RAILWAY FREIGHTS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 75, Issue 12, 15 January 1932, Page 6

RAILWAY FREIGHTS

Sir, —Tn your issue of the 12th. inst. you report. Cr. H. G. Birch as having commented unfavourably on railway freights at a recent Waitotara County Council meeting. His remarks applied to rates of freight on sheep from Hawke’s Bay, and from a man of his experience were somewhat surprising. It is to be regretted that a member of a public body should give utterance to what was quite obviously the product of a single line of thought. Mr. Birch states that the rate of freight on sheep (from Hawke’s Bay) has not varied from Is 6d per head with the fall in value of sheep from £1 to six or seven shillings respectively. ! This may be quite true, but a little thought from another angle would have revealed to Mr. Birch at least some of the causes which have brought about this position, and also the fact that his sheep were carried at an exceedingly moderate rate. Presuming these sheep to have travelled 126 miles, it will be easily seen that at Is 6d per head they were actually carried for the small sum of 1-7 of a penny per head per mile. Could anyone travel such sheep for a lesser amount, and with such expedition as is accorded by our railway service? If any comparison with the past and more prosperous years is to be made then the conclusion must be that heretofore too little has been charged, a fact so many of us fail to appreciate. This has been one factor detrimental to the profitable maintenance and running of our railways, but the greatest factor has undoubtedly been the tremendous advance motor transport has made, and in so doing deprived the railway of much of its legitimate revenue. Mr Birch has overlooked the fact that a very large number of sheep farmers now send fat lambs to the freezing works by motor lorry, whereas a few years ago the Railway Depart-

ment carried this freight. The freight on lambs per motor transport is roughly 3-10 penny per head per mile, as against 1-7 penny per mile per head for the. sheep in question. Admittedly there are advantages in the utilisation of road transport; but is there any actual saving effected? It is safe to say that the bulk of these lambs are carried in American trucks, run on American petrol. The rapid introduction of motor transport has meant the expenditure of large sums of money for the construction and maintenance of suitable roads, but Mr. Birch must not lose sight of the fact that he, in common with every other citizen, is virtually a shareholder in the New Zealand Railways. This being so, and remembering that the railway is an essential service, it will be seen that however much we may spend on the roads or use them for what would be normally either freight or passenger service by rail, we must still pay the maintenance and running expenses of the State railways. With the exception of better reading (New Zealand roads are reputed to be better than those in any other country on a population basis) how much better off would we have been if wo had been content with arterial railway transit, and refrained from what has virtually been a policy of borrowing money from Great Britain with which to build up the United States. I venture to express an opinion that most of those farmers who use the railways merely as a convenience, and not upon every possible occasion, still expect their lime and fertilisers to be carried at the same concession accorded by the department to its regular customers. Mr. Birch's remarks, from his viewpoint, appear innocent enough at first sight, but an analysis of them from a broader view, opens up many avenues of thought, all leading ultimately to the conclusion our railways can still successfully compete with other transport, and are worthy of more wholehearted support. Thanking you for your space, I am, etc. “PERTIN AX.”