The Temuka Leader SATURDAY, MAY 17, 1890. THE RAILWAYS.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2047, 17 May 1890, Page 2

The Temuka Leader SATURDAY, MAY 17, 1890. THE RAILWAYS.

Twelte months ago we warned the Railway Commissioners that their idiotic management would result in their own official annihilation. They came into power on the retrencnment cry determined to make money, but they have not done so- The railways now pay barely 3 per cent, on the cost of construction, but they did that in years past long before retrenchment

was thought of. The Commissioners, it is said, will pay 3 per cent, this year, hut if that is all they have done we cannot complement them. This was a year in which not only tho whole colony but large numbers of peeple from the other colonies were moving about in consequence of the Dunedin. Exhibition. There was also a large quantity of goods carried, and if the railways did not pay this year we think it is useless to expect them to do so. We have always held that the railways

cannot be made to pay because they are too large for the population. r l he greed and avarice of persons who a few years ago wanted railways to their hall doors and succeeded in getting them rendered it impossible to mate the railways pay. But we certainly are of opinion that the Commissioners have not made the most of the materials at their disposal Last year we showed that in making alterations in the time-table here they had greatly increased the expenses. A short time ago a night train from Temuka to the Exhibition went almost empty. Any sensible manager would have stopped that train at Timaru, and perhaps Waimate, and thus get a sufficient number to pay for running it, but instead of that it steamed by both places, and no one would be taken on board for love or money. These are two instances which came under our own notice, and we find that newspapers throughout the colony are complaining of fearful irregularities everywhere. Eor instsnee down in Otago the other day a change was made in the hour of running a train, and the Clutha Leader states that “ no intimation had previously been given of the intended alteration of the time-table for the Romahapa railwey, and a number of sel tiers from the Gatlins district intending to attend the sale of stock at Balclutha on the 2nd mst., came on to Romahapa in time for the 12.40 p.m. train, when they for the first time found it had been discontinued.” Now, what can anyone think of railway managers who put people to inconvenience like that. In every part of the colony it has been the i same, and from all sources we gather information, which induces us to believe that a sorry mess is being of the railways. In one respect at any rate their action has been despicably mean. In pursuit of retrenchment they were dismissing men, and trying to do the work by boy labor, until Mr Ballance called attention to it in Parliament last session. J his, it appears, cheeked them for a time, but recently they have been crowding the service with boys in a stealthy sort of way. They have been lengthening the hours of employes, and making many officers * do work beyond ordinary capabilities. All this the railway men would very possibly have endured, but the last straw was piled on in the shape of the Compulsory Insurance Bill. Thus harrassed ou all sides the railway men decided to form a Mutual Protection Union in order to be in a position to fight the Commissioners, if occasion required it. This union has now grown to immense dimensions, but not content with its own strength it has amalgamated with the Trades and Labors Council, and is now in a position to exact any terms it likes from the Rrilway Commissioners. We warned the Commissioners of this 12 months ago, and as will be seen by their circular, which is published in another column, they are now beginning to realise it. That circular is one of the most cowardly things we have come across. The Commissioners heard something about a strike, and literally .threw them&elves on their knees and cried “ for goodness sake don’t strike, but come to us and we shall give anything at all you like.” The cowardly whining tone of this circular stands in bold contrast to the arrogant, cavalier way in which they have been accustomed to treat the public. Hitherto the Commissioners have shown the characteristics of the bully, but now they have showed the characteristics of the coward. The Commissioners have brought all this on themselves, and now we find them miserable supplicants at the knees of the railway servants.

There can be no doubt as to the power of the railway servants now, but we hope they will use it judiciously. Let them rember that people are talking of selling the railways, and that if they make themselves obnoxioug there is danger of this boipg dope. They have, therefore, to be careful not to make any demand which is not fair and reasonable, and if they do that, and stick together they will always remain masters of the situation.