RAILWAYS AND THE WAR.

Taranaki Daily News, 28 June 1917, Page 6

RAILWAYS AND THE WAR.

.. the curtailed service. present position of the department. "It is only natural, perhaps, that those who suffer from the curtailment of railway services should endeavor, as far as'is m their power, to get the privileges they have so long enjoyed restored to them, but, at the same time, the reasons for the curtailment have been so misrepresented, and such strenuous endeavors have been made by innuendo and otherwise, to discredit the actions of the Railway Department tbat it is only fair that the actual' facts from tho departmen's side should be given." With these 1 words the Hon. W. H. Herries ('Minister for Railways) prefaced on Monday -a. statement to a Times representative of the position of the Railway Department in regard to the recent curtailment o£ railway services. NO QUARREL WITH DEFENCE DEPARTMENT. The Railway Department, 'he declared, had no quarrel with the Defence Department, but waj honestly and fairly endeavoring to assist that department by releasing for active service as many First Division men as possible without serious damage to the railway system. The Railway Department was not curtailing trains for the pleasure of annoying its patrons and customers. It was not taking off race trains and losiug revenue because it wa3 against racing. It was not dropping Sunday trains from Sabbatarian principles. All fhese things were done because it vras thought right by Cabinet and by the dcpartme.it that the greatest State industry should set the example of all other industries, essential and otherwise, and release every possible man, «ven if by doing so it might cause inconvenience, and in some instances losO. The blame, if there was any, N which might be attached to the Railway Department and himself, was that the curtailment was not made long ■before.

As showing that the Railway Department lfad. done its full sliare under the voluntary eysteui, the Minister stated that tha Railway Department had released for military purposes 5452 trained railwayman, and as a consequence of the inroads made on its members, increased and moro .strenuous work devolved on those who were left. APPEAL FROM BRITAIN. When the Ballot system came Into operation, and railwajmlen were drawn, it was obvious that further steps would have to .be taken. Moreover, the Imperial authorities (through the British 1 Ministry ol" Munitions) made a strong appeal for «i general reduction of services in order to limit the manufacture of materials, such as rails, imported from Home, enabling labor that in other circumstances would be c-niployed in the manufacture oi' articles of commerce to be utilised iu the manufacture of 'war munitions. In order to meet its obligations, therefore, a careful review of train services was made by tliq department, and a time-ttiblo waa introduced with the object of ultimately releasing approximately a further 11/00 men for military purposes. The first lot of 150 men had been under offer to the Defense Department since May 10. When this lot had been released a further lot would be offered, and so on tijl the maximum number of spare men had been reached. The handing over of 150 men involved 300 transfers with all their attendant difficulties. Furthermore, the department could only deal from time to time with the men who weie drawn in the ballots. Eight military ballots had been draiwn up to the present moment, and the 150 men already offered to the Defence Department formed a portion of the first six military ballots. DRASTIC CUTS AT HOME. The Minister pointed out that ver drastic curtailment. of train service.; had been made on the English railways as far back as February, 1!)15, and further curtailments had taken place from time to time since that date. Excursion tickets had been Abolished; a limit had been placed on passengers' luggage, owners being required to do the handling, porters not being available; suburban railway stations had been closed; ordinary fares had been increased fifty per cent.; and many other, obstacles Biad 'been created with a view to restricting travel. Frior to last Easter holidays the British public had been advised not to travel by the Railway Controlling Authority, trains would not be strengthened. As a concrete instance, it might he stated that the Caledonian Railway Company in March, 191G, made its third cut in passenger train services, releasing 52 locomotives for goods iand mineral trains.

RAILWAY SUPPLIES. On June 0,1917, a memorandum in the following terms had been received from the Minister of Munitions in London:— "The broad lines on which the question of supplies for railways is considered are:—(l) To secure, as far as possible, consistent with material available, the upkeep and maintenance in operation of existing locomotives, carriages, wagons, nermanent way, and railway plant generally. (2) To defer (except for the direct requirements of the Army in the Field) the building of new locomotives, whether as additions or replacements, and of new rollignstock (especially passenger carriages), permanent way, etc." "A curtailment of passenger traffic down to the facilities of twenty years ago has had to be made in the United Kingdom, and less important railways have been stopped altogether. .Hails and sleepers, in many cases, have been dug up in order that they might be used for tho Army overseas."

"The curtailment) of train services, therefore, every patriotic man, I am sure, will say is justified," continued the Minister. "As to the manner of curtailment, all I can say is that after careful thought and weighing the merits of different systems, the system now in force was adopted, as it was considered by the department that by this means, and by this means only, the maximum number of men could be released with less discomfort and inconvenience any other way. . . . Where it been shown that there are special ircumstances which might cause delay to the transportation of Imperial goods, and cannot be overcome in any other way, the Railway Department are ready as far aa is possible to provide a remedy, as they have done in the Lyttelton ease; but remedial measures cannot be proTided which would destroy the policy ftdefited to r»l*Me about 1000 men, or

more for the front, and to reduce train mileage and so save coal and material." THE RAILWAY WORKSHOPS. "A misunderstanding also exists (added Mr. Herries) in regard to paying off of men at workshops, the contention being that men eligible for military service should be released to avoid the necessity of dispensing -with"the services of others. There are four classes of labor in the workshops—namely (1J the permanent staff; (2J the 'regular casuals'—that is, men who have been employed for a number of years and are qualifying under the regulations for permanent 'appointments; (3) the 'term casuals'—representing men who are taken on for a stated period when the workshops ara working at high pressure; (4) the 'emergency casuals,' who, as the name implies, are engaged to meet exceptional circumstances arising at the moment. "The hmbility of the department to obtain supplies of material from abroad owing to difficulties of shipping transport created by the war has necessitated the suspension of the rolling stock building programme that had been provided, and will also materially retard and interfere with all other operations ordinarily caried out in the workshops. A shortening of workshops hands is unavoidable in such circumstances, and obviously the department is adopting the proper and, indeed, Hie only course open to it in the circumstances, in arranging to pay off, first, the emergency casuals, and next the term casuals, as work no longer can be found for them, and the members of the permanent and regular casual staffs are entitled by right to first consideration. But in the evenlt of vacancies occurring as a result of iion-essential men drawn in the railway ballots joining the military forces, the 'term' and 'emergency' casuals who have been paid oft", provided their work an" conduct have bwn satisfactory, will be <?iven "first consideration, and they will likewise reveive consideration in respect of any work available from time to time in the other 'branches of the department."