RAILWAY REFORM. TO THE EDITOR.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 2026, 2 July 1885, Page 3

RAILWAY REFORM. TO THE EDITOR.

Sut, — Tho Now Zealand Kailw.iy Kcfoin League is now cama^ing for signatutes t< a i)ptiti<>i) t«> I'aih.unout. The petition piajs that a coinmissint: may be appointed t<i enquire into and it 1 port upon the system of lailway manage nient th.it I have advocated for ionic jo ti< pa-t, find aNo into any other system thai may he fn>pos<<l. Tlio petition also ask' tint thp commission may consist of tin Mmistei for I'uhhc Woiks, the (Jeneial Manngor of tho Now Zealand Railway-, and one commissioner to bo appointed by each of the Chambers of Cointnoice in thr colony. Thin will give n commission ol ton or eleven tnembery In asking that the commission mny br selected in tho manner indicated, I have given tho boat possible proof that I do not fear to hiivo my plans investigated by the keenest men that can be found throughout the colony, Al this ' petition will have the effect r>f bringing the question of tho management of our railwayH prominently befoio the public, it may bo as woll to briefly stato tho position I take up, and what I claim for tho proposed system, I submit that at tho railways of the colony belong to tho Government of the countiy, they are tho pioperty of the vholo people. That this being tho case, e\ery individual in tho countiy is entitled to have then beneficial uso placed within his reach. That railways are but roads, and ought only to bo used as snsh. That it is not light to uso them for tho purpose of raising lev enue. That thcio is no moroienson why interest should be charged on tho co-,t of construction of tho permanent way of a railroad than on the cost of any of our macadamised roads. That the piiinary object of constructing railways ought not to bo the creation of revemifl, but the settlement of the country, tho development of its trade and resources, and tho convenience, of its inhabitants. My pioposal in to abolinh tho mileage system altogether, and to leckon fares by stages by moans of a series of ticket stations, the fiislfour stations starting from any capital town to be placed ai nearly as possible at distances of seven miles apart, and then at intervals of fifty miles all along the lines. When any town on the lino has a population of, say, 2000, I would place a ticket station seven miles from it on cither <ide, and when tho population reached 1000, another station on each side, and when (iOOO, treat it as a capital town. I propose to ch a igc uniform fares ftom ticket station to ticket ftalion, or for any intermediate distance of (id for fir-it and 4d for second- [ class passengers. Tho effect of this chango would bo that a traveller could go from any of tho cen*.res of population— From Ito 7 miles, Instead of theprcsent fares, for * for the whole distance Ist 2nd Ist '2nd clis*. cla«. class, class sdsd s d s d 0 0 0 4 IUIO 7to 15 milei 1008 . 3 2 21 15 to 21 „ 1 6 10 . ... 4 fi 211 21 to 28 „ 2 0 14 f> 10 311 ;25t078,,; 2Sto78,, 2 6 18 10 3 10 10 •79tn123,, 3 0 2 0 20 8 17 10 'Provided no town of moro than 2000 inhabitants intervenes. All parcels and goods rates to be arranged on the same system of charging by stages, tho^ classification very much simplified, and rates reduced to the lowest possible point. I have no doubt that on all the products of the country distticts rates should bo reduced to half the ptenent prices, and in many instances to onu-thnd. I claim, then, by arranging pa-sscngei fares on the system proposed, and i educing them on the average to about a-fifth of th" pi esent rates, that we can add to tho railway revenue the sum of two hundred thoii«and pounds (t'200,000) per annum. This t'200,000 would enable us to reduce the fi eight rates on all the natural products of tho country to about half tho presont puces, without adding anything to tho cxistiiigburdcnof taxation. In claiuiingthose startling lcsultrf, i am suppoitcd by the. testimony of every "railway m m" of known position — some seven or right in all —who has takon tho tremble to investigate tho matter. It is light that I should stato that these gentleman havo caiofully and patiently examined every detail of tho proposed plan, and that their report is quite disinterested, as they havo neither asked nor teceived any foo or reward for thoir trouble. I -nay also stato that I havo explained my plan to all the Chambers of Commerce in New Zealand, with tho oxception of two. I have also addressod seventeen public meeting* in tho various control of population throughout the islands. I also am a wore of between 40 and 50 lending articles in which this matter has been more oi loss discussed by tho Press of tho colony. I therefore am in a position to say that during the last two and a-half ytajrft, my 'proposals have been well placer! before the public ; but ho fai no one has been found to make even a decent pretence of showing that my anticipations ai« not likuly to bo realised. The league's petition does not commit either Parliament or the country to anything. Ir merely prays for enquiry, Thit muiniry in needed ftiw will bo found to doubt; but [may, pot haps, Irs permitted to add a few moio very convincing proofs. Tlii'io can be no hotter tost of the success or non success of a woikiug nuhv.iy than the amount of passen<{oi traffic dono. In the ycir ending 31 ht Match, IHS3, we had l.'ljS miles iif railway open, and we carried 8,283,378 passcngors. In 1885 we have open 1477 miles, but we only carried 3,2'J2 t BSi. Thus it will bo seen that, although during tho last two years we have oppned 11!) new milos of railway, and our population must havo increased by from .">O,OOO to 70,000, our pamuifigor carry nig trade han deciensed by 50,4i)2 faros, and this notwithstanding the cheap excursions. In previous years tho incroaso in goods traffic has bueu nt tho rate of about 13~>,000 torn per annum. Last year the increase waA only lU,O"H ton", whilo tho net hioroaso of rovouuo from trado dono wm only t'2(i,Bll. So it appears that notwithstntid ing out increased mileago opon, notwithstanding our largely inciensod population and wealth, notwithstanding an met eased oxpenditute of tl,"»00,000, or more, our Uiual increaso of goods ti affic has diminished by two-thirds, and passenger traiKo by 50,000. Surely there is need of an enquiry, and a chango of some sort.— l am, fee, Hamvrl Vail/X. Auckland, 20th June, 188"). P.S.— Tho sum of K12,22f»,000 inontionnd in the recently-published rolurnti as tho Cost of our railways, is what they cost up to 31st March, 1884 ; to this sum must bo iddod all that has boon expended on coniti notion during tho current year. Why the dopaitmout should give tho traffic and reveuuo of the current yar, and only ntato tho cost of tho previous year, is a thing haul to bo undorstood by tho outsido public— H.V,

All lovers of art will bo grieved to hear that the great " Henucycle" of Paul Delaroche, which nairowly escaped destruction in 18.15, is in a fair way of becoming a total ruin, owing to the decomposition of the pigments employed by the artist in paiuting it. SrRAMfK iNsimouniNAiiON.— W ho h»« not experienced a sort of malady when j!1 lha fncultict icam in roballinn. and labour is absolutely impossible / II j» a condition of nerves and stomach and brain th it can only bo cured by thousc of that irrfMiViblo remedy, American Co'i Hoy Jiittwa. Kuiid.