WEDNESDAY, 30th MAY, 1917. ______

Present: J.O. Giles, Esq. (Chairman), H.H.Paynter, Esq., B.L. Clarkson, Esq., F.E. Veen, Esq. ______

HENRY WILLIAMS, Manager of Boan Bros., examined:

9310. By Mr CLARKSON: Is there any information you can give us in regard to the freights question, especially in regard to small consignments to country districts; in many places you pay freights? - Yes.

9311. From your general business knowledge, you will understand the drift of our inquiry; can you give us any information in that direction? - It is rather a difficult question to answer. I brought my despatch clerk with me and he is more in touch with the internal working of this branch and could reply better than I could, if you would be prepared to accept his evidence and could not express an opinion.

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WALTER HERBERT HILL, Despatch Clerk, Boan Bros., examined:

9312. By Mr CLARKSON: In regard to small consignments to the country districts, do you consider the freights in any way excessive? Do they bear heavily on the people? - I look on it in this way: The freights have had to be paid and we just paid them. I have not gone into the matter as to whether they are excessive.

9313. Mr WILLIAMS: Our opinion is that the freights are not generally excessive.

9314. Mr HILL: Take the agricultural districts. The manures are carried at a loss. Wheat is brought down and the railways carry a ton of wheat for 200 miles for 15s., but they charge £5 for a ton of groceries. If they could carry the wheat at 15s. a ton and show a profit, they could carry foodstuffs cheaper, but what they lose on one class they make up on another. There is a freight chargeable on eatables.

9315. By Mr CLARKSON: Then you consider the freights charged on goods going out high in comparison to other freights? - Yes, in comparison with other freights - manures, wheat timber, and so forth; but one balances the other.

9316. Does it ever strike you that the freight particularly in regard to small consignments, appears to be heavy compared with the cost of the article? - In some cases it is not. A fair average for a case of groceries taken 300 miles would be 20 per cent. of the total cost of the goods. A consignment under 3cwt. is not charged tonnage rates, but on a minimum, which is higher. It is fair that there should be an extra charge on that for the train has to stop and handle, say, 2cwt., where it would only take the same time, or a little more, to handle a ton.

9317. In that regard, with the minimum rates, where they will have a truck fully loaded with a lot of consignments, still the minimum rates prevail? - Yes; you might have a truck with 3½ tons of one certain class of goods and 2cwt. of another class. The railways charge the minimum rate for the 2cwt. In regard to ports, such as Geraldton, the railway charges are heavier than the boat charges. The people the other side of Geraldton ought to be able to shop cheaper in Geraldton, for a Geraldton storekeeper could get 10 cases of jam to Geraldton by boat at a cost of about 1s. a case. He could then sell a case of jam to a settler at Mullewa, 65 miles away, at a cost of 2s. 6d. That is 3s. 6d. on the case of jam. If we were to rail that case of jam to Mullewa it would cost 7s. If a Geraldton storekeeper buys as cheaply as we do, he can afford to sell a case of jam 3s. 6d. cheaper than we do. The same applies at Albany; 10 cases of jam to Albany for 1s. a case. The storekeeper can rail it back to Mt Barker, 39 miles, for 2s. a case. If we rail that case to Mt Barker, it would cost 6s. 6d. You must understand, however, that the storekeeper could not get one case at the price.

9318. We have had extraordinary instances given us where the cost railage of small articles makes them almost prohibitive? - I could pick out instances where people send down for cheap lines of stuff on which the freight is heavy. Take tomato sauce; half a dozen bottles would weigh 28lbs., and they are sent a long distance, the cost