RAILWAY MATTERS

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 304, 17 September 1920, Page 8

RAILWAY MATTERS

ROLLING STOCK AND FARES

WHAT SHOULD THE RAILWAYS EARN?

When the annual report of the Railways Department was presented to tho House of Representatives yesterday afternoon, Mi - . W. A. Vcitch (Wanganui) opened a. debate on railway admiuistration.\ He realised, he said, that . the changes made and promised by the Government were going to cost a great deal of money. If they restored peace and contentment in the service, the money would be very well spent. He urged that the new rates of pay should be embodied in schedules of the Act, and should not be subject to amendment by regulation. Ho was aware that the Department was havingi great difficulty in placing orders for locomotives and rolling stock in New Zealand and abroad. The railway workshops could do most of the work if they were not handicapped severely by a shortage of skilled artisans. This shortage was general, and the sole remedies in sight were lietter conditions for apprentices and more pay for trained men. Reforms in these directions would pay the country handsomely. Mr. Veitch said that one of the immediate needs was the strengthening of the bridges on the Main Trunk line in order that heavier locomotives might be used. He asked for assistance for' the Wcllington-Mnnawatu-New Plymouth Sick Benefit Society, which, had been seriously injured by tins war and the epidemic. This society operated all over the North Island, and was doing a very valuable work. A grant of ,£IOOO would enable it to avoid the financial disaster that was threatening it.

The Leader of the Opposition (Mr. T. M. Wilford) also urged the claims of Hie Benefit Society mentioned by Mr. -Veitcli. He advocated that the now scale of wages to railway servants should be embodied in the schedule of the Railways Classification Act instead of being left, as he anticipated, to be fixed by regulation. Mr. Massey: Who told you that?

Mr. Wilford:' "Of course I do not know. I am only supposing." The reason, given' for delaying the payment, lie 6aid, had been that Parliament might be consulted. If that were so, it was only reasonable that Parliament should be consulted 'n the case of any future reduction. He asked that, the men working in the stores at the railway workshops should »e given the forty-four hour week. There were, he thought, only about 65 of them all told. An. extraordinary condition had resulted from the new scale of passenger fares recently introduced. These fares it was usually assumed were on a mileage basis, but this was too common-sense a plan for the' Railway Department. In his own district, the line to Moiling had been shortened, but the residents wove 6rUl being charged on the basis of the old mileage. The electrification of tho railway system was one of the inevitable developments of the future. This, he maintained, would result in a huge saving of coal, and he quoted 'figures taken out in America in proof of this. It behoved the Government to realise that the electrification of railways.would give a cleaner, cheaper and more efficient service, but would also result in an immense saving of coal.

Mr. J. M'Coinbs (Lyttelton) said that the South Island gave a return for tho gross receipts per train milo which was higher thanjor the north.

Sir William Herries: You want to take the net receipts—that is .not fair.

Mr. M'C'ombs; "I am coming to that. If the net returns for the North Island were higher than for the South, and if the administration in the South was less efficient, that was. surely a matter for the management." He noted that the South Island was not once mentioned in the expenditure for the current year under the Railways Improvement Authorisation Act.

Mr. T. K. Sidey (Dunedin South) discussed wages and the need for the speedy provision of more rolling stock. He mentioned that there remained anomalies in ■the tariff, the removal of which would, he believed, increase revenue. He Instanced timber carriage. He suggested that there should be a- clear understanding of what the railways were expected to earn. At one time it was held that so long as they earned 3J per cent, it was sufficient, and if more were earned there should be a reduction of rates.

After further debate the report was laid on tho table.

MEMBERS' QUESTIONS ' Sir. Veiltch (Wanganui) is asking Uio Prime Minister whether his attention has been drawn- to a published statement to the. effect that New Zealand beof and mutton aro not procurable in Glasgow, Ureenoch, mid in' some other parts of Scotland; and whether he will inako inquiries in order to ascertain why it isthat, while there is an alleged glut of Now Zealand meat in Loudon, deputations from different parts of Scotland have gone to I,ondon making applications for supplies of New Zealand meat, but have been refused? Mr. Seddon (Westland) is asking the .Minister of Defence whether it is a fact that the surplus of the canteen funds of the. New Zealand Expeditionary Force has been paid into the Consolidated Fund) and, if so, whether tho Government will eonsidor tho advisability of supplementing; the Trcntham Scholarship Fund with nil or part nf that surplus? In a note to his question Mr. Seddon says: "It. has been stated on good authority that only .£IOOO will be available annually for scholarships, so that there is need of tho Trentlum Scholarship Fund being supplemented." -Mr. Harris (Waitemata) Is iskine; tho Minister of Lands whether ho will this session bo amend the Discharged Soldiers' Settlement Act as to extend the benefit of its provisions to mothers of single deceased soldiers? ,THE BUTTER COMMITTEE

The Parliamentary Committee set up to consider the prico of butter will meet at 10 a.m. to-day in the Parliamentary Buildings. The sittings of the committee will be public.