THE RAILWAYS

Hokitika Guardian, 25 November 1930, Page 2

THE RAILWAYS

SIXTY MILLIONS AT STAKE. SHALL IT BE SAVED? (Associated 'Chambers of Commerce). The condition of the Dominion’s railways has been a subject of continuous discussion during recent years and still is a matter of grave concern to (the community at large, and to business men .in particular. T hose who have been brought into close contact with this important part of the country’s activities cannot fail to realise that there is something radically wrong with the system by which this great national asset is operated. The report of the recent Royal Commission covered the whole ground so frankly and so thoroughly that it is impossible, with an ovoen mind, to resist its conclusion that in order to obtain the best results from the Dominion's railways they should bo removed from ali political influences, and entrusted to thoroughly equipped experts whose aim would be, not to promote this particular interest or that, but to obtain the bent possible results from the national interest entrusted ito their care and direction. In every country where State owned railways have been a success, then control has been entirely divorced from politics. REFORMS ELSEWHERE. Canada provides a striking example, among many otheris, of the fruits of untrammelled management. The various railway enterprises which now constitute the Canadian National system had gone from bad to worse to a hopeless financial condition. The Government of the day realised that drastic measures were needed and by the welding together of the various units into a cohesive whole, under a management absolutely untrammelled by political influence, saved the situation. The result was striking and definite, and remains as irrefutable evidence of the great value of the change in policy. Germany, Belgium, and other European countries ha,ve achieved similar results from the abolition of political interference. Sir Henry Thornton, one of the leading railway and financial authorities of the day, has stated that the recovery in Canada was made possible only by the exclusion of politics from the snhere i of railway management. It will be 1 remembered that Sir Otto Niemeyer, writing to the Hon. E. A. R.nnsom, the ArtMn.g-Prime Minister, only a little while ago, urged in much the same way as the Royal Commission had done, that New Zealand should keep its railways free from political influence and its inevitable resuhx.

Defective working. There is another matter in connection with this railway problem which is legitimately open to discussion. The report of the recent Royal Commission deals to some extent with the internal working of the Railway Department. and implies that there is room for much improvement in this direction. The directors of big commercial concerns lay down their policies after due deliberation and then give their executive head authority to develop them. The Royal Commission, however., found no arrangement of this kind in the New Zealand railway service. The report tells us, indeed, that “the powers of the General Manager ' are.' restricted to the very narrowest limits.’’ He cannot effectively discipline offending members of his staff, nor can he promote those of good conduct and proved ability. An Appeal Board maty'be all very well in theory, and in some cases it may be desirable in practice; but, when it serves as an obstacle to discipline, and an impediment to service, it ceases to be a help to efficiency or an aid to justice. Here, surely, is need for a very radical reform. Many of the critics of the railway system in thm country are ready enough—too ready indeed—to denounce the staff, from the General Manager downwards, but if they were acquainted with all the facts they would realise that a very large proportion of the troubles which beset the officials are due to a system which inspires neither ambition nor energy.,

THE REMEDY. That the railway service is m effective as it is, in spite of all the obstacles it encounters, is much to the credit of the staff in general. ,ln this connection the report of the Royal Commission deals mainly with two important points—the removal of political interference, and the institution of efficient internal working of the Department. There are other matters needing attention which have been placed before the Government by the Royal Commission, but the two reforms just mentioned are the channels by which the salvation of the Dominion’s railways must lie ultimately reached. It is not only useless, it is obviously unfair, to blame the management, under existing conditions, for the plight into which the railways have drifted. The responsibility rests with the public—with every adult individird in the Dominion—to see that the railways again become a remunerative service to the community at large, and no longer remain an increasing burden upon the workers, the producers, ‘and 'tho disti ibutoiis of the Dominion.