"GREAT SOCIAL SERVICE"

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 141, 1 July 1937, Page 6

"GREAT SOCIAL SERVICE"

Buildings Up Wealth That the railways performed a great social service to thc country, and their balance-sheets could not- be judged by the old accountancy methods of ponnds, shillings and pence, was the view advanced by the Hon. D. G. Spllivan, Minister of Bailways, speaking yesterday at the ceremony to mark the opening of the Mohaka viaduct. "There aTe some people in New Zealand who seem to think that Tailways ought to be regarded as a private business, balancing the ledger and paying its way," stated Mr Sullivan. "But I say, and I have always declared, that we have to look upon the railways as a great social service, somewhat in the light we look upon roads, education and health. We must have a different kind of balance sheet, a broader one, trying to estimate what service the railways are giving in the development of natural wealth. If it were not for the risks and hardships of the pioneers, this country would not have developed to where it- is to-day. They did not count cost, or count as lost everything which did not produce an immediate r^tum. They were building a heritjlge for their sons °and daughters and built large and .bold, fighting the wilderness. We must also have courage and vision. Taking the broader view, °ur railway lines to-day are giving a service which is payment for the cost, e'ven though a business man might not see prolits in the balance sheet."