RAILWAY CONTROL.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 830, 31 May 1910, Page 6

RAILWAY CONTROL.

RETROSPECT OF PAST YEAR. BY THE MINISTER. (By TelceraDh— Press Association.) Dunedin, May 30. Tho Hon. J. A. Millar was entertained at a social by his constituents of Dunodin East electorate to-night. In tho course of his address the Minister said that he would state the result of last ' year's working in comparison with the result of . the last year of the administration of the Railway Commissioners in New Zealand, together with the results ten years later under Government control. He would .first say that tho Commissioners, had charged higher rates, and had paid lower wages than did tho Government—two very important factors—yet, notwithstanding this, and the concessions given on tho railways during the last ten years, and the increase in wages, the Government could show better results than had been previously obtained.

Revenue North and South. For the year ending March 31, 1910, i there were carried on the North Island lines 5,791,000 passengers, on the South Island lines 5,324,000, and on Lake Wakatipu 21,000. There had been an increase in season tickets, parcels, horses, dogs, and in every class of goods except timber. The revenue from passenger traffic in the -North Island was .£619,302, in the South.lsland .£1.48,620. and for theWakatipu service ,£2769. The large, increase of passengers in the.North Island over the South Island was due to the fact that the people in the north travelled more and further than was the case in the south. Season tickets in the North Island represented JEGO.OOO, and, in the South' Island, '£39,000. In goods, the North Island claimed ,£762,000 and the South .£987,000, making total revenues .£1,614,000 for the North Island and .£1,628,000 for the South. The train mile-' ages had been 4,290,626 miles. in the North Island, and 3,598,510 for the South, and the rates of interest earned were £i 3s. 3d. for the North and ,£3 9s. sd. for the South, and ,£9 17s. 7d. on Lake Wakatipn. The Interest Return. \ The average rate of interest was .£3 15s. 9d., which was a record for New Zealand, with the exception of one year. In the year previous tho earnings had been ,£3 2s. 7d., and the increase was therefore 13s. 2d. per cent, on a capital of £28,500,000. A sum of 13s. '2d. per cent, might not seem very much, but when they considered that it had been earned on a total capital of such magnitude they must admit that the Government had done , fairly well during the.past. year. He had no doubt that with careful administration tho same. result could bo achieved again. He did not believo that tho railways ought to be used as' a feeder for the Consolidated Fund, and, per contra, he did not see that the Consolidated Fund should bo charged one penny for railways. If Now Zealand could accept the same prices and pay the same wages as in Australia, he would guarantee that our railways would pay 7j per cent., as against U per cent, there"

Comparison With Commissioners. He 'would now take practically one of the best years during the Commissioners' term of office in. Now Zealand, viz., 1891. During that year he found that the total revenue from passengers was .£378,000. In 1905, under "the . Government regime, it had increased to' .£650,905,-- and last year it totalled ,£1,070,000. The total revenue earned by the Commissioners in their final year was .£1,172,0(10, and in 1905 this had increased to .£2,209,000, and last year stood at ,£3,249,790. The total expenditure in the. Commissioners' last year had been .£735,000. In 1905 this stood afl .£1,492,000, and, last year at .£2,164,000. The -expenditure per train mile had ,beeu 56.69 d. (1894), 58.4Cd. (1905), and 65.8 id. (1910).' ■ , He quoted these figures for reason that it was. always said that they earned a high rate of interest by starving the railways. The expenditure; per cent, on revenue was G2.70 in 1894, and 87.58 in 1905, whilst, last year, it was 66.74. In the year ■ previous to that in which he had taken over control, the figuro was 72.19 per cent., so that the reduction last year was 5.45 per cent. The amount of stock ordered last year was 14 engines, 76 carriages, 12 brake vans, 34 bogie wagons, and 701 fourwheeled wagons. The increased traction power was 289,5841b5., and the extra seating accommodation equivalent to 895 persons per day. At the present time there were in hand (because he could see that there was going to be a very fair increase of business), ten big A locomotives (by Price Bros.), and ten B locomotivesten nearing completion and ten more to be put in hand, making a total of forty, more locomotives, to be ready during the next eighteen months. There were also two special locomotives, 62 big bogie wagons, 17 broke vans, 'and 1212 fourwheeler wagone on order now in the different railway workshops. The amount expended in the railway workshops on new machinery last year was ,£5612, but this year there, was machinery on order totalling .£25,000. THE COMMISSIONER SYSTEM. AN EMPHATIC PREFERENCE PRINCIPLE : EXTENDED. .

Mr. T. H. Mftrtyn.'a prominent member of the Sydney Stock Exchange who is at present in Wellington, has no doubt as to the superiority of the Commissioner system of railway management over that of Government control. Interviewed yesterday by a Dominion representative, Mr. Martyn was asked to express an opinion on the system of Railway Commissioners in New South Wales. "Tho Commissioners are a failure," he replied, "as compared with private enterprise, but they are a decided success as compared with Government control. The trouble is that the Commissioners can't get money enough. Our first Commissioner, Mr. Eddy, was a fine organiser. He found the railways iu chaos, as tho result of Government control, and he put them on a very sound footing.. It must be confessed that he was terribly harassed, and tho task killed him in the end. He has been succeeded by one or two good men. The chief difficulty the commissioner has is in getting enough money to make tho necessary extensions. Nobody would for a moment suggest going back to Government control. The carrying trade of New South Wales has grown so quickly that it has been found necessary to duplicate- the wholo of the main trunk lines, and a number of new branch lines are also necessary, but at present the money is not forthcoming to do the work except by slow degrees. There has been a great outcry about the shortage of trucks and the general lack of conveniences for the bringing up of supplies, but that is not the fault of the commissioner system. The only thing you could oppose to that system is to say to private companies, 'If you care to build us lines we'll allow you.' Undoubtedly the system is a success, as compared with Government management."

The application of the commissionor system has been oxtonded in New South Wales to other affairs, Mr: Martyn stated. There are a harbour trust, which has also been a success, an independent lands board for dealing with country lands, water ' aud seworago boards, quite independent of Government control, and a Civil Service Board. "All these havo betn established as the result of tho inefficiency of Government control. We have also now local reform boards, or 'shire councils.' The roads and bridges member is dono with in New South Wales. Instead we have these councils, which are local bodies set up to carry out all tho improvements needed in .their districts, and with power to tax for them up to two-pence in the £ on the value of their property. Tho councils are as yet only on their trial."