38 



I am more than satisfied that the people of England know by 

 this time the great superiority of our wine over those of France, 

 and hence their value. I think, therefore, our outside market is 

 secured. Let us now take into consideration our home market, 

 I mean the wine market established in Victoria and the Austra- 

 lian colonies ; I am happy to say that this market, notwith- 

 standing the opposition it has had to encounter on all sides, is 

 making satisfactory progress. In the district to which I belong 

 a very large proportion of the wine grown is consumed locally, 

 but when we do get orders for wine, where carriage has to be 

 paid, we find that the heavy Carriage is a great bar to the sale of 

 our wines. I do not complain of large quantities, but only of 

 small lots. Now the small lots pay us best, hence we desire to 

 encourage that trade, but I regret to say the present management 

 of the railways has put an absolute stoppage to the sale of small 

 quantities. If a two-gallon jar or case filled with wine were 

 carried on the railways, same as a case of fruit, the wine trade 

 would be much more prosperous. These heavy charges on the 

 railways deprive the people of the wine which they require, deprives 

 the grower of the sale, and the railways themselves of an addi- 

 tional income ; so that the present management of the railways 

 is bad for the wine-grower and for all concerned. I will just give 

 one example. I sent a two-gallon jar filled with wine to a customer 

 of mine, on the railways ; when the wine arrived at its destination 

 the man to whom I sent it had to pay 4s. 3d. carriage, while the 

 wine itself cost only 6s. I got no more orders from this cus- 

 tomer. Sonde time after this transaction, I, with others, had the 

 honour of being on a deputation before the Minister of Eailways, 

 and this matter was brought forward amongst other things ; when 

 the Minister heard all we had to say, he, eyeing us scornfully, 

 cum torvo vultu, asked us did we desire that the railways would 

 be made the retailers of our wines ? In a word, I regret to say, 

 if my memory does not deceive me, that the Minister of Eail- 

 ways^ used language to the deputation which was unbecoming his 

 position and undeserved by the men who waited upon him, it was 

 absolutely untrue. I only relate this as showing that the Eail- 

 way Department is a gieat obstruction to our home market for 

 wine, and this obstruction too has been given in evidence before 

 the Tariff Commission by some of the wine-growers of Euther- 

 glen. In concluding this subject, I will merely say that if the 

 Railway Department can give the wine trade fair and just con- 

 sideration our Australian wine trade would be all that could be 

 desired, hence our wine market at home and abroad would be of 

 such dimensions that our rapid increase of wine-growing could 

 not keep abreast of it ; and hence it would become, what it is 

 now recognised to be by the leading men of the world, one of the 

 loremost industries in Australasia. 



