FUTURE POLICY OF

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 20093, 24 November 1930, Page 15

FUTURE POLICY OF

wii,EST | iltta r»xsßjif* cltl » M J urKLAND, November 22. A wconfidence in the future - Ul|ld ra ihvnv system, * tl.e \ Veitch . Minister tor I* m ~ vhe .; replying this morning against toi dcpU' suburban workers jjicrea general policy as f,res. vom . to balance between cmm.rcLally *•&!%> *«*>* —r iffl'i , I v-iluable social serv ices. , lo niic ttough tho Department intfinaUKi j tQ provide > f r^s UG as t0 could bo done *Jyjgo gfcH nrpasonublo loss. J U -C60.000.000 1 would not 'V I .J .7. r.ik'it in our raihvays T"oat ii'iuro before thorn, fftf sha ><| ° . ic( , tliev can perlonn both W t! ,- t ,i V it can made as the overcome Zoalan d will recJtioatelJ, j]|- *. u f prosperity, the *» which will n„kc differ€n t proJttnVom what they are now. Assisting Development. ' "I want to assure you that as far as -mm concerned and the Government :s Sffi!'look upon the railways mere-r-1 r&" BTS» ,=£ by public money and their thiel !£,is to aid arid make possible tho SdTpment of the country. If we get that policy and regard the SSrtment purely as ft business coniXmake money out of the people, « will make a very great mistake iuWe are, indeed, long past the at which it is possible to do so It bad been assumed, the Minister ■ad that the changes he had made taking over the Railways portXwere not hiring the effect ot retiring railway losses but tho alterata we materially reducing the TZZ. in the last three months n savineof £150,000 had been effected. At ihfr same time, if it could be shown tfcsfc any feature of the economies that bid been applied was not working out correctly, ne would not be foolish enough to adopt an attitude of blind obstinacy. He would seriously consider every complaint or suggestion he received, whether it came from Auckland or from anv other part of the country. Tho question had been raised as to Whether the railways should be run ns a purely commercial concern or as an undertaking to make losses and heavy losaes in order to run uneconomic though valuable social services. Balance Between Extremes. "We mußt balance somewhere between the two extremes," declared the Minister. worst extreme of all would be to make it a purely Commorfial concern, "without consideration or the needs of the public in respect to the services the railways give. When we come to analyse the railway accounts it must be recognised that losses which are a burden on the taxVf. yer« innsf always bo seriously conly«rt<?. Op* attitude is that we will wSfane to'nse the Department' as a »fw of giving social services as far , a that can be done without an unawmable loss and the placing of too Wj s burden on the taxpayers.'' Rt estimated loss for the preseut Tir#is £1,300,000, and that was a jittttm of money, particularly when wild on a weekly basis, and his obMinister for Railways was to tijt to balance between the extremes of ttttvo definite and opposing outlooks, 1 feft vt which were pressing very hard •liinr. It was the duty of the Mihiiiwto stand between the two, and to iiy to act and to judge fairly between tho* tnd, in the end, to do what ho best. Mr Yeitch said that one ftttito which had impressed him was Hi ttsiderfril loyalty of the railway stiff Mb the General Manager to the Uifii employed cadet.