A SHEEPFARMER'S VIEWPOINT.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Volume 59, Issue 55, 5 April 1930, Page 6

A SHEEPFARMER'S VIEWPOINT.

C. .J. PARKER.

(To the Editor.) Sir, — Owing to the deplorable state ot harbour affairs in Hawke's Bay I feel compelled to add my protest to the many more which are coming from all round the district. I feel justified ia taking this course on account of my first experience in shipping wool on my own account, this wool being loaded oil to the Mahana in the roadstead per medium of the lighterage company, the port Charges amounting to Is 8d per bale wharfage and ls 9d per bale lighterage. On learning that tlie Benvenue was loading wool at the Breakwater, I made it my business to find out what the port charges were in her case, and to my surprise discovered that they only amounted to half oi vvliat it had "ost me. It seems very strange_ indeed to think that one man can sliip his produce from the same port as his neighbour at only half the cost. To those who have been interested enough to look beyond the farcical side of the harbour question, it is very obvious that all shipping trade oi any consequence has been weaned away from the Breakwater; why, we do not know, but we know this much, that the lighterage company is having a golden harvest at the expense o; the population of Hawke's Bay, and the farming commumty m particular. Before the, advent of motor transport I frequently travelled between Auckland and Napier and Gisborne arid Napier in such boats as the Monowai, Tarawera and Arahura, and on occasion expe'rienced extremely heavy seas, but never once, Winter or Summr, did we fail to reach a safe and cairn berthage at tlie Napier Breakwater; and yet during the five most favourable trading months of the year the shipping companies refuse to use this same Breakwater. Why? Is it because they are bent on centralisation, or is there some other motive? Quite a lot of people scoff_ at the idea of centralisation, but it is one of the. biggest dangers overshadowing the port of Napier at the present moment. With our falling railway revenuA the Government will not hesitate to grasp st any straw that offers, so we can expect little sympathy from that quarter. Then we have big business and shipping interests in Wellington casting envious eyes on our trade, and with the completion of the new railway station, and up-to-date railway wharves, they no doubt hope to make a great eapture in the „ near future. But suvely the shipping companies haven't such a stranglehold on our trade tlfat they can dictate as to where our produce shall he loaded„ providing they are supplied with proper facilities? Napier is listed as the fourth port of importance in New Zealand, so surely our trade is valuable enough to excite competition amongst the various companies using the port. If one boat ean take wool from the Breakwater surely others can do the same, and save the farmers many thousands of pounds in lighterage fees. The same applies to our frozen meat. Why have it qumped into lighters and double-haiuiled when we have more up-to-date and cheaper metliods of loading at our disposal. Why is it that prime Canterbury is always quoted at -£d per lb. better than Hawke's Bay? Not because they can produce better quality stuff than we can, but simply because ■ their meat is railed direct from the worlcs to the ship and not damaged by unnecessary hanclling. I am afraiff that half the responsibility for the present state of affairs lies in the fact that the farming coxnmunity have been far too apathetic with regard to the shipping and disposal of their produce. Of course, for some years now, we have been getting good prices and by selling the bulk of our produce locally - we have not been directly hit by overhead expenses such as shipping charges. etc.. but with a reversal in our fortunes caused hy the present slump we are all now striving to lhake ends meet and waking up to the fact that w© have been carrying too many hurdens on our backs. Here is one glaring instance ' right on the back door-step, and it is only by tho co-operation of the business people and farming community that this state of affairs can be eliminated. It is very reassuring to find the meniber for Napier talcing an interest in the harbour question. but I am afraid he won't achieve much by merely calling the two Chamhers of ,Commerce and the Harbour Board together. What we require is a strong committee of farmers and business men who are prepared to call meetings in the various centres of Hawke's Bay harbour district and put the whole position clearly before the public. In tlie past we have been so deluged with misleading reports and propaganda that I am sure very few people understand what all the trouble is over. — I am,

Hastings, April 5, 1930.