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South Canterbury Times, Issue 2869, 5 June 1882, Page 2

If there be any foundation for the statement conveyed to Mr Fish (and to which that gentleman in his place in Parliament the other day referred), that the engine driver.who, met with so horrible a death at Kartigi recently had been on duty some fourteen hours at a stretch before being called to take charge of this particular train, it is high time a thorough investigation were made into the case. The management of the New Zealand railways is a very long way off what it ought to be. The speed of the trains is indifferent, the cost of travelling is high, the carriage accommodation is neither clean nor comfortable, the station conveniences (to speak mildly), are except in a few instances, very meagre. We are a long-suffering people, however, and we bear it all without any more serious complaint than an occasional growl. But when to the insufficiency of the accommodation we see added inhumanity in the treatment of officials—a consequence, probably, of parsimonious management—we indignantly protest. The Railway Department is fortunate in its engine drivers, generally; and it istoo bad to overtax them. So far of the duty the Department owes to its servants. But the public are concerned in this matter, for their own sakes also. Over-’ worked and tired men cannot he as alert and vigilant as those in charge of a train ought to be, to ensure the ’Safety of passengers. We trust the reply made in the House by the Hon. the Minister of railways, to the effect that there was no overworking, was based upon a really searching enquiry, and not updn a mere vague statement of an official in 'answer to a vague memorandum.