The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1930. MORE CARGO WANTED

Southland Times, Issue 21001, 6 February 1930, Page 4

The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1930. MORE CARGO WANTED

Reference to the lack of cargo offering for the Bluff-Melbourne subsidized service should remind traders in the South Island that not by passengers alone can vessels be maintained on this route. This is the crux of the position and it explains why the Union Company was unable to keep the service going without outside help. Undoubtedly it is too soon to gauge the results of the State's intervention with financial aid, and the loss of the Manuka has made matters worse, but enough has been discovered to show that unless traders in the .south combine to put every ton of cargo possible across this route there can be no hope of making it a payable business in the next few years. To say that ultimately this service will have to be speeded up to cope with the demands made on it sounds well, but the word “ultimately” belongs to the “blessed” group in that it may mean five years and it may mean fifty or a hundred years hence. The Maheno is not carrying enough cargo to justify her position in the service, and if another vessel were at hand to help her the financial figures would be even worse. One Dunedin merchant suggests that traders have not yet had sufficient time for the organization of their trade for the Bluff-Melbourne boats, and it is, therefore, desirable to withhold any definite opinions; but there should be no difficulty in this matter because if the service is a real advantage importers and exporters will quickly make full use of it. At the same time it has to be remembered that speed is a great quality in any transportation scheme, and to advocate the building up of a special passenger attraction by means of visits to the West Coast Sounds may mean the encouragement of a diversion which will lengthen the time required by the boats to make port on their inward run with cargo. The Maheno has had good passenger lists during this summer, and so far as that side of the scheme is concerned she has done well, but it is in the development of her cargo carrying that the crux of the whole business lies, and traders in the Sout h Island must combine to make the most of their opportunities if they wish the BluffMelbourne service to continue.