TO MANAGE RAILWAYS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 803, 28 April 1910, Page 8

TO MANAGE RAILWAYS.

■ »— —— HON- J.'A. MILLAR'S TRIP. OBSERVATIONS IN AUSTRALIA. AN INTERVIEW. After an absence of nearly five weeks on a visit, to Australia, the Hon. J. A. Millar (Minister for Railways) returned to the Dominion by tho Moana yesterday. Throughout his trip Mr. Millar was favoured with continuous fine weather, and he speaks highly of the hospitality which was extended to him in the various States. He was accompanied on the visit by Mr. R. W. M'Villey (chief clerk), Mr. H. Millar, and Mr. F. D. Thompson (private secretary). During hiß stay in Australia Mr. Millar visited New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, and South Australia. In each of the he was the guest of the Government, and on every hand, he says, there was evidence of prosperity, this- being due to the splendid yield of grain and the excellent wool clip. Since he last'visited Australia, ten years ago, Sydney had grown almost out of recognition, whilst Melbourne and Adelaide had also forged ahead fairly rapidly, but he did not notice much difference in Brisbane. Altogether he travelled over 6000 miles of railway— or an average of 200 miles per day. He was particularly impressed with the line between Albury and Melbourne, which, in his opinion,' was amongst tie best in the world. . . Now Road Train System. Whilst at Ipswich, Mr. Millar was enabled to inspect experiments in connection with a new railway system — the Renard road train. This system, in which no rails jre used, was invented, in 1903, by Colonel Renard, the well-known engineer officer of the French Army. It has,already been adopted in several countries in Europe. According to the patentee it constitutes a further development in motor road traction. One of the advantages claimed for it is its adaptability for rural traffic. A light tTactor is provided principally for the purpose of carrying the motor which generates energy for propulsion and for steering purposes. Each unit'of the train is provided with a longitudinal driving-shaft geared with differential gear on. the shafts on which are fixed road driving wheels. The driving-shaft is kept up to the tractor by a suitable universal coupling which allows a very large angularity of movement between the tractor, and the unit and between the units such as is required when necessary to turn round sharp corners. It' is claimed that by these means the power from the motor can be equally and readily applied to each of the units as they are coupled to it. v Mr. Millar: anticipates receiving further reports in regard to this system.. New Zealand Linos The Best Equipped. . Questioned as to how the New Zealand railways compared with those in the Australian States, Mr. Millar re-, plied that lie might be prejudiced, but in his opinion residents of New Zealand had every reason to be perfectly satisfied, considering that , the Australian States held a great advantage in regard to gauge. From what ho had observed,''however, he would be. able to suggest to the Government a number of important alterations which would be of advantage to New Zealand. Taken all round,, the New . Zealand railways were better \ equipped than those in Australia, i.e., the class of rolling stock here was better. Throughout the different States he had noticed a great deal of vfery old rolling stock and conversions were taking /place as quickly as funds would permit. All the workshops, in Australia were . well equipped. In Victoria the. authorities built the whole pf their . rollingstock, and the prices compared favourably With those of the imported article; in New South. Wales some of the roll-ing-stock was built by ■ private firms, but most of it'was made at the State Workshops; whilst /Queensland ' and South Australia obtained most of their new ' rolling-stock from outside firms. He was more'than ever'convinced that there was no need for a second express on the Auckland-Wellington line, seeing that one express sufficed for the needs of Sydney and Melbourne. On the whole, the . wages paid throughout the railway services' in Australia were not so high as those in New Zealand, nor in his opinion were the conditions of employment so good. Commissioners Generally-Favoured. Dealing with 1 the question of railway administration, Mr. Millar said that the railways in the different States appeared to him to be well managed. His own opinion—that Ministerial control was the ' best—remained, however, unaltered. In order to get a good idea of 1 the working of the railways under the > commissioner system he had'discussed various matters with the commissioners and the heads of departments in, each of the States. It appeared that a Minister for Railways, where there were commissioners, had little actual 3 work to do in connection with the details of railway administration. Judginp from the expressions of opinion whicl appeared in the daily press—and he had I brought back copies with him—then f were the same complaints against com- ' missioner control as were received un- ' der Ministerial control in New Zealand. ■ One could hardly take up a paper ii Australia without finding letters. from r correspondents declaiming the commissioner management, the principal subjects of complaint being shortage oi trucks, railway fares, and the timetables. .It was freely admitted that ii New South Wales, Victoria, and Soutl: Australia the harvests were so great that the available rolling-stock was quite inadequate to cope with the requirements in an expeditious manner, "Commissioners," continued Mr. Mil- [ lar, "are only human, beings, and, like anybody else, they can't perform [ what is impossible." . . "How did you find public opinion on the question ?" Mr. Millar was asked. In reply, the Minister stated that public opinion was divided, but he thought that if the general body of opinion were taken and carefully analysed it would be found to be against the abolition of the commissioners. And what was the general opinion among members of the various Cabinets? . "Well," replied Mr. MUlar, ''the Ministers themselves strongly favour commissioner management. They say that they prefer to have a 'buffer' between the public and themselves. From a Ministerial point of view it is convenient to haive the commissioners to take all responsibility." /