MR MAXWELL'S REPORT ON MR VAILE'S SCHEME.

Waikato Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2064, 29 September 1885, Page 4

MR MAXWELL'S REPORT ON MR VAILE'S SCHEME.

Tin. following 13 the principal portion of Mi Maxwell's lepmt : — In his |u intccl > nciil.ii of the ~»th Apt il, ISS3, which lit* adduces to the Chainbjrs of ( !onunere.e in New Zealand And Austi.ilia. Mi Vaile s iys. "ft seems to h.ive been assumed by tho Governments of the colonies th.it tho 1 ulways must bo made tn piy interest «>n tlio cost of their constmction and in untonance. Tins I hold to bo a m >st mischievous erior.'' Again, he s.iys, " I deny th.it they (tlu> Governments) have any more right to charge interest on the cost of construction and maintenance of the permanent way than they havo on tho cost of construction and maintenance of common roads." Tho curioti-, eiror of aupposinpf that it is usual to tiy to make railways pay interertt on th<' cost of maintenance is repeated in Mr Vailc's lecture of tho 3rd November, 1883. It will be seen that there is a groat degree of ignoi.mco displayed in these remarks, Mr Vailo mean*, of course, that it is an error to try to make the railways pay interest mi their capital cost ; but, with the inconsistency which is displayed throughout his writings, ho violently condemns the Government because the railways do not pay interest, and urges steps which he asserts will make them do bo. In the same circular, speaking of the rates and faios in use, Mr Vaile says, " I have utterly failed to master thorn." Cadets of fifteen years of age who have passed the Sixth Standard at the Government school* have no difficulty in learning them. Mi Vaile's original object in advocating low fares appears to be set forth in the same cucular. He remarks as follows ; " Tako, for instance, the Kotorua Railway, in which T am a shareholdei. Togofiom Auckland tothejnnc tion of this line under the plan proposed IV oul<l c<>-<t second -cln-ss pi--- <»n£jer« 2* .vnd first class 3s each ; thu*, being cinlod so fai on their journey for such a small charge, they would bo better able to piy the higher fare for the rest of the distance." This is to H.iy that, by lowering the fares on the Government lines, Mr Vaile would be able to .secure higher ones on the line in which he was inteiested. Mr Vaile'a crude and incomplete proposals! for fares and rates, as stated in his circular of the sth April, 1883. are on a differential basis. In subsequent letters he violently condemns differential lating, and scurrilously attacks those who do not agree with his projects. We learn tlnit from Mr Vaile :1. That his remarks apply to the Vustralian railways an well as to the Mew Zealand railways. 2. That he holds it to be a mischievous error to try to make railways pay interest. 3. That he does not understand the present system of rates and fares. 4. That he would have charged higher fares on the Rotoraa Railway, in which he, was personally interested, than he proposed for the Government railways. 5. That while he himself does not hesitate to propose differential rates and fares, heat the same time denounces them. It is difficult to seriously discuss the inconsistencies and misstatements with which Mr Vailo's w i itings abound. When he suggests that it co<ts no more to carry a ton of passenger-, than to carry a ton of coals he is wiiting nonsense-, though he may be unaware of it. Whe he says that "the loss on ourrailwiys mcieased from £180,855 in 1881 to £377,181. in 1884, and nt this rate we should in 1883, require £3,500,000 to support our railways," he is making a statement which is misleading, and drawing a conclusion which is false. He may or may not be aware of this. In cither case he is equally untrustworthy as a guide, and consequently should forfeit all claim to the respect* (f intelligent men as an authority. [Air Maxwell then cites several cases in which Mr Vailo had given distance on the Canterbury linos which weie widely different from the fact.] Tn regard to goods rates, we find in Mr Voile's circular of the sth April, 1883, a proposal published to carry trucks foi " horses, cattle, sheep, calves, pigs, gonts hay, straw, and firewood at 8s per ti uck ; mineials at 2s per ton ; timber at Cd per hundred superficial feet or fraction of 100 feet ; all other merchandise, of every class ,md description, nt 5s a ton." This is for each hftfcn mile, thirty mile, and one hundred miles units of distance, so that for sixteen miles the charges would be double thoje for fifteen miles. Grain would be charged for sixteen miles 10s a ton; the piesent Government rate is 4s a ton. Then to use Mr Vailc's words, "On more mature consideration, I thought it desirable to double the number of stations and to hal\e the faros. This alteration was made in November, 1853." Turning to Mr Vaile's lecture of November, 1883, wo find his proposals foi goods rates vaiied thus: "Trucks for horses, cattle, sheep, calves, pigs, goats, hay, straw, agricultural produce of all kinds, and fiiewood, 4s per tmck ; minerals Is per ten ; timber, per 100 feet, or fraction of 100 feet, 3d ; all other merchandise, 2s (id per ton. This is first for four units of distance, of seven miles each, and after that units of fifty miles each, as he then explains. Yet he deliberately ventured to say in another printed letter of the Oth July, 1885 : "My proposals have never been altered and the only modification made, is this : in my hr«t letter I proposed to have half the number of stations, and to charge double the amount of fares now suggested." Let us see how he did alter his proposals as they effect one item — agricultural produce — u Inch under his pr.)jios,ils of Apiil, 1883, he would have charged 10s <t ton for sixteen miles, and 15s a ton foi foity six miles. Under his proposal of Xovenil>or, 1883, he would charge for sixteen miles 2s ."id per ton, and for forty-six miles 4s a ton ; and yet he says he has only halved the distances and doubled the faies ! Aftei this we find Mr Vaile at the Xapiei Chamber of Coinrneice, in Maitli, 188"), reported in tho Daily Telegraph to have -aid, " He had not published any proposed goods-rates, because there were no statistics published on which he could found any scale of charges, and he bad no wish to make a mistake which would be fieely used by his opponents." As we havo seen, this statement is untruo ; but at any rate, it is an acknowledgment o f failure, and 'in admission that his pioposals were bad. It is therefore of no use to try to pursue the subject of goods-rates further, except to remark that if the latter proposals of Mr Vaile were adopted the revenue would fall far below the working expenses. We will now consider the subject of passenger fares. Tho impression Mr Vaile has conveyed to tho public is that he proposes a universal reduction in passenger faies. It is found on investigating his pioposals, that his scheme would largely increase a great portion of them. On the Auckland line, for instance, there was last year 411,71"* journeys due to ordinary tickets, and 2 10,3*>2 due to season tickets. A six-monthly season ticket-holder for stations seven miles apart can travel as many journeys daily as trains permit ; firit-class foi 9d a day, and second class for 7d a day. Mr Vaile's lowest proposed fares for the distance arc o'd and 4d for each scpaiate journey. For a fit teen mile distance the six-monthly soiiwin ticket cost* Is 4d first class, and Is Jd second-clans per day. Mr Vnilo's proposed f«res are Is andBd for each .scpaiaU journey respectively. If Mr Vaile's fares were substituted the heavy increase would be objectionable on many grounds, and would diminish the traffic. If the present season tickets were retained, then, as regards this section of travellers, they would be unaffected, and no increaso of traffic would result. The ordinary tickota, Auckland to Onehunga for return passengers, now cost '.Id and 7d per journey, first class and second clasu respectively. Mr Vaile's proposal would raise them to Is and 8d for earn journey lespectively. Between Auckland and Otahuhu tho present fates for return passengers are Is and Od first and se,cond class respectively, for each journey. Mr Vailo proposed for each journey Is and 8d respectively. Thus for more than onethird of the total number of journeys, via, for the season-ticket journeys, Mr Vailo'* proposals would, if adopted, involve an excessive increase in fares. Of the remaining journeys by far tho larger proportion aro for distances under ten miles, for which Mr Vaile's proposals provide either increased fares or fares not very materially differing from those prevailing. So that no pi actic.il increase in passenger traffic could be expected by adopting Mr Vaile's proposals in those respects. Mr Vaile has deceived himself and has misled others by his averages. The only portion of the passengers that Mr VaiJe s proposed fares would largely effect are those travelling beyond distances of ten nnlei. He proposes fares which may average, according to his own view), about onefifth of the present fares. The long-dis-tance travellers form a small pioportion only of tho ordinary ticket-travellers, but, l>eing charged at a uniform scale of fare, they brine not loss than two-thirds of the total ordinary ticket revenue. While, therefore, tho number of passengers is small in proportion to the total ordinary ticket pi«sengr>ra, the revenue nfiFeetorl is l.nge in piopoition to the totnl ie\onue. While we could expect no practical effect

