THE TRAMWAYS.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 20094, 25 November 1930, Page 14

THE TRAMWAYS.

LABOUR PARTY'S POLICY. ADPKESSKS BY CANDIDATES, .S«vcinl as tlio Labour Party's candidates tor t lies Tramway Hoard addressed meetings last evening, outlining their policy for the future com troj of the service. ftJr (J. Hill presided ovej' a meeUng hcKi opposite the VVoolston Fire fcJLation, i" .Kerry road, Mr J. MaCombs, M.l'.. being the principal speaker. "hi common »itii other iiudertaluiigs," Air McG'umbs aaid, "llm ('hriMcliureh tramways are in an admittedly ditlicult position, ami it, is seriously stigyjebted that nothing must be done, Tho advocates oi a *«li»-»iothni}5 policy' say wo cannot afford to ex[>eriment; hut tho pru»eitt Hoard is oxperimentim> all the time. Last your n lost .Ci~,ijoO in lovouuo as the result of oNperimonta. It now proposes to carrj to tho bitter end its last disastrous experiment, which can he summed up in a (« w words. It increased insh fares until they are now tin; highest in tho four chief centres. Tho result u'ns :t los'i ot V2l,tX)O passengers last year. Tho Hoard lea rued nothing from this disastrous experiment. Ill© latest report actually hints ai further restrictions on concussion tic-lids, un<l tho chairman, Mr Wayward, at tho opening meeting in this campaign, is reported to have said : 'No t?uaranfcr-o could he given that fares would not he increased during tho tlirt-o roars of the Board's term.' High Cash I'area. "Evidently the Hoard intends tu go on with the experiment of high cas fans, and may try tho experiment of still further increasing them. We have tried the experiment of high fares with disastrous results. Why not try the experiment which has proven successful ut Wellington, of reducing fares and increasing tho number ot passengers? Why not try tho experiment of gaining the goodwill of the customers by removing irritating .restrictions on concession cards? If the present mismanagement, is continued, a tramway rate is inevitable. 'lo avoid it the service must bo made more popular."

Standard of Liming. Mr P. l\ Webb said it was a crime that through the private ownership of property people should Vie in want. Tlio Labour Party slooil for public ownership and a still higher standard of living. The trams were the working people's motor-earn, and they should be popularised to the utmost. "Register your protest on Thursday against, tho state of affairs existing through the whole world," he urged. Board's Investments. "Tho present Tramway Hoard has now been in charge of tho people's trams fur a quarter of a century t " said Mr A. 11. Hcales, "and during that period there has been very little change in the personnel, aud it lias been pursuing the .same policy. We contend there is a great deal of room for improvement. Again, the same three t '.ommis.sionors have bet-n in charge of financial in vestments sine.u the inception of the tramway service in 1903. We will leave you to judge whether their mode of dealing with them in right or wrong. When they want to raise a loan for new works, such an alterations and renewals, it ia floated by an issue of new debentures, and more than likely they havo to pay a bigger rate of interest for thorn than they are getting on their own reserve fund. Why not lend tiie money from their own reservea and save tho extra percentage ami chargesV Board of Works.

About .100 people assembled »l tho conicr of iirafton and Charles ftreota, l;hnvooii, where Mr G. Maiuiing waa among tho speakerH. 110 said he favoured the formation of a Metropolitan Board of Works, which would control, among other utilities, the trams. Everyone interested in tho efficiency of the tramway srevice must be convinced that the system had lieen in a conipleto muddle at least for the last ton years. During this period a continual loss of tramway passengers hud been met by increased faros, without nuv attempt being made to arrest tho decline. It was estimated that there wore over 1,000,000 fewer passengers beinp carried today than in 1920, regardless of the great increase in the population since that date. Tho only remedy that would save the position was a complete change of policy, which would attract the inhabitants of Christclmrch again to use tho train service. This could be done by special fares on Sundays to Now Brighton, Sumner, and C'ashtnore, which would induco people to malto their day of leisure a day of pleasure in the open-air. These fares could be issued as return fares from any suburb to any of the above placos. The success of tho principle was shown by the Sunday excursions to Timaru and Otira, organised by tho Railway J>epartmen.t. Against a Rate. speaking to a largo crowd at the corner of Hurley and Montrose streets, Sydenham, Mr R. M. Macfarlano said that a perusal of the speoches delivered by thq sitting members of the Board on Friday evening, showed that they were devoid of a policy that would restore the tramways to a sound basis. It was obvious that if representatives of the Citizens' Association wero returned, tho decline in the number of passengers would continue, ag during thp past three years they had not niada any serious attempt to cater for the public, and it would only be a matter of time before a tramway rata was imposed. Suggestions regarding a rate had conic from several members of the Board, including the chairman, but as it nearod election day, they became alarmed and were endeavouring to sidaptep tho issue. A fair trial hij.d not been given to cheap sections, as impossible sections of no value to t'.iq travelling public had been inaugurated. The recent increase in faros driven more people from tho trams. Public Ownership.

Mr G. T. Thurston was one of the speakers at a moderately attended meeting in (Jhurch square, Addington. "Labour is contesting this election," lie said, ''because it. disagrees with the policy of the present administration. We admit that the tramway system is publicly-owned, but we Fail "to recognise that the results obtained reflect that it is being administered ia the interests of the owners; and state quite frankly that if the present policy is maintained, the whole area involved will he called upon to face a rate, to which we are absolutely opposed. We hold that it is inconsistent on the part of those who have declared in favour of public ownership of the traunvav system to appoint to tlio Board those men who, though giving lip service to such form of ownershii at election periods, -immediately on election to office proceed to administer the business in such a way that the object of the owners cannot be achieved. When public men are given a duty and omit to do it, the omission amounts to' betrayal. The duty in" tills case'in particular is to administer a publicly-owned concern in the interests of the owners', and up to the: present both owners oikl admini^trii-