Businessmen's tribute to Department's Enterprise.

After the party had re-assembled in the Goods Agent's offices, Mr. J. P. Luke, President of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce, on behalf of the Chamber, said that he was undesirable that vehicles serving the goods shed should be kept waiting about, and the arrangements made provided for through running by “one way” traffic.

He said that wherever it had been possible to obtain in New Zealand the materials for the construction of the new shed, this had been done.

After giving detailed particulars of the capacity of the new goods shed, Mr. Sterling concluded by remarking upon the very great pleasure it gave him to have representatives of the Chamber of Commerce there, because he wanted the public to know of the modern facilities which the Department now provided for their service. He then introduced to the company Mr. J. C. Schneider, Acting District Traffic Manager, and Mr. W. wished to express to Mr. Sterling his very great thanks for the hospitality of the Department and for the very interesting inspection they had made. He said that the citizens of Wellington, and in fact of the rest of New Zealand, understood the importance of Wellington as a port, and that the facilities for dealing with the growing business must be kept up-to-date. It was evident from what they had seen that the Railway Department was quite alive to the possibilities of improved railway facilities further extending their business. From what he had seen he was satisfied that in the handling of both outward and inward goods the new shed was right up-to-date, every provision having been made to reduce the cost of handling—a circumstance that was page 21 appreciated by business men. He expressed the appreciation of the commercial community in the facilities provided for more intensive handling. He understood that the time for the transport of goods would be appreciably reduced, and he was interested to know that the facilities for rapid despatch had been so speeded up that goods delivered at 6 p.m. would be in Hastings by noon next day, or in Auckland within twenty-four hours.

They had also been interested in the new carriages they had seen, and which were being introduced on the “Limited” express after having been provided for the Rotorua and South Island main line services. He congratulated Mr. Sterling on providing carriages of such a type to meet the changed conditions produced by road competition.

In acknowledging Mr. Luke's remarks, Mr. Sterling said:

“We stand for service—service of the highest quality at the lowest possible cost. Our facilities exceed those provided by any other method of transport, and I should like you to know as business men, and also as people of the Dominion, that the cars to which Mr. Luke has referred were designed entirely by our own officers, and constructed entirely in our own workshops by our own workmen.

“Taking into consideration the price charged for the service given by these trains in relation to the cost of transport, I don't think that what we now provide is exceeded anywhere in the world.”