THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1907. THE RAILWAY SERVICE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8535, 13 September 1907, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1907. THE RAILWAY SERVICE.

The allegations that have been made in regard to discontent in the railway service are of a serious character, and call for immediate enquiry. The Governmen 1 :, of course, can, but it should not, ignore the assertions that have been made. It stands to reason that it is of vital importance to the people of this country that the standard of the railway service men should be of the highest possible efficiency, but there are other reasons than that of the public safety and convenience, why enquiries should be made. If that horrible canker —political patronage —is imparing the efficiency of the railway service, as it is alleged, every person who has the welfare of the country at heart should wish to see a most searching and public enquiry made. The Member for Wairarapa, during the present session, spoke vigorously in the House in favour of fair play and just treatment generally for the men of the railway service. The statements that were made the other day by railway servants to a reporter of the Auckland Herald go to show that Mr Hornsby was not only justified in bringing the grievances forward, but, also, in expressing his views strongly. The reporter in question was informed that "from the other end of the Hurunui-Bluff section to the Auckland section resignations are being sent in so fast that it will soon be a case of the railways being run by the inexperienced or incapable. There are always plenty of applicants for employment in the railways, chiefly, I should think, from country lads, who don't want to go on the farm, and who don't know and don't dream what the work means. But many of the best men are leaving, and by and by, at this rate, the service will be left to boys, and those who can't get I a job elsewhere." Further questions j elicited the reply that the cause of

the dissatisfaction was the long hours the men were required to be on duty, and the small rate of pay they received- a rate that in these days of higher cost of living was nothing like adequate remuneration for the work performed. There is, the reporter found, a growing feeling of unrest in the railway service throughout the colony in practically all branches, from that of statioi. masters down to porters and engine-cleaners, and perhaps more particularly in the "traffic" branch. "I tell you as a solemn fact," another said, who is ! fairly familiar with all branches of the service, "that right throughout the New Zealand railways men are required to work such disgracefully long hours that often they almost fall asleep at their posts. They talk about the eight-hours' day that is the rule in New Zealand. Why, an eleven hours' day would seem like heaven on earth to some stationmasters, clerks, and cadets. It's breaking their hearts, and we have many really fine men in the railway service—men who would hang to their duty without a murmur till they broke down or went mad, and it is a sham? that they should ba treated as they are. There are stationmasters in the service who have served eighteen, twenty-five, and up to thirty years, and over, who are working long hours, and only receiving £220 per annum. Stationmasters and clerks who have seen sixteen

years' service are receiving £l9O per annum; stationmasters and clerks with ten years' service are getting £l6O a year; clerks with from nine years' to twenty-one years' service are receiving only from £l3O to £l4O per annum; clerks with from six and seven years' experience are receiving only £llO per annum, and the majority of these men are working what would be counted by a trades unionist heavy overtime. There are guards who have served sixteen years receiving 9s a day; guaris with close on thirty years' service getting 8s 6d a day; and guards with ten years' service getting only 8s per day — the hire of a casual labourer." The reporter found in many cases a desire for a full and open inquiry into the conditions of life in the New Zealand railway service. It is alleged that responsible officers income cases are saddled with assistants, whose only reason for being in the service or receiving salary seems to be that they had political support at their backs. If an inquiry were held it would be interesting to investigate quite a number of appointments in the railway service, and also to ascertain whether or not any of the resignations from the {service are due to less capable men being appointed over the heads of others through political influences. It beems to us that there ar? two steps that should be taken in the interests of the colony—(1) to place the service upon such a footing that it cannot possibly be subject to the evils of political patronage, and (2) to allow the Arbitration Court to settle the grievances or disputes. In the meantime it is fairly safe to remark that an inquiry will be held before long, and it is to be hoped that the result of the investigation will be the establishment of a new and better state of affairs, and one that will prove a credit to the Government of the day.