RAILWAYS ADMINISTRATION ANALYSED.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 35, 5 November 1907, Page 6

RAILWAYS ADMINISTRATION ANALYSED.

', .some Comparisons.,

WHAT IS NEEDED.

■(Specially Written,.foe -The .Dominion.)

fin concluding-tliis'series.- of articles thero iiro''a -few, points to which "special attention slibuld- : be drawn. 'As regards our transport charged on merchandise being in excess of those levied in-Australia, it is, ,of coiirso, unnecessary ,in an article of this kind to in-; troduce a comprehensive comparative table of rates, which would occupy a, great amount of space, when proof-of tHe assertion made .can 'be" readily .established by the following fcrief examples, 'selected''from many:—''.".'"' •.Melbourno to .Bendigo,'looJ miles: Schedule of groceries comprising fifty-five items 6f. descriptions necessary for maintaining a first-class diotary• scalo, rate por. tan, dos. 3?or-,tho same distancp on the New Zealand railways the charge.would be,for,- say, a .ton of the same commodities, 495. 7d., but if. ton 3ots of the different items.were earned,, the average.rate would bo 465.,.8 d. for a like distance, the charge for. .kerosene m Victoria ! is 265.'6 d.; in New Zealand it is 495. 4(1.. ■Moreover, the extent to which industries are' catored for.by the principal railway sys-. terns of the Commonwealth is infinitely, more eenerous than that provided in .this country. There., are 'truly many; examples m. railway practice: on , the .other, side of. .the Tasman Sea that pur administration■ might, oenenci-•ally-study,■and imitate. ~ • ...,- ...

"Analysis pi .Results. ~.<,, ~ V . :.,_.., " .-In previous;articles administrative defects have-been.alleged,-and.it is now proposed to confirm them-by analysis of .the financial re,Eults.-: As already.'noticed, the. Rignti Hon. ■ihe Prime Minister has stated that ,in fixing charges',the first consideration has-been the 'development ot\ the country rather than direct recovery of;the;cost.ofc.the.. services perifor'nied. - If the railways-were,- in- other, respects,' really managed with a. strict regard for - "business principles," as claimed by the•Minister, 'thorn is no I 'doubt the revenue could bo made to cover, not only working expenses; but interest-on capital; also, and yet (give tho'usors-cheaper'services than are now {provided.* v'A very unsatisfactory feature.or the railways statement is .that, .while it pre.tends to bo a record of'.financial-[results year, iby year, it'never contains' an account■ of- the \interost that has to be. paid, on capitalist. Plainly ; the, object" of this 'omission (which is peculiar to tho accounts of ourrailways) is to -conceal)' as far as possible,, a circumstance Hhat, if realised, might be expected to be-a 'perennial source of troublo'i'.to the Governjnibht.'Ut is-surely a proceeding that savours ■of'burlesque ito'. publish 1 accounts, purporting So.show the financial results of a great. State concern,, and ■at.the: same time conical the interest charges that have.to be '-paid on the capital .embarked .in it. ' • . . I v, Although the ..volume of..traffic :last ; year I-Was our best yet the .revenue failed 'by about £138,000 to, meet.working expenses •.and interest on cost—a shortage that had to. ibe drawn from the Consolidated Funds. ..It ithe ■ dwellers in the,roadless, back, blocks"rei <alised that they had.- to.'.contnTjute'.Jp .this(shortage, and, wore then made,to .realise.also 'the wide .inefficiency..,bf'thq'iadmipistratiqn and.its extravagance, as. already exemplified by the Dunedin station' and the -head, 'office's' in Wellington; there,, might be a call, for ;a revolution against.such inequality of,treatment,'that would be.extremely disconcerting to tho:.Government. ...... .„.,. .. ~...■,:,, ■'.

Comparisons. , v . J, , ..-■."•' -"■.'.'■-'']■■'■',[ '■'"■'Our results-cannot be compared with , those ■ s Df railways owned by companies where the in.terests of shareholders aro the prime cpnsi- ' deration, but wo'may. properly compare them with results 1 obtained by the . State railways of-the neighbouring Commonwealth-,/ : where administrative"' policy 'is 'practically -'idenfical •with that claimed to liayo" been adopted in s respect of our:railways.;;Cost of operating railways in the Commonwealth is not less . than in New Zealand, but comparison of our ' results with'those of New South Victoria;'Qupbnsland, and South Australia ro- -,\ Bpectivelyi disclose that our working expenses \. are so'remarkably ' high' as' to imperatively 'call for investigation.; 'Numerous sets of figures might be given in'support of that -assertion, but the 'truth of it is readily demonstrated'by the : following:—"' ' ' ' " :, • ■'■ Cost of each £100: of revenue: ■' . . •■• ■ ••■ - - ' £ s. d. New Zealand ■.. ' : ... ;69 ( 1 0 ■ "South Australia-""" ...' '57 ' 0 7 •"• Victoria ':". 'V.V " :.'."55 17 . ?':■-' V" Queensland'"-'':.'. , - ;,•,••• -55 16 10. : New South Wales •• ... 54 10-2 It is significant that 'the 'Australian railway systems, .whose results are here quoted, are' managed' by Commissioners;- Examination of accounts of the respective systems of New South "Wales, Victoria and South Australia','.reveal 'the fact.that all of'them fully , met working expenses and interest on capital- 'cost', and, in addition, transferred substantial balances to gorieral."rev'enue: ' Oiir gross.;earnings ought' to ,have enabled us to attaiij,,.,approximately, as good, a result; but .owing to pur alarming operating expenses we cut_a sorry.figure by comparison. ' •' Expenses.,';,,,, ;;,"':', ;' ■>lt.,is, deplorable- that as our business. increases our'administrative expenses increase in greater proportion. In all well-managed commercial:undertakings it is found that a Jarge. business can. bo conducted .proportionately cheaper than a small one. , ; Now: Zealand railways .supply' a notable,.oxcoption to this rule, if our railways bolonged ta a vcompany, what .opinion.; would the shareholders be likely, to: express on finding largest business it had ever ..dealt •with,'had been,' relatively>,the most costly? Their, condemnation, would, of course, .be severe, and change of control would quickly follow. : It is not going boyoud the bounds" of leasonable criticism to aflifm that the business of,our railways has manifestly outgrown the administrative capacity, and that unless the executive be materially, strengthened, and.that quickly, a very unsatisfactory condition,of things may become, so acute '. as\to pr.ovoke revelations that: may seriously. dis T turb confidence in , the. whole, departmental administration ■of the Government. To ;get the best "results from our railways, the management must not continue understaffed,, ae it is at present, and it must be composed of officers who have a proper senso' of justice, and , who are qualified by training and otherwise to resolutely and capably direct the work'.,•■Further, they must keep-.themselves conversant with the commercial and industrial life of the: country, and study how it / can bo fostered , by the railways with advantages that-would bo mutual. Without sucli qualifications , tho staff as a> whole'will , lack confidence in the management, and where that obtains all interests must suffer. It is important- to emphasise this, because' the railways ought to bo tho chief agent insatis- •, factorily developing tho country, and when .their:, .efficiency becomes impaired ; the mischief resulting must be widespread arid verj serious.-- -.-■ ■■ : ■• ■'■ '■■ ■■■ -' • -If offect wore given to the opinion recentlj expresseed by Mr. Massey, leader of the On position (vide page 599 of "Hnnsard"),J as tc the need of inquiiy by a Royal Commissior into the working of tho railway department tile result would, doubtless, be of great value to the country..