WELLINGTON TOPICS

Hokitika Guardian, 3 October 1927, Page 4

WELLINGTON TOPICS

RAILWAY REFORM. TEN YEARS’ HENCE. (Special to “ Guardian.”) WELLINGTON. Sept. 29. In the annual report of the Railway Department laid on the table of the House of Representatives during the absence of the Prime Minister in the Raglan Campaign, -Mr Coates frankly admits the loss of some £IOO,OOO during the financial year closed on .March .‘list last, and as frankly predicts that this leakage will he recurrent unless radical changes are made in the policy and administration of the Department. "The present position.” the Prime Minister states, is serious, so serious that the public has only two alternatives,” either “ to carry on in accordance with the existing 'practice. with the certainty of closing certain services,” or " to initiate an intelligent amalgamation of transport interests which will make it possible to give continuous reliable service and cheaper Height. The Minister, of course, suggests only one alternative, "an intelligent amalgamation ol transport interests, ’ which, he implies, would entail the constitution of a " Ministry of Transport ” and some considerable interference with private enterprise now engaged in the transport business. These steps, in one shape or another, have been contemplated by successive Ministers lor years past, while committees and commissions and specialists have reported upon them again and again. Now Mr Coates postpones the fruition of his scheme till ten years hence and naturallv some of his critics are impatient.

RAIL AND ROAD. The “Dominion” approves of the ( proposal to constitute a Ministry of Transport and assumes that the functions of the new authority would par- j take somewhat of the nature of a per- j manent commission for the investiga-j tion of traffic problems as they arose, and for the timely adjustment, of the | system to meet requirements insisted upon by modern conditions of travel. | It also thinks the extended services the Minister proposes to introduce should go some way towards bringing back a substantial measure of the public custom llie railways have already | os t. "It is necessary, however, to point out.” it says, "that it is not , much use arguing that the public j should support the railways because they belong to them, and that il they are not patronised a serio'us financial loss will be visited upon the country and upon themselves. The public* does not think like that. Between two rival systems competing lor their custom, they are more likely to balance the respective claims from the point of view of cheapness and convenience. That is the real problem with which the new .Ministry of Transport will he faced, and it involves the question whether it is wise to proceed with certain of the railway works already planned, whether, in fact, it would not he hotter in some instances to rely on road transport.” That is a point which Mr Coates’ own political I fiends think the Government should decide for itself.

A PRESSING NATIONAL PROBLEM, The "Evening Post” expresses much the same views as the " Dominion does in regard to the constitution ol a Minister of Transport, hut it is not so ready as iLs morning contemporary is to enlarge the Government’s opportunities to save the State railways from legitimate competition by Onlers-in-Couneil. “The third method of ad- j justing ■competition by regulation,” it says, “ is one which we can heartily approve m theory, though doubtlul concerning its practical application. Experience ol the. operation of the Motor Omnibus regulations shows that there is a grave danger of this method being applied to kill competition, rather than to regulate it. It may begin as a chock upon transport waste anil end as a prop for transport monopoly. For this reason wo hope that it will not he made the chief agent of adjustment, hut will he used with extnme caution’ and after most careful investigation. Otherwise a check may he placed upon enterprise as well as upon waste.” The danger of this sort of tiling happening lias been demonstrated in several of the large cities of the Dominion, where the motor buses in a great measure have been driven oil the streets, not by the superior service supplied by the municipal trams but hv the process ol a. Cabinet-made law. The adoption of a similar policy on an unlimited scale certainly would not he in I lie interests of the public. A TUG TASK. An authority of very wide experience in.railway affairs referring to the Minister’s suggestions to-day, said be thought it quite time the Government applied itself seriously to the. reorganisation of the Dominion’s great transport service. The present position was far too serious to lie made tin* subject of a party wrangle, but be hoped members on both sides ol the House who bad any light to throw upon the problem would not be restrained by any personal considerations. Of course, lie went on to sav, it was motor transport that had brought about most of the present trouble. Before the arrival ol the motor the Minister in charge of. the railways had a comparatively easy job in making them show a profit- on paper year after year. Rut his sue-1 cessors were placed in a very different, position—particularly during the last 1 three or four years—and they would go from had to worse unless they made up their minds to accept the inevitable and co-operate frankly and intelligently with the motor. Tt was no use] to say that because the railways bad cost sixty or seventy millions they must pay current interest on that sum. The thing was impossible. The railways must be taken at- their present worth and on that basis made to yield a. reasonable return in competition with their sturdy rivals.