The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE. THURSDAY, DEC. 19, 1889.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 2721, 19 December 1889, Page 2

The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

THURSDAY, DEC. 19, 1889.

K<] ij.it ;«nri rxirt insticu to all men, v)t" aluit.-oover s-tatc or persuasion, religious or poiiricril.

Mr Vaii.k will probably be surprised to hear that the principle upon which he bases his railway reforms, his hostility to differential rates, were both strongly held by the lato Emperor Napoleon 111., so far back as 1858. The Duke of Saxe-Ooburg tells us in the memoirs recently published, that he travelled in that year with Napoleon to Fjntainebleau. On the way the Emperor received a deputation from the Railway Directors, and rated them roundly for the irregularity of the traffic, and the costliness and want of comfort in that connected with psssengers. lie considered also that there should be a uniform fare for certain distances, a conception somewhat similar to that which Mr Vaile has worked out with so much ability and care. The .French railways are all in the hands of companies working under concessions which expire within given periods. The railways then revert, without compensation, to the State, and it is calculated, will reduce the present onerous taxation of France to an enormous extent. Probably we

shall Had that the French Government have inherited Napoleon's ideas and will endeavour to give ihem effect. The official conceit that resents every new suggestion from an outsider is equally apparent whether the officials be those of a Government, of commissioners, or of a company. The history of the English railways proves this in a very striking manner. From 1829, when the system began, to 18-15, the leading idea was to drive oIT the coaches and secure a monopoly of the passenger traffic. That for goods was entirely disregarded. Great sacrifices wen', made to secure this monopoly, but the profits at first were so great as to make these I sacrifices unfelt. Then came the " Mania :, that multiplied competing lines, and brought ruin on thousands of investors and speculators. i he. passenger traffic continued to be regarded as everything. In its management second class traffic was systematically discouraged. The accommodation in that class was of the roughest kind, while the third class was provided with waggons, little, if at all better, than those in which cattle were carried. In 18-13 the " Great Western " receipts were ,-£13,000 a week for passengers, and only £3,000 for goods. The London and Birmingham receipts were more remarkable, being £15,000 for the one and only £1000 for the other. That railway in one period of five months took £130,000 for passengers and only £2,225 for goods. How completely is this policy now changed in the United Kingdom we all know. The second and third-class traffic has become the most important, and grown so greatly through the outside pressure, that insisted upon better accomnierlation being provided for them. The goods traffic j has been developed by Lhe same pressure. The tables are so completely turned that their respective proportions are reversed. To-day the goods yield twelve shillings out of every pound received, and the passengers only eight shillings. The point to be noticed is, that the changes indicated by' these figures have not come from within, but have been forced upon the companies from without. Their policy was dose and narrow. All they cared for was n dividend for the shareholder. So long as that could be the pubue convenience or the development of the country was no affair of theirs. A great

sensation was caused in America a few years ago, by the reply given to a reporter by Mr Vanderbilt, one of the railway kings. Referring to a proposed change in the management or regulations, the reporter asked—" But will it not be bad for the public ?" " D—n the public," was Mr Vanderbilt's prompt reply ; which flew through the country and gave no small impulse to the regulating legislation since adopted. The same spirit prevailed for many years in the English companies, and is likoly to grow in the irresponsible Commissioners of our own railways if they be not vigilantly watched. The danger is the greater in their case because they are primarily judged, not by the public usefulness of the railways, hut by the extent to which they make them, by any means, pay.

Even those who do nofc agree with Mr Vaile's actual proposals must feel that the public owe him gratitude for the great labour he lias given to the subject, and the ability and perserveance he has displayed. Similar outside pressure, and that alone has wrought reforms in England, and upon it dependence is still placed. The conditions in an old densely populated country with a great commerce do not always exist with us. The actual reforms suggested in the one are necessarily different to those that would be suitable in the other, but it is interesting to watch their •ourse. Among the latest in England, are to get rid of all unprofitable traffic gained, by running canals and other modes of traffic out of existence. Leave to them, and to coasting vessels that which they can most cheaply conduct with protit. This having been accomplished, the railway is to suit itself to the dominant traffic in which it is employed. If that be goods, the trains must be- run at

" goods" spued and with fixed stoppages, whether carrying passengers or no. If thn passengers dominate the trains are to suit thrill, even if carrying goods (it the same time. By tin's system the carrying capacity is enormously increased. It is adopted by the Metropolitan Railway, which is said to have the largest traffic , of any line in the world, and enables it to despatch trains every three minutes in either direction along the lines. Experience has also taught that thirty miles per hour is the most profitable spe<'d alonu English Hues. The engine that will draw 211 tons at fifteen miles an hour will only draw 71 J- tons at sixty mile- , , and so on in varying ratio. The chief extra cost in high speed is fuel, and it is a question to deciie in each case, how far this is counterbalanced, by saving in staff and in other directions. Here in New Zealand the conditions differ in many important respects from those in England. The railways also are public property and not the properties of companies, caring for profit and making all else a minor consideration. With us the prospective profit and public gain by opening up the country and encouraging production, are more than an immediate small increase in the percentage of profit. The Railway Reform League, which Mr Vaile's energy has formed, has thus good work before it, and sooner or later must earn the widest sympathy and support.