M. MYERS.]

165

D.—4.

most undoubtedly have to charge {or that service. They cannot be expected to do it for nothing, and there is another Is. 6d. added to the cost of the carriage of those goods beyond Foxton —not into Foxton, because if the goods are for delivery into Foxton that charge is perhaps not incurred. But that question is of little or no importance, because, as the Commission has been informed, 95 per cent. of the goods, or thereabouts, which arrive in Foxton are not for Foxton, but are for delivery at Palmerston or places beyond Foxton- partly on the Sanson line and partly on the Government line. In addition to that there is one feature that cannot be overlooked ; and, however the Hon. Mr. Millar ■may have put it in 1910, it is not used as a threat by the Railway Department, but it is a circumstance which the Railway Department says should not be lost sight of. The railway system has to be worked as a whole- it cannot be worked section by section. For example, a great many trucks come down from places far beyond Palmerston, and they accumulate in Wellington. Now, if the railways are to be run as a commercial concern in the interests of the public, those trucks must have back loading or else they are being run at a very great loss. The Eailway Department is not going to run the railways at a loss if it can help it, and in order to run on a commercial basis those trucks must go back loaded. Now, if the sea competition to Foxton increases to such a large extent as to seriously interfere with the Railway Department's haulage from Wellington outwards to Pa merston and north of Palmerston, the result would inevitably be that the Department, in order to secure back loading for the trucks, and in order to run the railways as a commercial concern, would have to make special rates. Thai happened at Oamaru, and your Honour knows the result. It cannot be said, your Honour, that the Railway Department has starved the Port of Foxton, and I will show the Commission that in the days of the Wellington—Manawatu Railway Company there was competition between the Government Railways and the Wellington and Manawatu Company, and, as the Commission has heard, the Railway Department worked in. conjunction with the steamers. Notwithstanding that, the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company had the bulk of the business. The Chairman : How can the little Foxton Harbour Board harm you, then ? Mr. Myers : Because when the Manawatu Company was in business they only got the trade by cutting the rates. The Chairman : You are the Goliath : it is not likely the little David can throw anyth ng to harm you. Mr. Myers : lam not so sure of that. The Railways are a Government concern, and we have heard a good deal in regard to " pressure; ol: public opinion." When the Manawatu Railway was acquired by the Government the special rates ceased, and immediately the trade of Foxton went up. It has increased considerably. Mr. Weston : The Makerua Swamp has been developed since 1908. Mr. Myers : The general merchandise, which, I suppose, after all, is the ©ergo that pays has, I think, pretty well doubled. The Chairman : You must understand that there has been an enormous development in that district in flax-mills, and Foxton is a township that has entirely changed from what it was in the o den days when there were no dairy factories or settlement round the district. Mr. Myers : But your Honour is comparing Foxton with a great many years ago : 1 am comparing it with, eight years ago. Mr. Weston : It is all within eight years that it has grown up. Mr. Myers : Oh, no. At all events the Commissoin will remember that some of the witnesses— •J. refer in particular to Mr. Kellow—have not hesitated to say that the result I have suggested is the result that they expect. I£ Mr. Kellow's evidence is looked at [see page 27, question i 38] it will be seen he was asked, " Would you expect that if the river is deepened and the conditions improved, the quantity of goods shipped by the vessels would be increased ? " and he replied, " It is a natural consequence, I should say. " More vessels would be running." Further : " And the quantity of goods carried by rail decreased ? " and he said, " Naturally. That is the trouble, of course." He means that is the trouble, of course, so far as the railway is concerned. Then he is asked whether it would affect the revenue, and he says, " to a certain, extent," but he does not think it would affect the revenue greatly. That is, assuming that the, port is considerably improved, and, as a consequence, that the shipping considerably increases. But I have put the position on the two suppositions—on the one supposition— which. I submit is the more correct one—that the work that is proposed to be done would not affect any improvement at all; and therefore it would be simply throwing money away. I put it that is not in the public interest, or, indeed, in the local interest. Then, in the alternative, lam putting it to the Commission that if the port were considerably improved, and the shipping increased, and the railway revenue was seriously affected, as a consequence special rates would have to be resorted to. The question is as to whether that is in the public or local interests. Your Honour, it may be that Foxton is unfortunately placed, in this sense, that it is the commencement of a railway—the FoxtonWaitara Railway—and that it is connected with Wellington through Palmerston by railway, and that it is so near to the two ports Wellington and Wanganui. That may be a misfortune, but, if it is, it cannot be helped. I can only put the facts as I submit they are proved, and the probable results, according to the evidence, as to whether money spent in the river is likely to effect any improvement. I then come to this point: Has it been, shown that the river conditions have appreciably deteriorated ? If it has not been shown that the river conditions have appreciably deteriorated, then that is an additional reason why this money should not be spent, and therefore a good reason why the money should not be handed over , to the Board. In the first place, your Honour will remember that the Harbourmaster told us that he had a record in his diary of the soundings taken. He had some of the soundings, but he had not put them all down. He could not let us have his diary because it contained some private matters. He was asked whether he would submit and forward to the Commission a copy of his notes of the soundings taken, and he said he would. I have asked for them since, but they