refusing to license mail contractors. The judgment states: —

“In considering these cases a principle that we feel should be adopted is that if the mail contract far outweighs any other part of a carrying business, then prinm facie if a new operator is the lower tenderer, he should bo entitled to a licenso and the unsuccessful tenderer should give way to him, the rest of the business in that case clearly following the mail contract. If, on the other hand, the mail subsidy is a small thing compared with the rest of the licensee’s business, then we think it would be wrong in the face of section 20 to bring in- a now man, but that in such a case if the licensee cannot agree with the postal authorities as to the amount of the subsidy to be paid, it might be referred to the licensing authority to fix. “Consideration would bo given in this case to the other elements, such as for example, how much of the outside business is due wholly, or in part to the licensee’s own exertions, and how much necessarily follows his having the Post Office contract. Some consideration must be given also to the length of time the applicant has held the contract. As having a bearing on this aspect of the case, the longer he has held the greater the consideration to which he is entitled. Other considerations apply too, but in our view those are the basic ones.’’