84 



it amounted to £S 16s. 8d. A case occurred where a small demi- 

 john was sent to town and the freight was 4s. He was quite sure 

 that a recommendation coming from the Conrention that the mini- 

 mum freight on bottles and casks and small cases should be reduced, 

 he would not say to what, would meet with recognition. The 

 weight of 200 gallons in wood was about 1 ton 5 cwt., and 

 in cases about 2 tons 5 cwt. He would like to call for a reduc- 

 tion in the minimum on empty-bottle and full-bottle rates. 

 He knew they had Mr. Webb's sympathy in the matter, for he 

 wanted to help the producers' profits by reducing the railway 

 freights. , 



Mr. Irvine said that last year he paid between £400 and £500 

 for bottles, that was with breakages which were heavy. In 

 buying second-hand bottles they cost 4d., and they cost 4d. a 

 dozen for freight for quarts and 2^d for pints, that is if bought in 

 the market. The breakages added a little to that. He wrote to 

 the commissioners and pointed that out to them, and they called 

 for returns at once, and they had them. 



Mr. Pounds said the freight for wine in cases was 17s. 8d. per 

 ton, an empty hogshead going up was £1 16s. lid. Empty 

 bottles going up cost £1 3s. od., and filled the cost was £1 16s. 

 1 Id. per ton. 



A Member said a great many people sent down wines in quarter- 

 casks, and the freight was a downright tax. All the profit went 

 in the high rate of charges. They had impressed that on the 

 commissioners and they promised to give attention to it, but 

 nothing came of it. He would impress upon the meeting the 

 necessity of getting the minimum reduced for the sake of the small 

 growers. 



Mr. Pounds said that if fifty cases were sent away by the same 

 train to fifty different persons they must be different consign- 

 ments, and one was put to a great deal of trouble to obviate that. 

 If he wanted to send a case of wine from Dookie to some one living 

 5 or 6 miles outside of Melbourne that had to be part of a con- 

 signment to Melbourne and be then reconsigned. 



The Chairman put the motion as proposed by Mr. Graham 

 and seconded by Mr. Moore. Carried. 



Mr. Pounds mentioned that at the meeting of the Central 

 Wine-growers' Association there was a recommendation that there 

 should be a 20 per cent, reduction on all implements used by the 

 wine-growing industry, and that oak staves be admitted free. There 

 was supposed to be an inclination on the part of the present 

 Ministry to improve the Tariff in the interests of the cultivators of 

 the soil, and he would like to know whether the meeting would 

 support a motion of that kind. 



Mr. Graham thought it was a matter for the Tariff Com- 

 mission. 



