ARCHIVE FILE
This article was published in 1937
See the original document
STOCK REGULATIONS OF RAILWAY DEPARTMENT
Mr. D. J. HOWSE, Acting Assistant Chief Traffic Manager, Sydney.
The opportunity of meeting the Inspectors of Stock at their Annual Conference, for the purpose of a brief address on stock concessions granted by the Railway Department, and their basis of application, is very much appreciated by the Railway Administration, for the reason that there is a good deal in common between the two Departments; and the changes which have taken place in the basis of some of the concessions may have made it difficult for Stock Inspectors to follow with any degree of satisfaction the reason for the changes and the real intention of the new conditions which have recently become operative.
The Railway Department has received considerable assistance from the Stock Inspectors generally, and so far as the Railway Department is concerned there is a very good spirit of co-operation existing, which is in the best interests of all concerned. But there are many features in connection with stock concessions which give rise to a difference of opinions as to the intention of interpretation, and my main object in the short time at my disposal is to touch on these with a view to conveying the Railway point of view, and the determination in regard to some of the more difficult Issues.
It is necessary to just briefly traverse the history of stock concessions and this can be divided principally into two sections:
(1) Stock moved owing to failure of pastures or water.
(2) Stock moved in store condition for purposes of restocking a holding.
The first concession does not present very many difficulties, and generally speaking no serious complications arise because the Stock Inspector is able to give a definite certificate in regard to the pastures, which is the determining factor. The return of the stock to its original pastures is also reasonably controllable, and beyond isolated cases in which the stock, for good reason, is not able to return within the maximum period of two years, or stock which for good reasons requires to be transported to other holdings of the same owner, are dealt with on their merits. There are no serious complications which require to be dealt with at length. If, however, there should be any features in the minds of any of those present bearing on this particular concession, I shall be pleased to answer any question at the close of my remarks.
Dealing with store stock, apart from the changes in the regulations over a period of years there are many and varying opinions as to the true interpretation of "Store Stock," and anyone experienced in the stock business can readily raise sound questions on which I venture to say even those gentlemen here this afternoon would vary in their opinion of interpretation to probably a marked degree.
From a Railway point of view, the store animal was intended to be one in poor condition transported to a holding for fattening, breeding or woolgrowing, and the original concession was always restricted to animals which were not in fat condition or reasonably fat for disposal as fat stock. This condition has in the past raised many contentious issues mainly on the ground that Stock Inspectors, as well as stock owners and agents have claimed that animals in forward or even fat condition in a good season, whether they were breeding or woolgrowing animals, were essentially store stock in the true sense of the word for restocking purposes and, If anything, more valuable to the pastoralists than store animals in a poor condition solely for fattening and marketing for butchers' trade.
This has accounted for quite a number of varying opinions on the part of Stock Inspectors and whilst the Railway Department insisted on the rigid application of the conditions and interpretations of its by-laws, there has always been a frank appreciation of the point of view of Stock Inspectors and owners in regard to the class of restocking animals particularly referred to.
Up to 1933 a condition precedent to the application of store stock concessions was that animals must remain unsold and be pastured for a period of not less than one month outside 50-mile radius of Flemington or Farley—the pasturing period in the latter area being six months. In 1933, the Commissioner for Railways decided to withdraw the pasturing period and the conditions in regard to sale, with the result that the store stock concessions were granted at the time of consigning, and this left the consignee free to dispose of the animals immediately, either by private treaty or medium of country store stock sales, with the result that store stock sales developed rather substantially in the more important country districts. This gave rise for a fairly lengthy period to irregularities, inasmuch as the freedom to dispose of stock almost without restriction resulted in animals in reasonably forward condition finding their way into butchers' trade, and a number of serious cases occurred in which even complete train loads of animals, certified to be in store condition found their way into the fat stock markets, which was obviously a contravention of the purpose for which the store concession was originally granted.
