ON AGRICULTURE TO IRELAND 129 



On the other hand, it dealt as faithfully with the Railway Com- 

 panies. It pointed out to them that the trucks in which they con- 

 veyed butter, for example, were often in an unclean state, that there 

 was very considerable carelessness in handling all consignments 

 of produce, that there was unnecessary delay, and, quite frequently, 

 excessive rates. The Railway Companies seem to have fared worse 

 on the rates question than on any other. A few examples may be 

 given. The Great Southern & Western Railway Company applied 

 to the Railway and Canal Commissioners for consent to increase 

 their rates for the carriage of artificial manures, feeding cake, grain, 

 etc., between Dublin and certain stations on their line. The 

 Department were given power by the 17th Section of the " Agri- 

 culture and Technical Instruction (Ireland) Act, 1899," to appear on 

 behalf of aggrieved farmers and others before the Railway and Canal 

 Commissioners. They appeared in this case and successfully 

 resisted the increase. In other cases, the Department obtained 

 considerable reductions in the rates. The rate for the conveyance 

 of Indian corn from Dublin to Castlerea was lis. 6d. per ton ; the 

 rate for Indian meal was only 9s. 4d. The Company, on a repre- 

 sentation being made to them, reduced the rate on Indian corn to 

 9s. 4d. Butter from Fiddown Station to Belfast was charged 

 40s. 5d. per ton, and from Wexford to Liverpool, 40s. per ton. 

 Representations were made by the Department, and in the case of 

 the Fiddown to Belfast rate, it was reduced by way of experiment to 

 35s. per ton. The Railway Company pointed out that there was 

 practically no trade in butter between Wexford and Liverpool, but 

 it reduced the rate from 40s. to 20s. per ton. Blackberries were 

 charged at 30s. per ton from Drogheda to Manchester. The Com- 

 pany agreed, on a representation being made by the Department, 

 to make the rate 25s. Potatoes were charged 7s. 6d. per ton in barrels 

 from Rush to Dublin during the months of April, May, and June, and 

 4s. per ton at other seasons of the year. After a correspondence 

 with the Department the Company agreed to issue a rate of 4s. per 

 ton during the months mentioned, as well as for other parts of the 

 year. There were other cases in which excessive rates were charged 

 by mistake, which but for the Department might not have been 

 discovered. For example, it was complained by the Department 

 that the rate for the conveyance of a consignment of butter from 

 Limerick to Southend-on-Sea was excessive. A re-entry of the con- 

 signment was made by the Company and the charge was fixed at 

 Is. lOd. instead of 4s. 6d., the amount originally claimed. A 

 rate of 45s. lOd. per ton was charged for a consignment of butter 

 from Limerick to Tirphill. The Railway Company admitted that 

 the 45s. lOd. was a clerical error and reduced the amount to 35s. 

 A charge of 2s. 2d. for the conveyance of an empty dog crate from 

 Cork to Dublin was made. On examination, it was ascertained that 

 an overcharge of 5d. had been made, and this was refunded. Salted 

 skins were charged at 30s. per ton from Mullingar to LiverpooL 

 The Company admitted the rate was a mistake, that it should have 

 been 24s. 2d., and made the necessary alteration. 



The Department may be congratulated on the work which it has 

 I 



