The Dominion. MONDAY, JUNE 2, 1919. A WORK THAT WILL NOT WAIT

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 212, 2 June 1919, Page 4

The Dominion. MONDAY, JUNE 2, 1919. A WORK THAT WILL NOT WAIT

Primarily, the- gathering of railwaymen" on Friday evening, at which Mr. E. H. Hiley was farewelled was, as the guest of the evening observed, an indication of mutual confidence and respect as between the staff and the management. It is to bo hofjid on all grounds that these sentiments may so prevail as to ensure an amicable settlement of the' disputes affecting some branches of the service which are still open. So far as tho general public is concerned, however, the outstanding feature of Friday's gathering was tho emphatic note of warning sounded by Mr., Hiley in regard to the danger of further delaying the important works of railway improvement which ho planned with all possible expedition subsequent to his arrival in the Dominion six years ago. Much of what the lato General Manager had to say on this occasion he had said before, but he has never spoken more urgently in affirming the absolute necessity of a vigorous policy of railway improvement as the only means of averting a congestion of traffic which of necessity would tell disastrously against the prosperity of the Dominion. Indeed, on reading Mr. Hiley's words . the only conclusion possible seems to be that a period of serious traffic congestion is inevitable in any case, and that the most 1 that can bo done by the boldest enterprise and the most unsparing energy is to minimise its evils and shorten its duration. One passage in his speech goes to the heart of the natter. After pointing out that owing to the war. five years of valuable time had been lost—five years which should have witnessed not only the completion of the programme of improvements involving an expenditure of £3,200,000 which was planned at the beginning of that period, but the inauguration of a supplementary programme involving a still larger expenditurehe 'saicl:

So sure as anything could be, New Zealand would go through a period of rapid expansion, and.the railways had no margin to deal with additional business. JJnless' the Government was prepared to go on and push the 191-1 programme, and the later programme to follow it, tho railways would retard progress rather than aid it.

In these words, spoken as they aro with authority, 'the problem of internal transport which confronts the Dominion is clearly defined. Such a period of rapid expansion as Me. Hiley predicts is the only alternative to a course of lean years in which New 'Zealand would "bear its war and other burdens with difficulty and in conditions of general hardship. The expansion which is needed to avert these conditions must occur chiefly, if at all, in the field of development, settlement, and primary industry. It is thus hardly necessary to emphasise the significance of the authoritative dictum that the railways have "no margin to deal with additional business." Railway transport is not, of course, the only factor governing the expansion of settlement and primary production, but it is all- but decisive. With the railways already taxed in such a fashion as Me. Hiley has described, it follows obviously that a rapid increase in their carrying capacity and an equally expeditious improvement in the .facilities for handling goods at terminal noints arc essential, not only to the prosperous expansion of primary industries, but to the development on sound lines of practically all forms of industrial and commercial enterprise in the Dominion. Much emphasis is rightly laid upon the necessity of securing improvements in shipping transport, but the problem of railway transport is just as vital to the welfare of this country,_ and unlike the shipping problem, it is one with which we have full power to deal. The people of the Dominion will have themselves to thank if in the strenuous years that lie ahead they find themselves crippled and hampered by a railway system incapable of meoting demands.

The problem of improving the railways is national. It must be envisaged by the Government in its full scope and handled accordingly. At the same time it is very necessary that every effort should be

made, particularly in those parts of the Dominion which are most vitally concerned, to stimulato action and enterprise by the Government on right lines, It so happens that the evils of railway congestion which aro already apparent and.threaten a serious retardation of progress as time goes on are nowhere more conspicuous in evidence that in the southern part of tho North Island. Wellington is more severely handicapped than any other important centre in the matter of antiquated terminal facilities, and the need of the up-to-date station and railway yards provided for in the 1914 programme has long been acute. At the same time, the main railways to the .north fall so far short of the conditions that would make for efficiency_ that their improvement, by deviations, duplications, grade-ease-ments, and in other ways, would be i a matter of pressing urgency even [ if no great increase in traffic were in prospect. Mr. Hiley chose his words aptly when he said that the Rimutaka •• route was an absolute anachronism. Instead of facilitating traffic, it presents an almost insurmountable barrier to its free passage. On account of this extraordinary obstacle much traffic from Hawke's Bay and even from the Wairarapa is diverted to the Manawatu line. This latter route, with its heavy through traffic, is of necessity overtaxed! not least to the detriment of the West Coast districts it immediately serves, and the' judgment passed by the late General Manager upon one of its most important sections is that the Wellington- Johnson ville-Paekakariki line "should never be allowed to remain as part of the main line with its present grades." There has been a great deal of agitation both in the city and the provinces for the radical improvement of these arterial lines, and to some t extent efforts have been combined in bringing pressure to bear upon Parliament and the Government. The time has now come when popular activities of this character ought to be redoubled, and there should be no obstacle to the | fullest -possible unity of action. The essential thing is that the problem ® whole, including the provision of improved facilities for suburban tj'affic, should bo attacked in an enterprising way, and tlie : lnterests of all concerned will be served if such a policy isj inaugurated. '.It. should be left to experts to resolve the conflicting claims of this pr that deviation route. An effective popular demand here and elsewhere in the' Dominion for better transport facilities is tho more to be,''desired since the Minister of Railways has hardly yet given as explicit an assurance as could be desired that he intends to. press tho claims off railway improvement with as nuiVih urgency as the case demands.' It * true that in 1914 Mr. Hmriss too« authority' to borrow £3,200,000,v'at ! the -rate of £750,000 a year, for" 'jouvposes of railway improvement, and so 'is not without justification for the statement lie made on Friday evening that but for the war the 1914 programme would have gone through. But there is room for an assurance, which the Ministor has yet to giye, that unsparing efforts will now be made to make up for lost time in the great and vitally important national enterprise of so improving the railways as to enable them to cope efficiently with the existing and prospective traffic. In particular it would be interesting to know what the Minister is doing to hasten the acquisition and importation of material, unobtainable during the war period, which is indispensable in order that the work may proceed.