A CHALLENGE.

Auckland Star, Volume XLI, Issue 203, 27 August 1910, Page 10

A CHALLENGE.

:__-___-____■ OPERATIONS. __________ DEHENDS AD3___sT___TION. (By Teleg__ai_ .—Parliamentary B_porter.) WELLINGTON, Friday. The railway administration of the Hon. J. A. Millar came in for some congratulatory remarks from Mr. W. H. Herries, in the course of the debate upon the Imprest Supply Bill. The member for Tauranga expressed gratification upon the results disclosed in the railways statement recently presented to the House, which, he said, was more satisfactory than the returns of previous years. The Minister seemed to have grasped the fanlts of the previous management, and had applied the pruning hook accordingly. The Minister was deserving of exingrastttlations for the reduction .effected in .the working. expenses, which had always been an eyesore to anyone who examined tne railway affairs of the Dominion, because of the way they had been eating in_o the revenue. He iwas not going into the question as to whether; the figures _ _re genuine, for he had always- considered the railways should be removed from party questions, and should be run for the benefit of the country, with incr_ised advantages. Whilst he fully recognised the improved profit per train mile, he (Mr. Herries) ' said the Minister had not accomplished !as much as he had and he trusted he wou'd do still more jiext year. Mr. j Herries .-ent on to q_o__ statistics to show that for the past five years, _h similar conditions, the Australian railways (excepting Victoria) had done better than the" New Zealand railways in all the principal ways of earning money. The Minister had not indicated why they should do so, except by referring to the advantages they possessed by long leads. Suburban traffic was not being encouraged here as it should be, seeing .that the grest bulk of passenger traffic must be suburban traffic. The member for Tauranga also criticised the present basis of passenger and freight charges, as compared with those in vogue in the Commonwealth—a subject that was also touched upon by Mr. F. W. Lang. The Hon. Mr. Millar said he had been somewhat surprised at the trend of the criticism emanating from the Opposition bene?hes. He would deliberately throw out.'a challenge to Mr. Massey and his followers. If the Opposition had the courage to demand it he would taring into force in New Zealand the railway system that obtained in New South Wales or Victoria. He spoke in all sincerity, and it was a distinct challenge to the Opposition. Mr. Hannan: There is the answer the Opposition has been waiting for. Hon. Mr. Millar: I am prepared to bring Australian rates into operation in New Zealand to-morrow if the Opposition asks mc to do so. Mr. Poole: An offer they dare not accept. Hon. Mr. Millar: I can give no better answer to those who compare our railway system with that aelministered by Commissioners in Australia. Continuing, the Minister said that the position as it applied in Australia did not tend to increase the confidence of investors at Home. Outside Parliament they found Opposition nienibeTs asking for concession after concession, and at the same time howling about the business management of the railways. How, he asked, was New Zealand to pay interest on the 30 millions of money invested in its railways if they did not adopt some business method 1 The Minister went on to reply to the statement that guards and drivers did not receive fair remuneration. No driver worked over eight hours without receiving overtime, and the same applied to guareis. Speaking of profits on railways, Mr. Millar said that in New -Zealand there were a great many sectional lines, while in Australia there were unbroken runs of thousands of miles. The advantage so derived was noticeable in the North Island-, where the people were wont to boast of the profit made on their railways. It had to be remembered that in the North Island there were practically no branch lines. Mr. Massey: We want them. Hon. Mr. Millar: As soon as you get them you will find your profits decrease. In the North you have trunk lines between Wellington and New Plymouth, Wellington and Napier, Wellington and Auckland, Rotorua and the Thames. The profits of main trunk, lines were only dragged down when they had to support branch lines as feeders. A line that was often ridiculed was the Otago Central, but it was -worth noting that the increase in working profit for the year, as compared to the previous year, was greater on this line than any other in the Dominion. In conclusion, the Minister again stated that he was quite prepared, if the Opposition would take the responsibility to introduce the Australian tariff into New Zealand. Sir Je>seph Ward: No you don't. Hon. Mr. Millar: Well, give mc the Australian tariff instead of our own, and I will guarantee to show a profit of five per cent on our railways.