RAILWAY CONTROL.

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 78, 1 April 1922, Page 5

RAILWAY CONTROL.

PROPOSED ADVISOR-' BOARD. OPINION IN AUCKLAND. The proposal to set up an advisory X board of business men in connection with the management of the State rail- . ways appears to have the support of most all sections of the community, though the approval in some quarters is qualified by doubt about the method of selection, personnel and scope of the proposed board of advisers, points which 1 have yet to be settled. In commercial s and industrial circles the proposal is ( received with enthusiasm. "The Prime t Minister is to 'be congratulated on the < step he has taken in regard to impend- 1 ing changes in the railway _>Micy,"' 1 sta.ted Mr. A. G. Lunn, an ex-pvesident ' of the Chamber of Commerce, in discuss- ] ing the subject with a "Star" represen- ' tative. "The Auckland Chamber of Commerce, for a considerable time, has ' been advocating that the Government '< should take full advantage of the best brains and experience of the business community. It is unfortunately the case that far too few business men are j either unable or unwilling to leave their business in order to devote their energy and business ability to the publi* service in Parliament, and unquestionably for years Parliament has suffered from this • lack of "'business advice. It is a wise move of the Prime Minister to realise . this, and if he cannot get the assistance of trained business men in Parliament, the next best thing undoubtedly is to take advantage of it outside Parliament. It is to be hoped that at an early date carefully selected advisory boards of business men will from time to time be constituted to give such assistance as they are aole to give in the interests of the public. This is the second case in which the Prime Minister has invoked the assistance of business men, the first being the calling together of a committee of business men to discuss the question of the incidence of taxation." Mr. S. J. Barbutt, who is in close touch with the industrial interests of the city, declared $hat the Tunning of the railways was a business proposition, and there was no doubt that it would benefit from the advice of. the best business brains in community. He instanced the success of the privatelyowned railways in Britain and America. The fact that under private management the United States railways had been profitable and had provided the public with adequate services contrasted with the da<ly loss of thousands of pounds and the inferior services given while the same railways were under Government control. While the officials probably had .adequate technical ability there had been lacking the business brains in the matter of organising skill and distribution of energy and attack in applying the technical resources of the department to n business policy that was needed to make the department a satisfactory business enterprise.