TRANSPORT POLICY

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 60, Issue 38, 24 November 1939, Page 8

TRANSPORT POLICY

THE GOVERNMENT ATTITUDE. NO INTERFERENCE; WITH OWNERSHIP. (Per Press Association). WELLINGTON, November 23. The Government had no intention of interfering with those services which weroi not operating in direct competition with the railways, said the Minister of Transport, the Hon. R. Semple, to-day, addressing delegates attending the, annual conference of the New Zealand Road Transport Alliance. There seemed to be. some kind of false impression in the mnds of some people associate! with transport that the Government intended to commandeer, confiscate or take over the whole of the transport industry in New Zealand, said the Minister. This belief was false and there was no such idea in tho minds of the Government. He wanted to give his personal assurance that the Government did not wish to dictate to transport operators or interfere with the ownership of their businesses.

Mr Semple said he would never be a party to misleading men into doing something and then take advantage of it to interfere with their property. The transport industry in New Zealand was as safe as it ever was in the east. The concerns belonged to the operators, and represented their own personal genius, courage, and enterprise. It might be said that the Government did interfere with some transport concerns ; but that was true of every country in the world. They had all been compelled by circumstances to adopt such measures. Wellington city, for example, had been compelled to buy up a bus system which had developed through the years in order to save the tramway system. Christchurch and Auckland had , been compelled to do the same. No other course was open when thousands of pounds were invested in the tramway systems. The railways had come into the picture, and the Government had been obliged to do precisely tho same as had been done in the case of the tramways. 1 . _ . . Competition With Railways. The New Zealand Government had set to work to try to discover the best way of dealing with those services which were injurious to the railways. A properly constituted tribunal had been' set up to determine a _ fair measure of compensation. Nearly £70,009,000 was invested in tho railway systems, and about an equal amount was invested in highways; but before the measures were taken the highways; and railways were pursuing a policy of cut-throat competition. The Government had diverted as much business as possible to the railways because they were a public institution. Referring to the effect of the war on the transport Industry, Mr .Semple urged the necessity qf petrol supplies being conserved and all waste, eliminated. Transport people, he said, were the very first in New Zealand when the Avar broke out to offer complete co-operation with / the Government, and the automobile association had passed a similar resolution; l>ut_ because Now Zealand depended entirely on overseas sources, transport operators and others using oil fuel should conserve petrol to the maximum extent possible. It Avas Avith this object in A r icw, said tho Minister, that he* had asked transport owners to get together and see if any overlapping of services and Avaste could be cut out. At the same time he asked them to gwe tho public the best service possible. He did not dictate anything to the transport people, though, and did not intend doing so. He Avas Avilling to help them in every Avay, and with all the power he had behind him as Minister. In answer to: a question, Mr Semple said the Government intended appealiug to tli© public not to waste octroi during the holidays; but to conserve its use as much as they could. This Avas necessary in order to make the future safe. Many things could happen to restrict New Zealand’s use of petrol.