RAILWAY REFORM. THE OPINION OF EXPERTS.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1916, 16 October 1884, Page 3

RAILWAY REFORM . THE OPINION OF EXPERTS.

'JO iMI 1 DliOlt. Sik, — I lcspectfully iinitL'tln artmition of youi i c uli i -i to the im nioi indum a,n cm liulow and signed by Mcs-is, \\. W. JMnody, T. D. Edmonds, ,md J. Stodait • — \v,Uuid, Ortobri '), ]SSf. J[IMORVM)MI Kllv ->\MUL Mil, LMj . qchi \m> With i.'f'-ionco l<> tlio '•■moi il tli^cnwons we lia\c li nl w iti \Mtl) yon upon tlio <ul-\i-,ilnhty <>f intio(hiein<r t'linii^liout the New Ziul.i'id Hiil\\.i>n, tln> low fan 1 , tb.it yon li.i\o jmliliclv advocated, v.o 1-eg 1 to htato that ,vfL<M It'll and doop coii-idci.ition wo an 1 picpncdtoa^iee with \ouni respect Of till 1 follow IM'J That the IiRHM-e m fio numboi of pas'-cnffci f.iu'> t vken ■would \v thi.v tnne^ as iiKun' :vi at pi ciMit, oi an mci oaso of tw o hunched per cenc. npon tlic pii^ont i^mv\ Tliat the A\eiagc faie could not sink bel<n\ one shilling That the uicica^ed pi--piv,"i tnffic would not pciccptibly hkum o the \. inking expcMbC.

,T\x. tti'o:>\i!i, What tins niemo-.nndum m> ins in iMs — tut 111 ' lesult < f ic.Ukmij, tho faics to the low Kites pi fipo*i d, wonll L.id to .in incivPM' in the I l'luny H" dine ot fiom £200,000 to C _>"') 000 h»>) ])i--{.'i)_'i-i fairs The following flints Mij-pl;, the ba-is of tins c i'ciil ition The amount i ecu ed undo 1 the heading 11 I'.ip&cjnuors A.c ," for the \ear ending 31st Match, ISSt, was 1.171, tl 1 Tins includes the amount leceivcd 1 r s-nson tickets, paiculs. horses c,nii.i^, and dogs. We shall be f-afe in deducting £80,000, as received fiom these souices, which would lea\e for oidinau faies only £25],.")21 an a\eiage of Is o^l pei fare The miniher of faros taken dining the past year was 3,272,GH. tin- nuilt'plicity by tin ee gives 9,817,952, v.hich at one shilling each yields £'100 BG') a clear gain to the ie\cnue of £107 "7.~> fiom passenger-, faies only But as the revenue from paicels, dogs, hoisos and eairiages mu^t aNo laigoly liicioaso, I estimate ' that the liictease of ic\>nue ftorn "coaching" (or " pas»i.ng"i*!, ke ,'') < would be at least a fjiiartei of a million per annum (1250,000.) Theindiieefc benefits that Mould result fiom tlif intioduction of such a &\st<tn upon oni iail\\ lysri'e Ik ■s »i'd l dculation, it is "imply impossible to es.imate them I dc-,ue to call attention to the thoroughly efhcieutand impaitial natme of the repoit given by Messrs bloody, Edmonds, and Stodait. Messis Moody and Stodart are probably the most experienced i ail way men in the colony, while Mr Edmonds, although a young man, has been tiained on railways fiom his boyhood. ■ None of these centlemen are now in any way connected with the management of any railway, and are therefoie perfectly fiee to give an unbiassed opinion. In addition to a large colonial expeiience, Mr Moody has had 17 jeais' experience on the Great Northern and other principal English lailwaya Mr Edmonds "was trained on the Gieat Western line, and after his arrival in this colony has held the important post of chief clerk on the Hurunui-jilufF system, which post he resigned some time ago. This is the gentleman who, under the norn de plume of "Practical," wro^e several letters in opposition to me. Mr Stodart was for 21 years on the Great Western line, four years on the London, Chatham, and Dover line, and five years on the Bombay and Baroda and Central Indian line. I feel deeply grateful to these gentlemen for the care and attention they have given to this matter. Their report is especially gratifying to me, as from their known position it effectually refutes the silly criticism to which I have sometimes been subjected, both here and in the Southern provinces. My country friends will ask why so much attention has been paid to passenger fares, and no mention made of goods rates ? The reason is this, there are no returns published on,which it is possible to found an estimate of how a reduction in freights would affect the revenue, but lam quite convinced that very large reductions could be made with great advantage both to the revenue and users of the railways.— l am, &c,