The Guardian AND EVENING STAR, With which is incorporated “The West Coast Times.” MONDAY, AUGUST 29th, 1921.

Hokitika Guardian, 29 August 1921, Page 2

The Guardian AND EVENING STAR, With which is incorporated “The West Coast Times.” MONDAY, AUGUST 29th, 1921.

RAILWAY RETURNS. Tiifc railway traflic returns for tin; p-r----iod April 1 to July 23, covering tho first sixteen weeks of the current financial year, are easily the worst on record. Of a revenue of over two millions sterling the expenditure absorbed all but £4,900. The cost of opened lines at the end of March was £37,235,001), upon which interest and sinking fund charges cannot he less than 4, per cent, per annum. The deficit on the sixteen weeks is therefore about £SIO,CKX). This, comments the ‘‘Lyttelton Times,” has to be made good out of tin l tax-revenue, which the people have to “stagger” (using the Prime .Minister’s own word) to pay. The deficit on sixteen weeks’ traffic of the railways to equal to more than the w I mile of the income tax paid in 1913, and in 1912 the Reform Government occupied the Treasury benches, pledged among other things, to reduce taxation and to make the railways pay. Of course the war capsized everything; but the most generous allowance for war conditions and abnormal difficulties cannot excuse those responsible for having allowed the finances of the milways to drift to their present deplor~ablo state. The following table gives a comparison of revenue and expenditure for the sixteen weeks of this year end last year:— Revenue, 1921 £2,124,741, 1920 f 1,975,959, increased movement £148,782. Expenditure 1921. £2,119,840, 1920 £1,473,281, increased movement £646,559. Balance 1921, £3,901, 1920 £502.078, decreased movement £497,777. It is not surprising that the Government has discovered at last that something must he done. Hence the “cut,” the going partly out of business <,r the greatest public service supposed. +o be supplied by the State: The percentage of expenditure to revenue in the sixteen weeks of the current financial year was fit).77, which means that after paying running costs the Department had - s fid left out of every £IOO of revenue. We ask any business man what he would ; think if a concern in which he was in- | tcrested showed results like this, in addition to a liability of £1,075,000 a year for interest. Obviously, the railways are sadly mismanaged by the Government which professes to lie sound and business-like and economical.