The Dominion. FRIDAY, AUGUST 13, 1909. RAILWAYS NORTH AND SOUTH

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 585, 13 August 1909, Page 4

The Dominion. FRIDAY, AUGUST 13, 1909. RAILWAYS NORTH AND SOUTH

—: —-o :— Our readers will remember that some time ago we had to give up a good , deal of our space in order to convince a very obstinate journal in the South that the users of the North Island railways have to pay, as taxpayers, for the privileges enjoyed by users Of the Southern' lines—, or, in other words, that while the North Island railways pay their way, the South Island lines are run at a heavy loss. The latest figures which were available for exact calculation were those of 1907-8: — Per-. Capital Net centago Cost. Revenue. to £ £' Capital. North -.9,713,631 . 416,000 4.28 South 14,587,995, 390,179 . .2.71 The Southern journal insisted; on manufacturing a table of its own for the year. 1908-9 as follows: . Per-. : Capital Net - .. centago Cost. Revenue'. to .£ ' ,£ . Capital. North . ...... 12,741,754 420,031 ; 3.29 South 14,945,709 " 394,G79 2.64 It was in vain that we appealed to our contemporary to be candid, enough to I admit that a large part; of the £12,744,754 representing the capital cost of the Northern lines at March 31 last w|as only working for part of • the year, and we said that the correct figures, making allowance for this fact, would be about £11,000,000. We added that we were, sure Mr. Millar would, endorse -that.'view. From-a- just-issued section of the Year Book for 1900 wo find that oUr argumcnts are officially justified. The net revenue for 1908-9 is there set down at £814,711, and the "percentage of revbnuo to capital cost" at £3 2s. Yd. The following note is added upon this line in the table: .

■ The rate of interest earned has been computed on cost proportionately to the time during which the lines takon, over by the Working Railways Department within the financial year werp earning revenue. Thus a considerable length of the North Island Main Trunk ancl tno whole of the Welling-ton-Manawatu lines earned revenue for the Department during a portion of the , year only, whilo the total .cost of construction or purchase is included under that head. . '

;.- A simple calculation shows that the return of £3;25, 7d. is obtained by taking, the capital as being £26,036,037 (and not £27,0901463, the cost March' 31- last). This is quite fair. Now, if we subtract the £14,945,709 represented by the Southern lines from the officially-calculated £26,036,037, 'we find that the cost of the Northern lines, for the purposes of calculating the percentage of . earnings, is regarded by the ilaihvays Department as being £11,090,328—-or almost exactly the figure we suggested.. The correct comparison is therefore as follows: ... ■ / ' ■■■ Per-, Capital ' Net' ' 'centage ■' ■: 1 Cost. ■ Revenue. '-to ,8 ■ • Capital.: North ...... 11,050,328 . .420,031 3.78! South' 14,915,709 '' -394,079 '• ' 2:64"' Perhaps our Southern contemporary, will 'now bo prepared, to admit that in presenting its misleading table it was either writing in ignorance of'the position or.else deliberately misstating it. ... •