Te Aroha AND Ohinemuri News. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1909. ADMINISTRATION OF RAILWAYS.

Te Aroha News, Volume XXVII, Issue 4369, 4 February 1909, Page 2

Te Aroha AND Ohinemuri News.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4,1909. ADMINISTRATION OF RAILWAYS.

This above all—to thine oton self be true, And 1 1 must follow as the night the day Thou canst not then be false to any man Shakespeare.

The present situation with regard to the Drury Train Service affords matter for reflection. That, after thirty years stagnation, thirty years in which theft? had been no extension of the railway service so far as Drury is concerned, Drury and the intermediate districts should have been brought into touch with the suburban service, for a period of three months, and then threatened with being cut off from that service againj calls for an explanation. The explanation given, to a deputation in Auckland by the Minister for Railways (Hon. J. A. Millar) that the extra early and late trains were only granted as an experiment, is no answer ?t all. For the period during which the experiment was tried, namely three months, was wholly and preposterously inadequate to afford an indication of the profitableness of the new service. Such an extension of a train service must be justified by the extension of settlement, and settlement is not a thing which can be juggled, into an advanced stage of development by the end of a paltry three months. That settlement was already following on the trail of better conveyance facilities was proved by the fact that during the past four months property to the value of SII,OOO had changed bands in the Manurewa district. And yet, as Mr Frank Bodle, of the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile, pointed out to the i Minister for Railways, the purchasers | of residental sections in an estate which had been cut up for the purpose at Manurewa, could not take up their residence there if the extended service were suspended. And already there were thirty of these residental properties soli. The same thing applies to the other districts served. Mr Hodge, Chairman of the Papatoetoe Road Board pointed out that in the districts which he represented proposed building operations were being arrested by the threat to withdraw the extended service while Mr C. J. Tunks, Chairman of the Orphan Home Trust Board, said that the matter was one of great importance to the new home at Papatoetoe. which was designed to accommodate 60 children, and a staff of 10, at a cost of £13,000.

But independent of these considerations it has been shown that there is a great discrepancy between the 'departmental estimate of the relative cost of running the extra trains and the return realized, and the estimaie supplied by the residents of these districts. Mr Frank Bodle, a gentleman of much financial acumen, took the strongest exception to Mr Millar’s statement thf fc the whole Drury service showed a loss of £9 per day. He described the figures as absolutely farcial and preposterous. Mr Hodge of the Papatoetoe Road Board said the residents estimate of the receipts for two months, based upon the average number of passengers, was £203, as against the departmental estimate of £44 7s 6d. The Minister for Railways has agreed to have the deputation’s figures checked by those of the Department, and if they . are found approximately correct to give the matter of continuing the extra trains further consideration In the meantime the trains are to continue.

The whole position is one which calls for consideration as to whether economy when misapplied may not be as ruinous as downright extravagance ? Would it not be infinitely more in keeping with the true prin*

ciples of economy to be willing to anticipate the future in such matters as railway extension and be more moderate and restricted in such matters as public buildings. Costly public buildings will not by being years in advance of local requirements do much to further the advancement of the Dominion, whereas an anticipation of the needs of an undeveloped suburban or agricultural area must inevitably pay, by creating its own reward. We trust that the Department will not deem it necessary in the present instance to destroy the values, and jeopardize the interests which this experimentjof an extended service has created.