RETRENCHMENT IN RAILWAYS

Hokitika Guardian, 8 May 1931, Page 5

RETRENCHMENT IN RAILWAYS

THE METHOD ADOPTED. DEPARTMENT’S DECISION EXPLAINED. WELLINGTON, A Lay 5. At the farewell to Air J. Brown, District Traffic .Manager of Railways, woo is retiring on sup .‘rumination, Air Ster. Img, vu-imral .Manager, retemiig Lo retronebin.Mit in tile Department, said : “It is in the inteersts of all concern ed, not only in the interests of the taxpayer, bio. in the interests of tho industry itself and every member in it, that 11.1 should a.s far as possible, and with as little hardship as we can inflict, bring our industry to a stale of economic stability. 'Two issue faced tiie Administration : “(1) To retrench from the bottom, o” adopt the principle of last on first off. or something of that character, and put those who might come within the sphere of such principle without regard to how they were going to stand after they lost their jobs in tho I )epai‘tment.

(2) “On the other hand there was the alternative of seeing if we could not reduce the stall' in a way that Would give those who wei‘e going otit tat least something to help them to discharge their economic, social and domestic responsibilities. n f think if you people were sitting in the position of administrator in the Department you would find it very difficult; indeed. I go further, and say that, as humane men. you would find it impossible to admit the former alternative while the latter was open to you. Thai does not mean, and Tdo not want to he mistaken, that the alternative that has been taken lias been adopted with any degree of pleasure, nor do 1 say that it lias been adopted without a due sense of the very grave loss that the Department is suffering.”