The Dominion. MONDAY, OCTOBER, 18 1909. THE RAILWAYS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 640, 18 October 1909, Page 6

The Dominion. MONDAY, OCTOBER, 18 1909. THE RAILWAYS.

Those members of. Parliament who keep , in; toucji .with the movement. ol public; opinion are well onough- aware that tho : criticism to which the railways adminis- 1 tration: has been subjected during the; past two years in The Dominion and ono 1 or two other newspapers has the public to expect a radical > reform in-. railway.'pplicy,.'The others may.make' up their minds;.that railway' reform must' cbipe,. and in the meantime; jf they do not caro-tp look over newspapor• files,: they : \w)uld dowcll to oxeniino an importan| .'and valuablb L article on the subject has been contributed to the August liumbcr' of the Quarterly J ounial of Jicqnomicsj one of the Harvard University publications; by Projessob ; Le BossiGKOL and: Mr.'W. Downie Stbwalit 'This ..is' the first artido in' which the wholo subject has been dealt with in detail and as a whole, but mostof-the chief figures and -, practically, all their chiq£ teaohings.havo be<3h made fornilia* fc'tlw public" in these "columns." the article,:, howovcr, deal very 'caf.eiully, •with, the .inmost recesses; of-the irailwaye, finances, and iji is; this that-makes' theirwork :• of /.special','value.-. ■'-.'■' We .shall -nbtc hpre. only ia 1 few of: the main points'which hayo.not been treated with any pSrticu* larity in our previous articles on the subject. From the -very beginning of the: "j-ail.way's. pfßcje'ncy. has 'been 'sacrjficed to tlje. necessity, for.iplacatihg 'die* trjet. , . 'Sie Julius .V9GEL; nad a comprehensive plan of railway construction, which Jlessks. J,b R63si"Jroi.antl DowNie StbWAKT believe would, have jiecji; highly bqn'ofieial -if;carried out in -its'oi'iginalform,, "but the pressuro- of local in-, 'flu'enee was:so:'great as , to compel many doviations from the original plan.; . ..;■;■ From'/every part of the colony arose a clamour, for a ' fair share , in the'public , expenditure, and -tho ; appropriations were.doled.out to ; mp.re than thirty different,; districts, wjth' undue.; regard, .to political-"influpnce.'".. To-day,.'.jir'q'jun'dbr:; Stand,.;.wi>';. are. to..have';a' pi actical' ample, 1 in'the shape of a wjijch is tourge the Goyernraent to proceed with the' 7 Lawrence-Roxbijrgh•• railway (begun by- Mr ; ;'Seddon on'.tne eve "bf the .1005 cloctiph),' of..the"Bam6' spirit;:.'.;Siii.-Jo-seph' Waed the .othor.-.nigbt' challenged tho Canterbury members- to support him in' '.'.-averting the. disaster ",,of the: Midland Railway,'and;only Mb, -Rhodes had the couragp totespond.- '.-'■' ■■'■'■■ ■■'■;.- '-! Sohie-interesting,'cbmparisbns are made betwberi the railways it) NeW Zealand and those in - America.' The , average fire "'per passenger-mile cannot be exactly calculated, r owing to tho inadequacy of '■ tho Dopartmpht's figures,- 'blit it ; 'i_s .probably about,ono'-penny, or a vo.ry-trifling fraction' less than: the figure for,'the. United States./;Tho•• average charge per ton-mile fo> freight , ie calculated tb bo " not much less than twopence, and certainly not less than : _.i;7sd.," as againet' ,379 d. in America,- or only one-fifth : the "amount. Those figures go' far- towards destroying the common argument, that rates hero aro low, I but Messrs. Lβ Rossionol and Stewart. ; do- not ."press; "tHo-. point—their artiole is ftxcellently dispaßsionato, pow6rful in its strictures, but abundant in its recognition-of , any Baying qualities in , the , railways administration. They prefer to argUo Btrbngly fbr differential; rating. ■ A systom !of differential rating, however, thoj> admit, would Causo' a groat outcry against'which the Government'could not maintain itself. F6r tho, most part, tho Department. ". has taken refuge. in an - .almost: irifloxible , system of rate's, and, instead of modifying tho ratos in accordanco with tho Conditiohsand ehangOß of busiuess, ■■ has' Compelled business to- ao'C'cmmodate itsolf : to tho established rates',' •regardless of spocinl circumstances' ana special needs," In dealing with' thp : annual ■; deficits, the writers take tho admitted .deficite, and do not.iholiido the sum's 'that are taken' from loan money. Even q 1 this basis, so favourable to the Administration,- the:'results are'' starting-: ... ..- ...,'. •.. . '■ ■ -.

