RAILWAY RED TAPE.

Globe, Volume VIII, Issue 1056, 15 November 1877, Page 3

RAILWAY RED TAPE.

Mr J, E. Brown, in a recent speech in the House of Representatives, referred to the subject of railway management, and proposed to read from the evidence taken before the Railway Management Committee. It was objected that the report was not then legally available. He continued by saying :

It has not yet been reported, but I will read a memorandum which I have obtained from good authority on this subject, and which I can vouch for :

“ If a ganger in charge of four or six miles of railway in Auckland or Southland or anywhere else requires a few rails or sleepers to repair the road, this is the routine necessary to obtain the material: —

“ He makes out a requisition on his Sub-In-spector, the Sub-Inspector requisitions the inspector, the Inspector requisitions the Resident Engineer of Constructed Railways, the Resident Engineer of Constructed Railways requisitions the Railway Storekeeper, the Railway Storekeeper requisitions the Public Works Storekeeper, the Public Works Storekeeper requisitions the Public Works Resident Engineer, the Public Works Resident Engineer requisitions the Inspector of Stores, Wellington. “ The next process is backwards, as follows :

“ The Inspector of Stores authorises tht Resident Engineer of Public Works, the Engineer of Public Works authorises the Storekeeper of Public Works, the Public Works Storekeeper authorises the Railway Storekeeper, the Railway Storekeeper authorises the Inspector of Public Way, the inspector cf Public Way authorises the

Sub-Inspector of Public Way, and lastly tbe Sub-Inspector of Public Way authorises the ganger.” It will thus be seen that quite a month is consumed before the ganger at Invercargill, Malvern Hills, or on the Auckland and Mercer Bailway can get twenty sleepers for the purpose of repairing the line. Then with regard to the carrying out of the recommendations of this Commission: About fifteen different returns from some three hundred and eighty railway stationmasters throughout the colony have weekly to be sent up to the auditors in Wellington. If a railway stationmaster happens to make a mistake in mentioning cast-iron pipes instead of wrought iron pipes—the difference would only be a few shillings—the whole thing is referred back to that portion of the colony from whence it came, and sometimes it take weeks before the slight mistake can be rectified. One of the regulations first made was that these returns should be made out for Monday morning, and it was found that all the railway officials in the colony would have to work all day on Sunday; and great complaints were made. What was done then ? They then ordered that the returns should be made from the Saturday to Monday night, so that the officials are at work all Monday night. There has been nothing but great discontent all over the country in consequence of the railway management, and this has been the result of acting upon the report of the commission, consisting, as it did, of some gentlemen who, in my opinion, knew nothing whatever of railways.