D—2

TRANSPORT OF ARTIFICIAL MANURES, PHOSPHATES, SULPHUR, AND TIMBER BY ROAD AND SEA Arising from the shortage of railway wagons which has been more particularly acute in the Auckland Province in the busy season, it has been necessary for several years to •divert to road transport quantities of artificial manure, raw phosphates, sulphur, and timber which would normally have been carried by rail. The quantities so diverted during the past three years are as follows :

In the case of artificial manures, the costs of transport by road and by sea are considerably higher than those by rail. The Railways Department, therefore, organizes the utilization of road or sea transport in accordance with the availability of railway wagons. In this way the maximum possible use is made of the cheaper rail transport and the subsidy is kept down to a minimum. The Railways Department pays the road and sea operators in full, recovering from the farmer the amount he would have paid for rail freight and local delivery and the balance or subsidy through the Department of Agriculture. Of the total tonnage of artificial manures diverted from rail, all but 2,957 tons (ex Smart Road) was produced at the three Auckland works. In the case of bulk phosphate and sulphur, the tonnage represents raw materials carried from ship's side at Auckland to the three manure works which are all within a radius of 10 miles of the wharves. Prior to 13th September, 1947, the conveyance by road of the raw materials was arranged on the same basis as the conveyance of artificial manures, but since that date the British Phosphates Commission has engaged and paid its own carriers. Timber diverted to road has been carried under different schemes. All the timber ■concerned is produced in the Mangapehi, Putaruru, and Rotorua areas, and in some ■cases the parties concerned arranged the transport and paid their own carriers ; in ■others the scheme was the same in principle as that operated for artificial manures except that the subsidy was recovered from the New Zealand Forest Service ; in the case of timber from the New Zealand Forest Service mills that Service itself arranges all payments. In all, the subsidies on the road cartage of manure and timber amounted to £157,000. This sum represents the extra costs involved in road transport and, to that extent, represents a national waste. This waste can be eliminated only by an increase in the supply of wagons, and measures to effect this are dealt with elsewhere in this report. EMPLOYMENT The shortage of staff is a source of great difficulty in rendering efficient service and is causing considerable concern. Every branch of the railways is seriously depleted and this has necessitated the working of long hours over a period of years, with a consequent ■strain on the older members of the service. Various measures have been adopted and are being explored in an endeavour to provide some degree of relief, among which may be mentioned extensive advertising campaigns, immigration, and endeavours to augment housing and accommodation facilities for railway staff.

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Commodity. Year Ended 31st March, 1948. 1949. 1950. Artificial manures Bulk phosphates and sulphur Timber Totals Tons. 158,806 176,620 4,740 Tons. 119,721 173,878 6,570 Tons. 99,552 283,772 9,461 340,166 300,169 392,785