. The sum of given'in the it--edunts, .'s not the full cost of the railwiy WstAm to the pooplo ef New Zealandi To this Should be added A' 2,869,403, ■'th« bosfc. .if ■Hies not.yet (Mnroh.3l, 1D03) open,; But the .{ftllwayn have obst fat more than this.' Slno) the beginning there hae always , been a lahie Sum invested in unopened' HqDS ,-upon ■whioh interest had to be plid, and this uiusl have amounted to several millons of pounds in- th 6 last 38 years, -'There should/also'hs added '■ tho'yearly deficits, amountinß to a4|25e,0?5,' sinea 1822, and iin; unknown- sum before, that, time,. If tho .total ixpenditufo .were..reckoned from, 1870 to,the present time it would be ac4n that.JJoiv Zealand has actually . paid. for her railway system,, in borrowed .nioney and: In taxet, llbt less than •■■.- -■:■■ : ' ■■;'■. .. ' ■

Tho ,ovil raahagdltifiat 6f the system can perhaps.best be realised when it. is rcaaornbored that although, the average, rate of interest oh Government loans has fallen ifom'4.l- por cent. in:lßflSto:3.7 per cbht- to'day, ■■■the' railways 'still lose'hundfeda 6f thousarida of pdUnds a : year aocordihg to any sound eystem of .accounting. ': M Heokoning interest at 4 per cpnt. ori the. cost of open and unopened lines the deficit • for • ISO 7-8 woiild' bo' £257,220, find the total dofioit sinco 188J-.82, would •p'rohabry ,bo;'at leasf £3,000;Q0d, and possibly £10,000,000." "ThewriWrapftho.ar-. tiblfl are naturally unabld to boo how the Government. , has made tho '.'concessions" of which it eo often,'boasts. -A'S'to Bin Joseph. , Ward's claim-that -he-could < by 'a-stroke' of■ .the:peii "ettra-'iO peir'-rcentr,. ,ifckl'BPfet(?d \lsuti tha.fc/.'.'.tbo.. swsa'. iafur.

ings in 1908 wcro not much morn than , 10 per cent., and to produco a npt rovenne of 10 per cent, it would bo npccsßary to inoroasO the gross ioveniid by 60 per cent. But such an increase, in rates would cause a sharp falling, off in''traffic', and instead of producing a net revenue of 10 per cont. would probably, causo' tho doficft' to in-' crease. . '

Tho 'chief pauses 'of tho railway deficit are stated as being:. The construction of lines in advance of requirements; the high cost,of all lines; delays' in the construction of lines that might bo profitable; a high cost of rnaintonanco and operation, due to a certain lack of disciplino,' iiiitiativo and. ofiectivencEs in the railway service ;■ a rigid system of rates; unprofitable concessions. As .'a general rule we.aro given these' wiso words: " The idea of making the railways a profitable investment 6'ught ever' to be kojit in mind as a. check upqn extravagant expenditure and a guide to 'further extension. If this is not the test of fairness in raihyay •conetruction, sorvieo and ' charges, then there is no test other' than'political in : ' fluonce and tho granting of concessions to purchase votes—a practice that has done great harm in tho past and will greatly retard the future development of. the Dominion unless the Government, sternly sets its. face against the; .political control of railways." Like everyone who has given, tho mattor serious attention, Messrs. Le RossiesoL-and Stewart are lodby.tho Vices of the present system, to ask for a system of commissionerß. The, con-mission that had control betwean 1889 a,nd 1894, they say, 'did good work, and it is only the general prosperity of New Zealand and of the world since.lß94j together with the cheapening of money, that has'blinded.the people to ." the bad effects of political influence." "Wo must, close our notice of. this valuable .article ! with the following extract, which, as the conclusion arrived at after careful study by. unbiased experts, cannot, possibly lie challenged by amateurs' who hayo'a prejudice.in favour of,political control: ' The commissioners- ; .■ . succeeded fairly well ln.'hoir attempt to place tho railways on a sound financial basis. They inado themselves, to a'large extent independent of politics, practised unpopular economies, refused demands for concessions'6n every hand, and made eo many enemies that, after six years of struggle, the clamour against them was so that: the commission was abolished. It is the common belief to' this day,' quite contrary to fact. ]that their administration, was i>n egregious failure. Their greatest virtues were in the public mind, their most .heinous crimes."