on passengei traffic within shoit distances, wo should have to inci ease tho number of long distance passenger hvo tune-? to got the s inn' revenue fiom that source. If such a pi-.si>nger traffic did aiise, theie would 1101 10 .1 hei\y loss, as p.tsspngcis could nut bo pmhtably camod for such long dist.mcos at Mich low faies, with the conditions undei which wo are winking. The duinaud undo for lower faics, r.itos and chaiges h .1 iiatuial one, and it t£ one which the <}ov eminent and its olticois must always bo mo-t dosiinu-. of meeting, because tlie gi .inting of concessions ,uid loinedjmg nf giievinco-. .iro .ilw \\ s popular, and therefore gi.vtefttl to those in contiol as well as to the publn. List yoai the r.iilwiys yielded t'3V»,liS."), aftei deluding working expenses, which sum was available towards the payment of interest on the loans. This amount was about 33 per cent, of tho gross revenue. If, then, theiatcs and fare* woie lowered by about 33 )iei cent, all round, we might expect that the lovenue would just cover winking expense*., and there would bo no net proceeds available towards payment of inteiest, and thcie Wimld be an additional sum of £3r>r>,ooo or thereabouts to be raised by taxation. If tho colony is of opinion, with Mi V.iile, that it is a mischievous error to try to make the railway pay interest on their capital cost, it is quite ea&y to reduce the latos, fares, and charges so as to make no prolit. A second-class single faro for ms*ht\ four miles is 11s Bd. If it were reduced b\ 33 per cent, it would be 7s !>d. Mt A r aile pro poses to make it Is Sd. We must be clear on this point. We have seen that, vveie fates, rates, and charges i educed all lound by 33 per cent., we might expect to reality no profit, aud additional taxation in some form, to the extent of about £3.">, 000.1 yeni, would be needed to pay interest. It is easy to see that if they were reduced all lound, as Mr Vailo suggests, a further large stun would have to bo raised to pay the deficiency of the revenue, below the cost of working. The question is asked i>y Mr Vaile, "If applying the law of avei.iges has been so successful in the ca-.es of letteis, parcels, and telegrams, why should it not succeed in the case of railways ?" There is a strange confusion of ideas in cLus. ing the tiananus«ion of telegiams with the conveyance of goods. It sounds like a suggestion that the tiatisinission of tele grains should be by the ton. As leg.irds letteis, lettersatauniforin postage of 2d each will cost about £<jOO per ton to tiausmit. They will at this rate be c.iriiod from Auckland either to Onehunga or the IMnff. There is a material difference in dealing with letters or with parcels of light w eight and with goods. In the foimer tin- element of weight only affects the eo^t of operations in a most trifling degioe in proportion to the other elements which deter mine the cost of working the post-ofhee. Tn railway goods traffic the bulk and weight rank aa chief factors in nuking up the cost of conveyance. It has often happened that persons contrast the services, rates and fares of the New Zealand railways with those of Great Britain or other great conn tries, to the disadvantage of the foimer. The New Zealand railways managt ment and services, &c., have been contrasted with the Midland railway, for instance The Midland railway is situated in one compact system, occupying a small area in the most densely populated pait of one of the most densely populated countiie->. Tincompany works about fourteen bundled miles of railway, in which is invented mine than seventy millions of capital ; it has an annual gross revenue of over seven millions sterling. The rates of wages for winking range from one-third to one-half the rates of w»gcs current in New Zealand. Tho lines are most expensively and perfectly conHtructpd, and equipped with the \eiy finest locomotives and rolling-htock, and theie is a professional control with absolute povveis of management. The colony has fifteen hundred miles of very lightly const! uctrd lines, with steep gradients aud «harp cvi v i s w ith light stock deMtrned for low speeds. The system is in detached portions scattned over the whole area of a very sparsely popu lated country. The colony dehbei itclj went in for a system of very cheap lines, and veiy humble accommodation and equipment, because the means weie not available to do better. There cm be no do-ibt of the prudence of adopting such an economical course. Thoorigmatois of the railway system, 1 am informed, never contemplated building first-class lines and equipping them in tho luxurious and complete manner suitable for a dcn.sely-popu lated country. Nor was it anticipated that wage» would' bo lowered to approach tho>« in Cheat Britain, so as to enable the work ing of the railways to be done as cheaply. It is idle to suppose that, under such « idely differing conditions, the New Zealand iailway syhtcin could perform its wmk .is cheaply as the Midland i.ulw.i> sy«tem, oi th.it lates and f ups can be placid so low heieasm England uii!e-s a iniah lower peicoutagc of net earnings i> looked tor.

