GOVERNMENT RAILWAYS,

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 104, 4 May 1922, Page 4

GOVERNMENT RAILWAYS,

j QUESTION OF CONTROL. i THE CANADIAN' METHOD. An interesting visitor is Mr. G. F. Johnston, of the Canadian National I Railway's, who is spending a day or so in Auckland before continuing his journey j from Vancouver to Sydney, where he expects to spend some time. Mr. Johnston is a railways expert, and is associated with one of the largest organisaI tions in America, which operates 23,000 j miles of railroad, representing 60 per ! cent of the railways of the sister Dominion. The object of hie visit to New Zealand is for business reasons. The principal purpose is for offering inducement for tourist traffic to proceed across the Canadian Government route. 1 The Canadian national railways, as is the case in New Zealand, he said, aTe '. owned by the Government. In addition 1 the organisation controls 100,000 miles lof telegraph lines, owns a shipping ser- : vice with its line of lake steamers, and : has also its own system of car ferries, j which can transport a whole train across. I a harbour or river without interrupting : the journey. Such a ferry is in esistI ence between Vancouver Island and the i mainland, and there are other in difTer- ! ent places on route from. Vancouver to Halifax, the only "All Canadian" route on the continent. Mr. Johnston briefly referred to the 1 constitution of the board of directors of I the Canadian national line. As it was shortly the intention of the New Zealand Government to enunciate a railway policy 'he said he would refrain from referring to the system of control or management. "'The Canadian board of directors, or of control, or whatever you rike to c.ill it." he naid, "is composed of the chief business men of the country, and I think it is a very good idea." In reply to a question he stated that the Ministry had no direct representation, nor were there any Parliamentary representatives occupying positions on the board. It was entirely free from political interference or control. Referring to his visit to the Dominion, Mr. Johnston said he had received most courteous treatment from the railway , officials, and that He was delighted with the country. "I have seen some of the ■finest land and stock I have ever seen ; during my short stay here," he added.

luunug ..i» iMiui l m.<iv nere, ne auaea. I Mr. Johnston remarked that consider- ! able progress had been made in railroad i matters in Canada of recent years, and that now their system compared very favourably with any in the world. All the trains were fitted up with electric light, and special attention had been made to sleeping accommodation. The ! gauge was a wider one than that in use :in New Zealand. Ho mentioned that special attention was also paid to colonists, who j are catered for in special colonists' care. IHe believed that Canada had now the jbest equipment and the best road bed in the world.