New Zealand Times. THURSDAY, JANUARY 7, 1875.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4305, 7 January 1875, Page 2

New Zealand Times. THURSDAY, JANUARY 7, 1875.

We recently referred to the stupendous failure of the Indian Public Works de-. partnient, menacing the very existence of British rule in Hindustan, as detailed in papers recently laid before the Imperial Parliament, and further elucidated in the debate on the India Council Bill. That failure has been attributed, in a great degree at least, to the want of harmonious action between the India Council and the local governments, or Presidencies. Of course, the Public Works department was by no means free from blame, and a distinguished member of the Indian Civil Service has given it as his opinion that it will cost the country on 6 million sterling to teach each of the or.gineers charged with a certain class of works a competent knowledge of their business. Be chat as it may, the blunders are something astounding, and the cost of rectifying them, if they ever can be rectified, will involvo an enormous outlay ; —so great as to preclude all hope of profit on the outlay for many years to come, even with economical management;, which can hardly be expected in India. In the article referred to, we ventured to hint that somewhat similar causes were at work in New Zealand ; and as we cannot possibly hope to stagger under a large and unprofitable expenditure, like that which has been entailed on India, it becomes our bounden duty to see that efficiency and oconomj prevail in every branch of the Public Works department. We have had this advantage from the first, however, which.tho Indian Government did not possess. We had a Minister of Public Works, whose duty it was to control the department of Public Works. On the whole, wo believe the administrative work of this department has been well and creditably performed ; but wo do not pretend to say that mistakes have not been made. On the contrary, it is only too true that blunders have been committed, involving loss to the country ; but this is more or less incident to all large engineering undertakings. Setting these aside, however, the result has been favorable, save in one respect. And that point we have already hinted at. We refer to the conflict of opinion and authority between the General and Provincial Governments, which has certainly caused heavy loss to the colony. Now, so strong has the political influence of the local governments of New Zealand been, that the Central Government, which is responsible for the working of tbo Public Works department, has been compelled to divest itself of much of its power, and to delegate it to the Provincial Executives, which are non responsible bodies. In other words : it was found expedient, for political reasons, to conciliate the provincial magnates; and the Minister of Public Works, though nominally responsible for the solo control of his department, was stripped of a great deal of his power, and now exercises in reality only a divided authority. The management of the constructed railways, for instance, is left to-the provinces in tho Middle Island, while it is retained by tho Minister in the North Island. What is the consequence ? Simply, what might be expected to result from such a loose system, modelled on the lamentably defective Indian one, namely, loss to the revenue, and public discontent caused by public inconvenience. As to tho first point—loss of revenue—this is notorious. Tho management of the Dunedin and Port Chalmers railway, since it passed out of the hands of the company into those of the Provincial Government, has simply been a standing disgrace. It was some time ago rumored, and wo believe truly, that for several months no traffic accounts had been rendered, and that when it was deemed desirable to collect freight, shippers and importers wore

simply requested to inform the railway officials wliatquantity of goods they had passed along the line. We believe in every case where such application was made, a correct statement was furnished, but of course all the freight could not possibly be collected that way. That such application to the merchants was necessary at all, shows the utter want of system, and total absence of check, under provincial direction. Latterly, considerable improvement was effected through a change of management ; but even then, the lighters on the river, which had been' driven off by the company, competed successfully with the railway, and carried the bulk of the heavy merchandise between Port Chalmers and Dunodin. We are not aware whether the Southland line was so discreditably managed ; we rather think that it was not, but that was simply owing to the accident of a competent officer- being in charge. If it had been otherwise, there would have been no check, or attempted check, by the Provincial Executive, judging from the state of matters which existed on the line directly under their eyes. The result, however, is that tho Otago railways did not pay, even nominally, until very recently, and that they do not' now pay nearly so well as they might, or as they would, were they in the hands of a private company. Coming to Canterbury, which has had a longer time to organise its railway system than any other province, and which has the advantage also of having its railways connected, what is the result? Why, according to the Press, utter and complete failure. What says the Press, in its issue of December 28 : At the risk of being charged with introducing a gloomy topic at this festive season,we feol bound again to draw public attention to the allocking results of tho railway management. About a month ago we devoted several articles to the subject. We proved in the most conclusive manner that the valuable property which this province has hitherto possessed in its railways has been converted into a cause of public loss in tho present ond embarrassment in the future We showed that whilst the traffic-had enormously increased the profits had decreased to tho point of actual disappearance, and that; in all reasonable probability, tho more the railways were used the worse would be the results. We established this position by reference to the official accounts ; and it was supported, involuntarily indeed, but in a remarkable degree by a memorandum from the Secretary for Public Works. It is not surprising, however, that so amazing and frightful a condition of affairs should have failed to bo at once realised by the public. There may even bo some who, in a stupid incapacity to appreciate the consequences of tho existing railway administration, are disposed to think that our remarks were made in a spirit of captious criticism. But the following statement must dispel any such notion. The figures we have now to lay beforo our readers more than corroborate all that we said before, and abundantly justify us in urging that immediate reform should be undertaken.

