THE NORTHERN RAILWAYS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 449, 26 January 1909, Page 2

THE NORTHERN RAILWAYS.

The Auckland Star has some interesting comments on the returns just issued by the Railway Department for the four-weekly period ending December 4, The -figures show that there are rotg miles of railway 1 open for traffic in the North Island, as against 1537 in the South, the revenue for 'the North .Island for- the month was ,£1035359 and for the South 10,070, while the expenditure was ,£75,188 and ,£89,200 .respectively. 1 One of the most imposftalnt: points noted by the Star, is the fact South Island I s ■ Stiirfar ahead of tlie North in Southernfri.qpds have ,50 per cent, more liiid'man we have. But dije gross railway revenues from tlie two islands show no such dis> parity ; for the South Island, with-. 1500 miles, qf railway, earned j£iio,ooo for the country during the period under rqyievv,. while the IjFqrth Island, with 1000 miles, earned only ,£7OOO less,': It is clear, therefore, that on the average the ! railways in the South island return less to the country than thos.e in the North. And this fact is emphasised. by the difference in the expense ratio, the proportion of expenditure to revenue, in the, 'SOiith'lsland being 82 per cent, as against 73 per cent, for the North. This means that the South Island railways are on the whole less provable and more expensive to work than the Northern lines ; and the logical .inference drawn by the Star is l.that the Government should make e-Very effort to push on fail•yvaY: construction in the North wpere experience . has already, shqjvyn that the ; State outlay’ upon pucpjic works secures the best re,tUfm ( : ..