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Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 624, 28 March 1929, Page 10

Saving £IO,OOO a Year

Filling Gaps in Railway System

]T is suggested in railway circles that, following upon the loss to the railways of Mr. J. S. Hunter who has become head of the new Transport Ministry, divisional reorganisation might be effected to produce an annual saving to New Zealand of from £B.OOO to £IO,OOO in administrative expenses. This policy has to be settled primarily by the general manager. Mr. H. H. Sterling.

withdrawal of Mr. J. S. Hunter from the position of official secretary of railways, and his appointment to the new Transport Department is considered to be a distinct loss to the Railway Department- Mr. Hunter was especially trained for the job of liaison officer between the Railway Board (and later the general manager) and the Minister, and his special excursion abroad a few years ago equipped him with the experience necessary for the job. He had his office in Parliamentary Buildings, where he was in direct and immediate touch with the Minister.

No other officer possesses the qualifications required for this onerous position, and the general manager shortly will be called upon to decide what arrangements will be made to fill the gap. One of the most noticeable things about the new general manager is his desire to keep t© personal touch with the railways throughout the country, and much of his time is spent away from Wellington. His interests, therefore, must be watched while he is away, and someone must remain at headquarters to carry on his work. This situation has given rise to the suggestion in railway circles, both in Wellington and in Auckland, that a reorganisation of the divisional superintendents’ branches could be undertaken with great financial advantage

to the department and with increased efficiency in the conduct of train running generally. It is questioned whether the special divisional system established about three years ago in each Island has proved the administrative success anticipated by those who copied it from the South African railways. Special staffs, special offices, and special duties were organised for these divisions, and their work was, in effect, the work which had been carried out previously by the assistant-general manager system. BIG ANNUAL SAVING If the divisional superintendents at Auckland and Christchurch were abolished, and two assistantgeneral managers appointed—one to remain at Wellington and the other to travel through both Islands —it is calculated something like £4,000 or £5,000 could be saved annually in each Island, netting in a year from £B,OOO to £IO.OOO without loss of efficiency. This suggestion was made as a possible way out for Mr. Sterling because, so far as can be gathered, no tangible improvement in the train service throughout New Zealand can be traced to the operation of the divisional system. The men now engaged in this work would, of course, be absorbed in other places in the railways, and would be used gradually to fill the jobs of retiring officers until the whole were absorbed. Until that point of saturation was reached no new officers would be taken into the railways. The appointment of two assistantgeneral managers would in reality be an extension of the present district traffic manager system, in which there are an outdoor and indoor assistant traffic manager. The natural expansion of this system would be its application to the general manager’s branch. ALTERNATIVE PROPOSALS The alternative to this reorganisation is the appointment of another official secretary to replace Mr. Hunter at Parliament Buildings, where the same intimate touch with Ministerial authority could be retained as in the past. The questions which will present themselves to Mr. Sterling, however, are: First, is there a man offering with sufficient training and experience to take the place of Mr. Hunter; and, secondly, has the establishment of the divisional system three years ago justified itself in added efficiency throughout the railways? Mr. Hunter has been understudied at Wellington by Mr. R. Aickin, who, in addition to acting as private secretary to the Minister of Railways, also assisted Mr. Coates when he was Minister of Public 'Works before his elevation to Prime Minister in J. 925.