This caused the Railway Commissioner considerable concern, and the number of cases which cane under notice resulted in the whole matter being submitted to the Government for consideration, with a recommendation that the pasturing conditions should be restored and that the stock should remain unsold in the case of areas outside 50 mile radius of Flemington and Farley for a period of not less than one month. A by-law re-introducing these conditions operated from 5th August, 1936. This was certainly a drastic change in the concessions and meant the total cessation of store stock sales unless the animals were transported thereby by rail at full rate, but it was fully justified in order to bring the whole position to a head and put a stop to the tendency to develop the concession into one of general application rather than an adjunct to the restocking of pastoral holdings.
The rigid limitations of this by-law obviously raised complaints from graziers and grazing interests generally, but when the full facts were made available to the various organisations it was frankly admitted that the Railway Commissioner had been completely justified in his action; extensive negotiations with a view to some easing of the position resulted in a series of conferences being held between the officers of the Railway Department and the representatives of the various grazing organisations and stock agents. These resulted in a very frank discussion of the stock business and a full appreciation of the need for adequate protection to ensure that the concessions were applied to stock for restocking holdings for production which would give subsequent rail business, which is the only sound basis on which a rail concession can be justified. The outcome of these series of conferences was the recognition of the claim for the store stock concession to be applied to animals, irrespective of their condition, obtained for restocking a holding for breeding purposes, dairying or woolgrowing, and in connection with animals purchased for direct transport to a holding, the concession can be safely and satisfactorily controlled by the conditions of one month pasturing, and this was brought into operation as from 1st January last by a new by-law covering the new conditions.
It was unanimously agreed that the concession must be controlled by rebate and the application of a pasturing clause.
The position in regard to the country stock sales was a much more difficult matter for the reason that the introduction of animals in forward or fat condition to the concession demanded the application of conditions which would unconditionally ensure that such animals go on the holding for restocking. Much thought was given to this aspect, and the only conclusion which could be arrived at was that a certificate from the buyer that the animals purchased were for restocking and held on his property for not less than one month, and this was the only acceptable or really satisfactory basis to control the concession. This aspect of the new by-law conditions was opposed by some interests on the ground that it was unduly arduous so far as agents controlling the country sales are concerned, and whilst this is quite appreciated no acceptable alternative could be produced, and the by-law was finally gazetted with the provision of these conditions so far as country sales are concerned.
The new by-law has necessitated the entire re-drafting of the forms governing the concessions, and in connection therewith the word "store," which is in some respects a misnomer, has been entirely eliminated, and the concession is now known as one for RESTOCKING. Consistent with this development the new form to be used for ordinary restocking is called the R. form, and similarly the new form prepared for the restocking sale is known as RS. form—these title letters having a direct association with the title of the concession.
The new forms will shortly be available, and I have samples with me for perusal if desired, and the only particular feature which should be of interest to Stock Agents is the fact that no certificate is required from the Stock Inspector in regard to the condition of the animals at the point of consigning, the only certificate required being from the Stock Inspector at the destination to cover the pasturing of the animals, which is the principal controlling feature of the by-law.
This should considerably ease the work of the Stock Inspectors and obviate that inconvenience which arose from inability to obtain signatures for stock forms prior to loading, which involved a good deal of subsequent correspondence. The stock forms will again, as in the past be supplied in duplicate so that a copy can be retained by the Inspector for his records.
This, generally. is a resume of the principal stock concessions; and in conclusion I would like to mention just some of the features which have been disclosed in the investigations into stock irregularities which will be of interest to Stock Inspectors and in respect of which they may be able to exercise some influence in protecting the interests of the Railway Department:—
(1) Declarations signed by owners and witnessed by J.s P. with little or no information being embodied in the form in regard to the stock to which the certificate applies. This Information has, of course, been subsequently written or typed in by stock agents or their staff and if any certificates which are clear in this respect are submitted to Stock Inspectors, they should not be signed; or if there is a doubt, the fact should be brought under the notice of the Railway Department.
(2) Animals not transported or placed on the pastures shown on the form as the destination, but subsequently transported to points for disposal in some cases as fat stock. It is very important that information in regard to the pasturing destination of stock should be quite accurate, particularly if going on agistment.