Loans and Tracks

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 352, 12 May 1928, Page 5

Loans and Tracks

MR. ALLUM’S EVIDENCE ENDS

Reserve Funds Again Discussed

MR. J. A. C. ALLUM, chairman of the City Council Tramways Committee completed his evidence before the Transport Commission yesterday, and the chief accountant of the Tramway Department was put in the box.

Mr. Allum advocated the system of authorising the raising of loans by means of a local government loans board. Under this scheme Government experts would judge the local works put forward. If their report was favourable, the local body would be authorised to raise the loan. Witness did not think that the Christchurch Tramway Board took polls. The Hobson Street power-house, said witness, had been sold to the Power Board for £125,000. although three years earlier it had cost the council £203,000 to buy it from the tramways company. The Chairman: Why the loss?—We bought it as a going concern and when it was sold it was closed down and dead. This closed Mr. Allum’s evidence. ACCOUNTANT’S FIGURES The chief accountant of the tramways department, Mr. W. St. J. Clarke, was the next witness. He produced a statement, dissecting the amount of £382,630 expended by the council on permanent way to March 31. 1927, into maintenance and reconstruction charges. The reconstruction charges shown in the dissection amounted to £206,890. That sum, however, include% a sum of £35,640 spent on junctions and special recurring expenditure, and deemed to be maintenance. There had also to be deducted the difference between the cost of macadam paving and the cost of the paving actually laid down, estimated at £14.250. Those deductions left £157,000 as the amount spent on reconstruction work strictly so called. Thirty per cent, of that amount had been charged to capital, because the work done had been permanently improved to at least that extent, leaving £109.900, which was the sum properly chargeable to reconstruction out of the sum of £206,890. But, in addition to that, there was spent out of the £IOO,OOO unemployment loan for reconstruction the sum of £57,428. Of the sum of £90.000 still to be spent, the amount properly chargeable to reconstruction was £63,000, making a gross total of £230,328 paid and to be paid for reconstruction strictly so called. Mr. Clarke said that after the purchase of the undertaking by the council, he had spoken to the late Mr. J. J. Walklate, general manager, about reserve funds. Mr. Walklate had stated that, in view of the difficulties; arising out of the investment of the fund as

provided by the Municipal Corporations Act. the council had decided not to establish such funds. WELL-GUARDED SECRET Mr. Meredith: Is it a fact th.it no concession cards were sold on tram* and buses in order to encourage the public to pay cash?—The more the better. Could you let me into the wellguarded secret of where the tickets c*n bo bought?—l cannot tell you all the places There are 89 agencies In t i« city and suburbs. Could you consider posting a list in the trams and buses? —1 will consider it. but I don't direct policy. Mr. Meredith asked whether concession card revenue was allocated t* each bus route. The witness said th* practice was to credit such revenue to the bus department as a whole. He could, however, ascertain the amount for each route. Mr. Meredith: How would you ascertain the revenue for each route ? Witness: Front the journals sent into the office daily. The inquiry then adjourned tintil Monday.