During the nine months ended March 31st, 1574, thegross earnings of the Canterburyrailways amounted to £00,918, and the working expenses to £44,928 ; leaving a net profit of £21,390, .or at the rate of £29,320 a year. For the current financial period ending 31st March next, tho gross earnings are estimated at £102,000. With the same proportion between earnings and working expenses as during the corresponding period of last year, the latter would have amounted (in round numbers) to £08,000; leaving a profit of £34,000, or at the rate of a little over £45,000 a year. But the cost of working the extensions had to be taken into account, as also tho fact that a part of the traffic—the conveyance of railway material for the General Government was to be conducted at less than the ordinary rates. Making theso allowances the Government estimated the working expenses at £79,000. They thus reckoned upon, and took credit for, a net profit during the three-quarters of a year ending the 31st March next of £23,000. Now what are the results so far as we have gone ? Wo showed in previous articles that during the first quarter of the three, viz., that ending September 30th, so far from any profit being contributed by that quarter, its operations resulted in a loss of about £2OOO. It is true that the" Secretary for Public Works attempted to show that, if this, that, and the other had been charged to its proper place, there would liavo been no loss in the September quarter. The attempt, even if it had been successful, merely went to better the September quarter at the expense of the June quarter. As the Juno quartershowed badly in its proportionate profit as compared with its predecessors, and was part of the time during which the present Secretary for Public Works has administered tho railways, the proposed adjustment would not have mended the matter much. But it is not an object with us to argue about two thousand pounds. Tens of thousands of pounds hang upon this question. Upon it also hangs the pecuniary prosperity or the financial failure of the province of Canterbury. Tho railways ought to bo now returning a net revenue at the rate of at least £30,000 a year. Instead of this they are causing a large loss to the province. In tho first three months of the nine there was a loss, as we have s<-en, of £2OOO. To this we have now to add. Uin re.iults for the months of October and November, in each of Triiicb there has been a further loss. In October there was an excess of working expenses over gros3 earnings of £ISOO. In tho next month, November, thero was a similar excess of £IBSO. Thus in five months out of the nine thero has not only been no profit on the working, but a dead loss of more than £SOOO. The Secretary for Public Works, in his memorandum, had the effrontery to say that "if the rate of traffic were in the same ratio as the corresponding quarters of last year, the estimate made in June last would be largely exceeded." The estimated profit for tho nine months being £23,000, and the first five months having produced a loss of about £SOOO, it follows that to realise tho estimate of profit the railways must, in the four months, December, January. February, and March, return an excess of gros3 earnings over working expenses of not loss than £23,000. It is almost needless to add that such a result is utterly be yond tile reach of possibility. Nor does there appear to be the slightest hope of improvement. On the contrary, things grow steadily worse. Each successive month shows a larger expenditure. Every increase in traffic is 'accompanied by a still greater increaso in the working expenses, that more than absorbs the additional receipts and renders the disclosure of a profit impossible.

Thus wo have Canterbury adding its testimony to the conspicuous failure in railway management made by its sister province of Otago. We say, such a state of things is not creditable to the Government of tho colony, and should not be permitted to continue. It is absurd to say that these railways are provincial property, and that therefore the Colonial Government has no right to interfere. Thoy are nothing of the kind. They belong to tho colony, and form part of the assets which the colony holds against its enormous debt. If, therefore, it bo demonstrated that the Otago and Canterbury railways do not pay interest and sinking fund over and above working expenses, and leave a margin or profit for the creation of a fund for renewal and repairs, what prospect is there for other lines, under similar management, paying the country ? We put this question pointedly because' it is one that must be faced sooner or later, and the sooner the better, if by ventilating ♦•lie subject we arrive at a satisfactory solution. A large railway deficit cannot be bo made good by imposing extra taxation, because the colony is unable to bear it ; nor is it honest to charge it against the land fund, because that would simply mean paying interest out of canital. To our mind, the first thing to be done is for the General Government to take tho railways over, and assume in fact, as in name, tho responsibility of their management. One good result would be that it would bo possible to sheet home the blame to some one directly responsible to Parliament should anything go amiss ; another important gain would be, that a uniform system of management would bo adopted ; that control would be direct and efficient; and that with improved system there would be a corresponding reduction in working expenses. By these means, we have no doubt tho Otago and Canterbury railways could be worked to a profit, and that instead of becoming a burden on the public they would largely aid tho general revenue Of tho working of the North Island railways it is impossible for us to speak with nny degree of certainty. Tho lines are too recently opened to enable us to judge whether they are likely to payor not. It is said, and we believe with truth, that the Auckland and Onehunga branch line has not yet paid ; but that section is not a fair test of tho Northern railways. It may be said to run, for the greater part of its length, through a wilderness of scoria, and away as far as possible from the very large passenger traffic to Onehunga ; but we believe, under careful management, like that on tho

Wellington and Hutt line, it will likewise pay. Wo trust this subject will not be lost sight of by the public. It is a most serious matter, and unless some decided steps are taken to place our railways under efficient and economical management, there is little prospect of a railway fund coming to the aid of revenue.