RAILWAY MATTERS

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 15, 13 October 1919, Page 5

RAILWAY MATTERS

ESTIMATES BEFORE THE HOUSE

IMPROVEMENT OF SERVICES

THE GENERAL MANAGER'S SALARY

Ihe estimates of tho Railway Department, were discussed in tho House of Representatives early on Saturday morning. Thero was a rather keen' debate; including somo. references to,the salary of the General Manager. . Mr. W. A. Veitch asked what steps the Minister proposed to take to restore tho railways to, the 'state of efficiency they were in when the.war began, and what tho policy of tho Department was going to be with lespect to improvements. ,

Mr. R. A. Wright asked when Wellington's new railway station was to be built.

The Hon. W. H. Hemes: It rests with the . Harbour Board to agree to .the plans. I don't think .they have agreed Tet. '

. Mr. Wright said the Harbour Boar« was quite willing to come to terms. If there was any difficulty in-that respect it could be removed at once. The ,Harbour, Board was anxious that.the work 'should-', proceed . quickly." Mr. Wright complained thnt there was' extraordinary difficulty about getting any alterations made, in the railway -time-table. Ha suggested the, 4.45 and 5.10 trains on the Manawatu line should each be put back five' minutes, in order to give peoplo time:to, catch, them, after leaving work. He also urged that the suburban area 6honld :be extended to Plimmcrttin.' . Mr. T. ,M. Wilford asked what was the position of the Assistant-General Manager before he obtained his present position, and what was his age. If' the Assistant-Goneral Manager was jvithin a few. years of, the retiring age, 'it was wrong to allow him to understudy the General Manager. Mr. Wilford suggested that the Minister should j>ick out .a bright yorung man'.. to be trained as future General Manager. ; The present administration of the Railway Department was hopelessly hidebound' and conservative. After twenty; years' experience he could say it was impossible to get the Railway Department to .make anv concession to public convenience. Mr. F. Mander said somo of his constituents had been travelling over a completed section 1 of line for several 'years, under most inconvenient conditions because tho. Public' Works Department had not handed over to the Railway Department. Mr. Massev'said 'a sum of .£150,000 was being provided for'nrw rolling stock this year. Contracts hid been let for. twenty new locomotives. Tho age of the As-sistant-General Manager was 56 years. His past post' had been chief accountant in the Head Office, and previously he had been a stationmaster. His experience was wide.' . Mr. Massey asked Mr." Mander to be patient. "I promise the honourable member I will come up in March as, Minister of Railways and open this particular piece of line," said the Prime Minister.

> Mr. ifassey, 'replying to other questions. " stated that a. new time-table cbmo into operation in December, and would include a through train on the South Island Trunk line. The Gov-' eminent and the Department would do everything possible to meet the reasonable .recmirements of the country. ' Mr. T. M. Wilford said he wanted'to refer to : the 'salary ,]iaid the General Manager. He did not'intend to mention Mr. M'Villy personally at all;'his question was: Is the job worth the money? The annual. Railway Statement was compiled 'chiefly . by heads of railway branches..,' He did not believe that the job of railway manager was worth the money paid. There had been nothing to commend in the conduct of the, railways during the last three years. The Hon, W. H. Herrics: That is not admitted. ■ , . ' ;; Mr/ .iWilford: ftNot. by »you. ' I,' wm ; speaking'*;of ■ the.--feeling of the general publio. Colonel Hiley did good work in the military carnpa. : Perhaps ,that accounted, for the way the railways were run." 'He did not believe that the General Manager of Railways was entitled to .JG3OOO a year, three times'the salary of a Cabinet Minister.- If' the salary ■was justified, then the' Auditor-General and the head of the Stamp Office ought to get larger salaries, because their work was more complex, and more technical.

The Hon. W. H. Herries said the statement tlat the late General Manager, was always at the camps was totally incorrect. He went to, the camps on Saturdays'and Sundays and did not neglect his railway , duties. The railways were well managed in accordance with'Uliß policy laid-down during, the period of the war. The first duty had been to provide men for .the Army; Mr. Hiley had done his work well in this rcspeot, and in other respects. Train services had ,to be_cut, and the public had to be inconvenienced, • but that.was unavoidable. Every other State ill Australasia was paying as much or more to the man in chargo of the railways. New Zealand could not afford to pay less than other States paid. > The salaries of the rank and file were being raised also. " An' agreement had been reached with the'A.S.R.S., and a Bill would be introduced shortly/ ; It would be invidious to pay a locally-trained manager lea than an imported manager. He did not believe the public would approve of that being' done; • ' Mr. ,W. H. Field (Otaki), in the course of the debate, said that ho did not think the payment of .£3OOO a year, ought to be continued merely because New Zealand had made- the mistake of importing* a railway manager at that price; Mr. W. A. Veitch (Wanganui). Mr. .T. P. Luke (Wellington North). Mr. C. J. Talbot (Temuka), and Mr. ,T. M. Dickson (Chalmers) approved the' payment of the salary.