The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1922. THE RAILWAY STATEMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, 27 September 1922, Page 4

The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1922. THE RAILWAY STATEMENT.

Last year’s deficiency in the working of the railways exceeded a million sterling. The Minister stated that the Department should not be judged on the results of a single exceptionally bad year, pointing out that during the period 1910 to 1922 the Department earned £1,667,968 in excess of the amount required to secure a return of 3J per eent. on the capital cost of the service. This rate of interest must be lower than the actual cost of the money to the State, particularly during the past seven or eight years, and possibly if the balance-sheet were prepared on the lines of a private company it would be found that there will be little or no profit during the period mentioned. The position taken up by the Minister is that the railway deficits represent the cost to the community of having the convenience of a. railway service. There is a good deal in this contention when it is considered that sections of the community have had the benefit of low, unpayable freight rates and passenger fares, but the time has surely arrived, now that the industries and trades concerned are on their feet, when the railways should be run as a State business enterprise, not as a philanthropic institution, leaving the community to pay more than their just share towards making the accounts balance. It would be unfair, however, to blame the Department for the loss of the past year, because it was largely caused by factors beyond the control of the Department. The wages item alone shows a tremendous increase. The Government were responsible for increasing the wages, as well as reducing the 1

hours of working, which had the effect of greatly’ increasing overtime charges. The Department bought great quantities of coal from abroad at high prices, and this was done not only in the interests of the railways, but of the country generally. The miners, and those associated with them, were scheming to reduce stocks to a minimum in order to bludgeon the country into acceptance of their extravagant demands. But when they saw coal dumps rapidly increase all over the country they sang a different tune and acted more reasonably. Probably the Railway Department’s action pre. vented a strike and a hold-up generally of the country’s activities. The extra cost of the. coal, therefore, might very properly be debited to the Consolidated Revenue. Again, the railways in the past have largely beer, under political control, which accounts for the second express being run in the South Island for years when the one express train could easily have coped with the traffic and business offering. That unnecessary duplication, maintained by the southern interests possessing the “political pull,” cost the country something like £160,000 a year. Again, the Department has no say in deciding upon the constitution of new lines or the extension of the present ones. That prerogative belongs to the Government of the day. Hence many political lines are built that no experienced railway man would dream of constructing, yet they are turned over to the Department to profitably run. But that is impossible, for they can only be run at a loss. These matters have to be taken into Consideration in criticising the working and administration of the railways. At the same time few will doubt that there is considerable room for improvement in the service. In the past there has been a lack of enterprise and business resourcefulness, attributable to the fact of the railway staff being actuated by the erroneous idea that the railways are run to suit them and not to meet the requirements of the public. There has been no determined effort to improve the service and earn more revenue thereby. The public requirements have not always been studied or catered for. Most requests made by the public for improvements have been refused on the ground that “it cannot be done.” As a result of this redtape policy motor transport has now secured a great deal of business which the railways ought to be doing, and it is the result of this competition which is appreciably affecting, and will continue to affeet in increasing measure, the revenue of the Department. The railway business should expand with the country’s development and become a source of revenue, not of loss. But this will not be accomplished until the whole service is imbued with the idea of service and the value of efficiency, and be made to feel that it is engaged in a business enterprise, and not in a State monopoly’ that entitles it to dictate what the public shall have, instead of doing its best to cater for and attract custom. There is ample business to be obtained, if the proper means are taken to attract it, to return a fair profit on the service at less cost to the customers than is the ease at present.