STATE AS A BOOKSELLER

Hokitika Guardian, 20 April 1929, Page 8

STATE AS A BOOKSELLER

AXOTHKH HAZARDOUS EXPERIMENT.

(Nineteen Twenty-Eight Committee.)

Tlie Kailway Department at the middle of last month made up its mind to assume control ol the railway bookstalls throughout the Dominion and iortliwitli gave notice to this effect to tile lessees concerned. “With reference to your right to occupy tinrailway bookstall at ——,’ the notice to each individual lessee ran, “I desire to inform you that the Department intends to take over and control this stall when your lease expires on June JO next.” Simply this and nothing more. There has been no suggestion from any source that the lessees are not discharging their obligations satisfactorily; that they are not paying an adequate rent lor the stalls they occupy, or that they are not meeting the requirements of the public; travellers all over the country testify to their courtesy, their efficiency, and their ready discernment. At the- larger railway stations the bookstalls are as well equipped as are the - city shops of the same character and they have the advantage ol being a local guide, a ready timetable and a. reliable news repository. Even at the smaller stations, where fee traffic is not so large, the bookstalls are popular places ol resort and the sources of useful information.

REVENUE AND SERVICE

Several of the larger bookstalls, which have been occupied by the same lessees for a number of years are paying very considerable rentals. Sums as high as £l<m -CHOU. and COOO are mentioned, and higher rates arc predicted. These are cases in which the lessees have had an opportunity to build up a stable business within the precincts of the railway station and to attract travellers of all tastes and degrees. Naturally cities like Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch am. Dunedin offer greater facilities for developments of this kind than do Ihe smaller centres along the railway lines; but in the aggregate such olaces as Hamilton, Palmerston North, Wanganui and Invercargill must contribute very substantially towards the revenue of the bookstall returns. Ten years ago the Railway Department’s revenue from this source was not one half of what it is at the present time, and its growth obviously is the result of the understanding and effort of private enterprise. The les•eos of the larger bookstalls not only provide reading matter of a suitable and needed character for the travelling public, but they also undertake gratuitously a number of services which otherwise would be neglected altogether or rendered in a very perfunctorv fashion by the State.

WHAT AVILL HAPPEN?

It would lie interesting to learn wluit arrangements tlio Railway Do])artmont is making for carrying on tlic bookstalls when it lias got rid of the present lessees. Of course, it is wall within its authority in taking over the administration of this service itself. No one will dispute this fact. But it is p<*rinissible to ask how the Department. is going to staff its bookstalls. At present they are open in the larger centres from ninety to ninety-five hours a week, including three or four hours on Sunday. In Dunedin the lessee and his wife and one Icinnle assistant maintain this extended service*. Presumably similar conditions prevail in other centres. Under Government control at least two shifts will be required. The lessee, the wife and the female assistant will have, to he replac'd hv two shifts of three, as well as a Sunday attendant, making a staff of seven in all with prescribed pay and prescribed hours. The prospect is not a pleasing one for tile taxpayer. The cost, of maintenance will he at least doubled and it will not be surprising if the State’s share of the revenue is more than halved.