The Oamaru Mail FRIDAY, JUNE 25, 1880.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1316, 25 June 1880, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail FRIDAY, JUNE 25, 1880.

The railway returns published in a Government Gazette which came to hand yesterday form an interesting study "for those who are anxious to ascertain the relative commercial valiies of the different lines. In the first place then we find that the average percentage of expenditure as compared with the receipts was, for the four weeks ending May 1, over 20 per cent, higher in the. North Island than in the South Island, and this, too, notwithstanding that' in the case of this island two notoriously unprofitable lines the • Pifiton and "Westport lines —are included in the comparison. The total_ extent of railopen in the Island is 361 miles, from which the total receipts for the four-weekly period named amounted to L 14,828 and a few coppers, while the expenditure was nearly LlO/718, thus showing a percentage of expenditure to receipts of 72*28, In the South Island the length of - line open . is 6I ; 1 miles, which gave receipts for the four "weeks to the extent of nearly L7Q,092, while the total expenditure reached a little over thus showing a proportion of expenditure to receipts of 52-18. Taking the railways as they appear in the return, the Greymouth section of eight miles shows the best results, its proportion of expenditure to receipts being 39'13, Next to this, but really superior in some rsspgets, comes the Amberley-Kingston section, which includes all the lines in Canterbury, Otago, a cud Southland. This gives, a percentage of 51'77, by no means a badaverage, which, could it be maintained throughout the year, would leave a very fair profit. In other words the main line from Amberley to Kingston, with iis branches, earaed during the four weeks L35,00S 13s 10d; op to put it in another way, the 755 miles of railway in Canterbury, Otago, and Southland, <rave an average return of LI 164 4s per mile at a cost of L6O 2 16g per mile. How the various portions of the line fared we shall show presently." The highest rate of expenditure as compared with receipts is shown to have .occurred on the Picton section?, which actually cost nearly seyen per cent, more to work than was received from it; while the Westport line en-_ tailed a loss to the country of nearly six per. cent, upon the total fflam received. in the North Island- tjis lowest rate of cost was 65'96 per .ceiit. of the.receipts, and the htghest 85'3Q per cent. Of course, in the absence of the figures giving the cost of constructing the different lines, it is .impossible to say what proportion the profits on the various lines, bear to the. interest payable • on - the borrowed money spent in their construction, but in the majority of eases it seems pretty clear that if provision is made for. renewals, the proportion would lie about nothing to a great deal—very plear evidence that the money should have remained unborrowed, or, if borrowed at all, placed at interest in. the bank for a number of years. Turning now briefly to the doings of the lines included in the Amberley-Kiflgsfbn section, we will first deal with the figures in connection with the main trunk line. Of this, the Christchurch section of 127 miles shows to the best advantage, the expenditure bearing the proportion to receipts of 40'70 per cent.) while that for the Oamaru section of 102— from Temuka to per cent.; that of the Dunedin "section of 115 miles, 61*18 per cent.; and thiit of the Invercargill section of 170 miles, 55*63. This affords conclusive evidence of the folly of uniform tariffs, for we may certainly take it for granted that the increase of expenditure as compared with receipts as we come South is the result of the heavier nature of the line south of Oamaru than on the north side, and .the consequent increased cost of. faftulr age. The very great disparity between the cost of working - the Christchurch section and the Dunedin section cannot be accounted for by a difference in the cost'of management alone. We can only, devote a few lines to a review of the working of the branch railways. Of these the line, included in the railways under the control of Mr. Hannay, the Oamaru manager, claims first place foi' the smallness of expenditure as compared with receipts, the per centage being 36*70. Next to this comes the Ngapara line, also under Sir. Hannay's management, with a pi-oportion of expenditure to receipts of 42*21 per. cent. Third in the list stands the Southbridge branch, included in the Christchurch section, with a proportion of 43*52; From this point the averages vise yery aapidly, none of the branch lines show* -jng out particularly well. In the (Christchurch section the highest average given is 79'75 per cent, on the Oxford branch. Taking the remainder of the branch lines in the Tiro&ru : Oamaru section, we find that the expenditure on the Duntroon line swallowed up §9'ls per cent, of the receipts; while the Waimate branch cost nearly 22 per cent, and the Shag Point nearly 30 percent. more io work than was received from them, but in tbs case of these linep it is scarcely fair to tak» pognisance of the disproportion of es^ejiditupp"" to receipts, for they can only be eon.sidered mere feeders of the main line. The former is only four miles and the latter only two miles in length, and, as Mr. Jones pointed ojut during his candidature, we should, in striving to arrive at a just estimate of their utility commercial value to the Colony, tiakje into account the amount of work that they provide for the main line=—work that without them would not .to a.yeiy great extent be secured, and the loss of which would very materially affect tlie_ receipts from the main line. The stux((.' i-ejnark applies to the Walfon Park branch of three miles, which is included in the Dunedin section, and which figures very badly indeed, 1 showing a loss in working of per cent. Taking the branch railways ip. the south, we find the. general result pf a much more deplorable nature, for in none of the cases can these line?, be said tp return anything towards interest on cost of construction. ffys proportion of expenditure to jfcee&pta in each case is as follows: £)utram bwwti, 92'71 per cent.; Law-

rence branch, 107'50 pe?' " Riverton-Otautau branch, 94:57 per cent. Here still further evidence is given of the necessity for resorting to a system differential necessity that becomes all the more - apparent when we take into account the heavy cost incurred in the construction of the rioh^paying-'southerfl-lines.v .