RAILWAY MANAGEMENT

Wairarapa Times-Age, 1 April 1939, Page 8

RAILWAY MANAGEMENT

QUESTION OF COSTS. MR HAMILTON DEMANDS INQUIRY (By Telegraph—Press Association.) Wellington, This Day. In future it would hot be sufficient for the Minister of Railways, Mr SullL van, or any of his colleagues to avoid direct questions by retiring under the catchworn phrase of depression fear propaganda, said the Leader of the Opposition, Mr' Hamilton, yesterday, in criticising Mr Sullivan’s reply to'statements he had made concerning th,' management of the railways. Mr Sullivan’s reply was calculated to sidetrack the main issue, but by its very style it revealed the dmbarrassment and Weaknesses it aimed to conceal.

“The public is entitled to more than half the story and that is all it had before I brought the facts to the light of day,” said Mr Hamilton. “In plain language, the railways are costing more to run today than formerly. A.nd they are costing more than they earn. Why? “I am not in the least upset by the Minister challenging my veracity. He should be the last to do that, but his quarrel is with the Government Statistician. I did not expect him to be proud of muddling, but I expect the official facts to be met. The latest Abstract of Statistics, dated February 27. 1939, sets out the position on page 25 as follows: — ' STATE RAILWAYS. Percentage of Expenditure to Revenue, Per days cent For the year ended March 31, 1937 — 91.81 For the vear ended March 31, 1938 — 96.05 For the period ended January 8, 1938 , 283 98.48 For the period ended January 7, 1939 282 103.45 “It is not hard to see that on January of last year the percentage of revenue to expenditure was only 2.43 per cent above the average for that year. On January of this year, the percentage was 7.4 per cent above the average for the previous year. “The first month of the operation of •increased freights and fares—with the Christmas season to back them—produced only a little more than half a per cent in the reduction of the excess of expenditure over revenue. -To borrow the expression of Mr Sullivan himself, it is unthinkably ignorant tc imagine that such -a state of affairs can be tolerated. “Mr Sullivan quarrels with my statement that, before the increasing of fares and freight charges, the cost Of earning £lOO was £lO6. I can only refer him again to the figures of the Government Statistician in the Abstract of Statistics for December last, page 22:— STATE RAILWAYS. Percentage of Expenditure to Revenue. Per cen' For the year ending March 31, 1937 91.81 For the year ending March 31, 1938 96.05 For the 225 days ending November 13, 1937 100.04 For the 226 days ending November 12, 1938 106.19 “Mr Sullivan may. of course, have someone else supplying him with figures, but I prefer to rely on the official returns published by the Government Statistician, and the only ones available to the general public and myself.'