THE RAILWAY "CUT"

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 3, 29 September 1919, Page 6

THE RAILWAY "CUT"

, EVIDENCE BEFORE THE ROYAL

v COMMISSION

THE SUPPLY OF COAL

'■"''The''sittings of tho Royal Commission ; .to inquire' intothe cause of the curtail':inent of the train service nu July 2 ilaat ■were' continued on Saturday morning. Mr. J. P.; Maxwell presided, and with ■ mm silt Messrs. J. Marchbanks and W. ;... rD.. Hunt," Mr. M. Myers appeared for . ,'tho-Eailwny Department and Mr. A. W. Blah- for the Coal Trade Committee, v. Eichard William M'v'illy, General ; Manager of Kailways, recalled, said the j cause of depletion of coal stocks >in- !' eluded miners', watersidersVand shipping "strikes. In addition there, were 11 uctua- ; 'titirii'of output, and trouble..sometimes ;'■.' 'occurred at the bars on tho West Coast ■ -which caused ships to bo held up. Tho : ..'^go-slow"-policy was another contributing cause, and last year the inlluonza ■ -" epidemic' had a 6erioiis effect on coal ';■.. -production. To meet such contingencies .:-.".'". as these'--tho Department' had always maintained a reserve stock.. The chief mechanical engineer was charged with the duty, of assessing the coal shocks required for the yoar, and.his recomr mendations were submitted to the Geuo- > : ral Manager. ' The stores branch actually '. , received the coal, although tho locomotfveJßranon gavo tho orders for delivery. <~';; •>';, '!-;';<s, opinion tlio rederv;, stock of .... coal should not be.less than SO.Ofli) tons. .'l'iie Department aimed at a reserve of :;. 100,000 tons, but the stock should hot ;'■ go below.Bo,ooo tons. As a matter of 'fact, by June 22, last tho stock. ,had ;.,-• dropped to 15,000 tons.- In 1917, the .'■;• stooks were very low. The Railway Dc- - pannicnt had no direct representatives *;.. ,on the Coal Committee, but an officer was 'deputed to keep in touch with the com- ' mittee. .. On • many occasions the.- com- - mittee -were advised, that the coal stocks -were down to a dangerous point. The ;•.- Coal Committee had diyerted coal which ; had been ordered for tho Kailway'De- ' . ' partnieht. although protests were made. :.'. 'In 1918, when the stocks became ver,y low, : witness recollected tho then General i l Manager urging, that the Home authorities should permit vessels coming to New Zealand to carry coal. When the posi- •.-■. jtion-'became .acuto the question . of K'' freights was considered to he quita a ~ secondary matter. '• 'The chairman: Was any attempt mado f: to-import, a largo quantity of enal, «iy, : H . ■:,!> '") '■■■■'. lOOttx) toi's : ,, train America?— '-"■ "The idea of getting vessels from' Englandto bring coal was that they should ' -call'at'Newport News.- They have been, [bringing it since." , , < ■■ The chairman: That is a year after- ' wards. The quantities that transports could carry would be necessarily very-limited;''-.-DM'the'General Manager make ony attempt to make American coal eou- ;'; ■ tracts?—''Mr.lTiley made every effort to ..,.-': impress upon the, authorities the neces- , ' > sity. of getting coal." z ■ Was no effort made in 1917-18 to bring 'in ooal in large quantities.from 'America or Durban?—"l am not. prepared to go , -"no,-far .as that, because at that..time I . .was not dealing with tho ooal. T know I L: ' Mr.-Hiley was doing everything ' he I -. ' thought necessary/' ] \■' .Continuing,, Mr. M'Villy said the.Rail- j I, sway. Department- only declined one or j ;;■ two small offers of Newcastlo c-uiMir-| '; .cause the freights.asked,were too high. ;■;.- The ordinary freight from Newcastle was .' fc&l a.ton, but in one ea*e £6 per ton I:- was asked. ■ • The Munitions Department* •'- were: not always prepared to recommend K , the - purchase of coal from abroad at ■high freight rates ''.:',' To Mr\ ; March banks: Tho Shipping *'• '.Committee had been asked to allocate. :..' Rpaoe to 'the Railway Department, and .. he thought the bulk of tho offers had "'■. ;beeu. accepted. ... :'"■ ' ..Inanswer.to the chairman, Mr. M'Villy ' ' : said that,about the end of 1917. the posl- . tion regarding coal was so'-serious that '■ . Instructions were given, to' prepare a] - Teduccd'.time-table that could be brought Into.operation at once if an emergency arose. That .tlme-tablo was approximately the time-table adopted on July 2, 1919; '■' ;;To Mr. Hunt: He himself handled c.o'al Question now,, and he sometimes fl'rdered shipments without consulting tlio Coal. 'J?rade Committee. He simply exer- ',_ oised his'own judgment regardiug the •naHer of freights. The railways were bo important.as far as. tho industries oi' '■'the" 'country .were concerned', that, in normal'tibies. it,was absolutely necessary to maintain a reserve of 100.000 tons !." of .coal. '.Under war conditions that

reserve should, if possible, be increased. The question of frefghitwus deeply considered'by. Mr. Hiley. and, being a keen ■business man, he had recognised that if the Railway Department accepted coal a'fhigh .'freight rates, it would have a <:6rresporiding' effect on the public. That was whybig", freights. were not always paid by the Department. To Mr. Myers: The intervention of the Coal' Committee was always regarded as a distinct disadvantage by the Railway Department;' ' Had there been no Coal Committee' he believed the Department could have carried on without a "cut," for it-:would have considered itself, first.' Qther industries might have suffered'as &•,consequence. .Efforts had been made through the.High Commissioner to obtain .ooal. 'In 1917 the afctitudo of the Goal Trade Committee was that it was futile for the Railway Deprtment to build up. reserve, stqok. The: commission, adjourned until 10.30 tun. to4ay.

PALMERSTON RAILWAY COMMITTEE

REVIEWED. .■By' Teleffraph.-Special Correspondent. •" . 'P&lmerston North.September 28. Owrae to the/ removal of the railway from Monday, the'local Railway and Goods Traffic Committee held its final meeting, yesterday. Mr. R. H. Oollfnson, chairman, in reviewing the trork of the oommittee, said that they had endeavoured to conservfi'the interests of the farming community and used every endeavour to see that the dairy industry was not hampered. ..All essential "goods had been got away. The comjaittee started work on August; 15, and from that date had passed.2loo tons that .were on the unrestricted list, and 1100 tons on the restricted list, a total handled of 8200 tons, while equal to 250 tons of stock got away. On some, days the total goods sent away was equal to 98 per -cent, of the space available. The committee had been in a better position than the railway officer would have been as they could send away any goods thought reasonable. The committee had been loyally backed .up by, Mr. Wood,bury,. representing the Railway Department. . The committee colleoted altogether .£76 from the .business people, and the expenses had been .£7. A substantial oheqne .was handed to Mr. W. M'Kenzie, who acted as secretary, and a gold-mounted fountain pen to Mr. Woodbury.