WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Taihape Daily Times, 11 May 1918, Page 4

WELLINGTON TOPICS .

RAILWAY RETURNS. j *. SB THE YEAR'S OPERATIONS., ■-v r ),-, • : - . "'4 ' WELLINGTON, May 1% Yesterday the Hon. W. H. Herrle& communicated to the newsp4fc rs the returns obtained from the railway during the financial year ended o# March 31 last. The figures were summarised in the statement the Min* ister of Finance submitted to the House of Representatives during the short session, but of course Sir Joseph Ward offered no comment upon their significance. Briefly, they show that the revenue for the year was £113,000 less than that for the preceding year and the expenditure £116,042 more. That the Minister explains that 1916-17 was an extraordinarily prosperous year, and that in the circumstances a decline of £229,152 is the net revenue is no more than might have been expected. He regards the results, indeed, as entirely satisfactory and congratulates the country upon having obtained a return of £4 12s per cent, upon the money invested in the lines. THE GENERAL MANAGER. The surprise packet in the Minister's statement is the announcement that the engagement of the General Manager, Mr. Hiley, which ordinary course would have expired on August 8, has been extended to the fend of the current financial year, March 31, 1919, "in order to avoid a break in the management in the absence of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance and in order not to have a change of management during a session of Parliament." This, would seem to imply that the subject was not even discussed before Mr. Massey and Sir Joseph Ward left for London and that it will be undesirable,, from the ministerial point of view, to have it considered while Parliament is in session. The position is not regarded as altogether satsfactory bybusiness men and is giving rise to* many caustic comments among thes travelling public. THE COAL SHORTAGE. The Hon. A. M. Myers, the Minister of Munitions and Supplies, who has been bearing most of the anxieties in connection with the coal shortage during the last four or five months, in speaking to the Press representative? yesterday uttered a word of warning: to householders against hoarding supplies of fuel, The-Minister il>tfetermined to secure a fair distribution of coal, both for domestic and for hijfeufacturing purposes, and towards this end he has enlistred the asistahce of the retailers, who are now entrusted with the duty of seeing their customers are not laying up supplies in excess of their reasonable requirements* Mr. Myers believes no one need suffer any real inconvenience. provided everyone "plays the game," and-if any householder fails in his duty in this: respect prompt and drastic measures will be taken to protect the interests of the community. WASTEFUL EXPENDITURE. Lieutenant-Colonel T. W. McDonald, of the General Staff, Wellington military District, was again before the Defence Expenditure Commission yesterday and in the course of his evidence summarised some of the expenditure he considered wholly unjustified and wasteful. Among the itemshe mentioned were £1,000,000 for excessive training in New Zealand;' £211,270 for transport of men on leave made necessary by centralisation; £loo,ooo' for passages of unfit men sent from New Zealand; £218,000 for maintenance of centralisation, at Trentham and Featherston and £50,000 for wastage on trauMag of officers. The total of the little bill is rather more than £3,000,000, and though most of the Colonel's allegations were traversed by Colonel Gibbons' statement before the Commission the other day, there are hundreds of practical men, both soldiers and civilians, who still think many of them unrefuted.