RAILWAY FEFORM-MR VAILE ON MR MAXWELLS REPORT.-NO. III.

Waikato Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2067, 6 October 1885, Page 2

RAILWAY FEFORM-MR VAILE ON MR MAXWELLS REPORT.-NO. 111.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, -In resuming my remarks on Mr Maxwell's report, it will be well to remind my readers that although the document bears Mr Maxwell's signature, it if really the joint production of the Hon. E. Richardson and Mr Maxwell, nndAj th.it it is the most these gentlemen can say against my proposals. 1 In the same circular, speaking of the rates and Lire* in imp, Mr Vaile say, " I Ime utterly failed to master them." Cadets (if fifteen yean of age who have passed the si\th standard at the Government s(h"oK have no difficulty in learning th-Mii. I have in my possession numberless proofs that not only will two stationtnastets give different answers to the same question, but that the same man will cliaige thiec different prices for the sams sen ice rendered. Consequently, if Mr Maxwell's assertion is true, he must have selected men for stationinasters who aie far inferior in ability to sixth standard boys. This proves him totally unfit for his post. A day or two ago a gentleman called at my office, and handed me a freight receipt for conveying a boat 22 miles. On applying at his own station for the cost, lie waa told .Is or 6a ; but, on arriving at its destination, he was charged 12s, What about the sixth standard boy. .">. Mr Vaile's original object in advocating low fares appears to be set forth in the same circular. He remarks as follows :—: — "Take for mstanc;, the Kotorua Railway, in winch lam a shareholder. To go from Auckland to the junction of this line undeiv the plan proposed would cost second-claiA passengers 2->, and first-class 3s each ; thui,s being carried so far on their journey for such a, small charge, they would be better able to pay the higher fare for the rest of the distance." That is to say that, by lowering the fares on the Government line*, Mr Vaile would be able to secure higher ones on the line in which he was interested. The insinuation, or rather charge made in these paragraphs, is worthy of the contemptible mind from which it emanated. Mr Maxwell evidently judges other people by his own standard. This is the whole sentence he has garbled. It has been objected that my plan would present the construction of private railways. This is a mistake. Take for instance the Kotoiua Railway (in which I am a shareholder.) To go from Auckland to the junction of this lino under the plan proposed would cost — second-class passengers 2s, and first class 3s each, thus, being carried so far on their journey for such a small charge, they would be better able jto pay the higher fare for the re»t of the distance. Thus, I think, the new plan would help the construction of private railways. There would also be this inducement, that the Gov oi nment would ultimately be compiled to purchase and take them over. My contention has always been that all the railways ought to be in the hands of the Government. Neither directly nor indirectly have I ever possessed a larger interest than £200 in the Rotorua Rail* way. 7. Mr Vaile's crude and incomplete prd^ posals for fares and rates, as stated in hij[ circular of the sth April, 1883, are on a differential basis. In subsequent letters he violently condemns differential rating, and scurrilously atticks those who do not agree with hia projects. I hive before stated that Mr Maxwell's piofcssional training has been very impel feet, but I did not suppose him to be so iirnoiant as this sentence proves him to be, for it is very evident that he dm s not know the meaning of the term " diflViential mting." It may be useful to him if I explain what it docs mean. This is differential rating :—": — " Deeming " 21 miles round Christchurch. to be only 1 ."> miles for the purpose of reckoning fares and freights, when the full distince, or more than the full distance, is charged in eveiy other district, or charging .a Christchnrch man 8s for the same sen ice that a Dunedin man would have to pay 12>, or an Auckland man 13s 9d f r Tins is done every day on our lines, and it fairly illustrates the principle. I am at a loss to know what Mr Alax« well means, and can only imagine that he lefers to the fact that in districts more than 30 miles from a large centre of population I propose a rate that would be less per mile, thau that within the 30 miles. If this is his meaning; — "It will he seen that there is a great amount of ignorance displayed"; for how can theiebeany " diffetential basis" when evciy man, and every district, placed und< i similar circumstances, are treated alike? 8. Wa learn thus from Mr Vaile : 1. That his remarks apply to the Australian lailwajs as well as to New Zealand. 2. That he holds it to bo a mixchiev ious error to try to mike milw.iys pay interest. 3. That he does not understand the present system of lates and fares. 4. That JA| would h.no chaigod higher fares on tnV Rotorua railway, in which ho was personally interested, than he proposed for the Government railways. 5. That while he himself does not hesitate to propose differential latos ;ind fares, he at the same tune denounces them. All the items in this paragraph hare been answered except the first, and for gross perversion of any writer's meaning, I have rarely seen that equalled. The fallowing is what I wrote :—: — T communicated with the Australian Chamber*, because the quostion raised interests them quite as much as it does ourselves, but the colony that firit adopts a cheap system of railway communication will no doubt gain a great advantage. Mr Maxwell seeks to make it appear that I have found the same fault with the management of the railways of Austiaha as I have with those of New Zealand. The fact is, that at every lecture I have show n that not only are the New South Wales rates enormously lower than ours, but that, as the financial result, they not only pay all interest, but also make a large surplus. Mr Maxwell has no doubt felt the sting, and so seeks to pei vert my meaning.— l am, &c, Samuel Vale. Auckland, September 29, 1885.

Nini: out of ten Russians eat with wooden spoons, from wooden plates and bowls, and drink water from woodon dippers, Thk pay of a Russian army officer if. very small A full geueral gets froiA to S-2,000 a year, according vW length of suv ice ; a lieutenant general fioni to §1,600; a major-general from S7SO to § 1,100, and a colonel con* mauding a tluee battalion regiment, •2,400 stiong. gets $60Q. Yoi'Cw Hi Hm-i'v lfjou will stop all your doitorinj* \our:>elf jnd f.imilies with expensj\s do< tors or cmc-alls ibat do only barm, and i.sp Nature's simple remedieb fpr all your .iilmentQj \ou will be well and harpy and ?a>p great expense Ihe q e.itost rrmedy for thiS| the treat, vt|ie, and good will tell t«u, is Am Co* Han Hitttrs.