May has within him capacities of growth which deseive and will reward intense, unrelaxing toil.

Arthkiai, Honky.—H. Hager, in a German journal, the Centrahalle, warns analytical chemists against Aineiienn honeys, which, he says, are now being adulteiated with a syrnp manufactured from mai/e, the process being, however, kept seuiet. Hager's expeuments show that if wheat or mai/e statch (not potato starch) be heated with oxalic, or any other poweiful organic acid, a syiup is produced which, in a certain conccnttation, and after standing two or tine" weeks, exactly resembles, in taste and appearance, old honey. Some yeais ago the News Lcttei called the attention of the public to the adulteration of honey by means of "lucose, which is piecisely tin same article as "syiup manufacturtd from mai/e " An iudustiy, which should have been a veiy profitable one, has been destroyed by the avarice and rascality of certain honey packets in this city, and the knowledge ot these fiauds has, at last, spiead to Km ope. In addition to our discoveiies it is now shown that the deadly poison, oxalic acid, is employed to maUe sophistications appear moie perfect.

Coai. Minims in China.—A new effoit to establish a line of railroad in China has been partially successful. Li Hung Chang, the viceioy, has been anxious for a long tune to bring the coal from the Kaiping mines in Pekm, a distance of 10") miles; but the people would not allow the English engineers to complete the work, and insisted upon budding a canal. The canal, however, could not be brought to the mouth of the mine, so that the engineeis wcie allowed to make a railroad ~\ miles long. At first, the authon ties insisted upon the use of mules instead of a locomotive; but their prejudices have at last yielded, and three locomotives are now employed. These coal mines aie s-ud to be woiked very scientifically, the only difficulty being that the glass of the patent lamps designed to protect against explosion is continually broken by the Chinese in order to light their pipes. Slowly but surely China is yielding to We&tein ideas.

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