WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Hokitika Guardian, 8 March 1922, Page 2

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

THE, RAILWAYS. reducing THE loss: shiaciAii id goaildian. WELLINGTON, Marcli 6. The local critics of the Government’s administration of the railways refuse to be greatly impressed by the Hon. D. H. Guthrie's statement that the losss on the working of the lines has been reduced from £4,000 to £3,000 a day. First, they say that a particularly busy season of the year has 'been selected for the comparison, and then that with all the unprofitable services cut out no loss of any dimensions is excusable. The retort of course, is no more conclusive than is the Minister’s assertion.. The railway accounts are not kept in such a way that the losses and gains can be easily distributed among the different lines and an exact analysis of the expenditure and revenue oil this basis is practically impossible. The charges for interest on loan money during the course of construction have been probably doubling the nominal cost of such a lihe Its the Midland Railway, for instance, and yet they do not appear at all ill 'the Minister’s monthly and annual returns. This system is not peculiar to tile present Gtivel’nment; It has been common to all Government’s since: tli e institution of tho public works policy fifty odd years ago. LOSS OB' REVENUE.

But without delving into the intricacies of. t-‘e railway accounts thS crittictf of the. Government take their stand on the contention that it is ing thousands of pounds every week through its conservative and inefficient management of the lines. Tile mail trains on the Weliington-Auckland trunk line, particularly since their reduction to one each way a day, continue to be fairly well patronised; but the miked.' trains .running over the various sections of this line are rarely as much as half full, and there is evidence everywhere that a growing proportion of both the goods and the passengbr traffic is being driven on to the roads. This means not merely a loss of revenue to the Railway Department, but also a very heavy tax upon the lopal bodies .in the maintenance of roads, and where local trains have been abolished a very serious inconvenience to the public. On what system the reduction of services is proceeding no one seems to know, not even the Minister, himself, but the result ilaft been to discredit the railways aitM to magnify the motor to an extent which does not forebode well for the future of State enterprise.

branch RAILWAYS. “The “Dominion” looking upon the I,lighter side of this development, see s in the progress of the motor a death blow to branch- railways and rejoices ov*r the prospect. It is pleasant, it says, to find the engineers of the Public Works - Department deprecating the construction of such lines in view of the approaching revolution. “Branch railways "lmVe in nearly all cases be e n unprofitable in New Zealand,” it de chtres, “and al‘e to-day a dead weight oil tile back of the Railway Department that is responsible for a large share of the lieaVy loss at which the system is ruii. The branches seldom paid even before inotor transport became a competing factor, and the iu'st that can be said of them is that their justification lay in the necessary linking up of outlying districts with the main lines.” All this is very true, hut if the Government is going to abaindon the construction of branch railways forthwith it must bear its share of the cost of making and maintaining the roads that are to take imeir place. It cannot with decency shift any more of its responsibilities on to the heavily-laden shoulders of tlie local bodies.

“FALSE ECONOMY.” The Government doe.s not get very far with a n y of its economy schemes without encountering opposition of one kind or another. Reducing State expenditure is an. unpleasant business at any time, and particularly so when the health and safety of children are concerned, These facts are being brought home to the Minister of (Education very pointedly just now by a loud outcry against his proposal to discontinue the present subsidy for teaching swimming and life-aving in the schools. “This is false economy with a vengeance,” protests Mr J. A. Duffy, the chief honorary instructor to the Wellington Centre, of the Royal Life Saving Society. Since the commencement of the bathing season, this authority declares, some thirty lives have been lost by drowning in New Zealafid, an average of two a week, and this in spite of all the society has done towaras the encouragement of swimming. By the withdrawal of the subsidy, Mr Duffy predicts, the number of fatalities will be greatly increased. The straits of the Treasury must be very desperate indeed if this sort of economy is necessary Surely there is some alternative to the abandonment of children’s swimming lessons.