The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15, 1913. PRIVATE ENTERPRISE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 202, 15 January 1913, Page 4

The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15, 1913. PRIVATE ENTERPRISE.

Since we arc talking of building our own round-thc-mountain railway and other light lines at our own initial expense, if tlie Government cannot lind the necessary sinews of war. anything pertaining to private enterprise in railway construction is of interest. A commission which is sitting in Canada at the present time is considering a problem which al,vays arises when the railways of a country are in private hands and the interests of the public are made subservient to the gathering of privale profit. The producers and manufacturers are gioaning under a heavy burden of high rales, while railway companies pay huge dividends, and the commissioners want to e-tahlisb more equitable relation-; than exist at present between the user= of the lines and the owners of them. Rut they are assured, in words that are not unfamiliar in Xew Zealand, that "capital will be driven out of the country" if there is any attempt to compel a reduction of charges. The Canadian-Pacific Company, the oldest of the great corporation* that have assisted in the development of Canada, has overflowing .surpluses and immense n-wnues. de-pile the f ; ,ct that verv l -">-- liavc ! n ;..!<,-,: from the

earnings and spent in extending and improving tlie system, thus increasing the volume of tlie shareholders' profits. The public, particularly the grain-growers of the West, ask why the rates are not reduced and the profits brought down to a fair level. The reply of the railways and financial authorities is that the companies will want to borrow more money for lines which the Dominion requires, and, therefore, must be more attractive in the eves of investors, it is essential, they urge, that the capital invested in such enterprises should be "generously treated," and that the railroads should be protected against "dangi rous legislation." The argument is not one that can be dismissed lightly, but obviously it owbs what weight it possesses to Canada's initial mistake in allowing her railways to become private properly. The State could borrow cheaply for expansion work without paying large dividends to anyone. It ean-

not be consoling to the Canadian people tc reflect that when they buy the railways of the Dominion, as they must do sooner or later, they will have to pay for the value created by the excessive, charges imposed upon them, as well as for the value created by their own industry and enterprise. Of course, the building of railways by private guarantee in New Zealand would not entail any of these disabilities, for the State would retain their udministration. the settlers being practically only asked to guarantee the interest on the cost of construction and maintenance. Canada's experience is simply another illustration of the value of having the State and the municipalities control the whole of the transit systems, thereby returning to the user in reduced fares and freights any surplus that may be earned on the year's running.