RAILWAYS AND MOTORS.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 141, 17 June 1929, Page 10

RAILWAYS AND MOTORS.

PROPOSED HIGHER TAXATION.

FACTORS IN THE PROBLEM.

NON-PAYING RAILWAY LINES.

(By CIVIL ENGINEER.)

In Monday's "Star" appears an article by "Viator" on the question of railway losses, for which the writer apparently blames motor competition and proposes that the tax on motor traffic be increased with a view, as he suggests, to equalising the competition. It would be interesting to know how "Viator" arrives at the figure of £1,500,000 per annum, which he states is the subsidy paid by "the whole country" to motor traffic plying in competition with the railways. The amount collected by counties in rates for road maintenance and interest on roading loans is less than two millions a year, and even if the roads paralleling the railways were wiped out at least 95 per cent of the rates would be required in respect of the remaining roads to transport the public and. their goods to and from the railways. Furthermore, a large proportion of the rates is paid by motor users, and if "Viator" were to ascertain the amount of rates paid by the section of the population not utilising motor vehicles, and of that amount determine the proportion spent on roads' Competing with railways, he would find that the subsidy he complains of is an almost negligible quantity. Moreover, the motor industry pays into the public purse a million a year in customs duties (other than those on tyres and benzine, which go nto the road fund), as well as income taxes and rates, and if the true position could be ascertained there is no doubt at all that the industry is finding a considerable share of the loss on the railway undertaking. The "subsidy" therefore works in the reverse direction to that imagined by "Viator." There is undoubtedly a strong case for relieving counties entirely from expenditure on certain stretches of main highway, utilising for this purpose some of 'the tax collected from motorists in customs duties on motor vehicles, but this would not in any way diminish motor competition with railways, j

From theoretical considerations, -it; should not bo possible for motor vehicles to compete with railways for long-cliS"-tance traffic, excepting possibly a snrajl amount of expensive luxury travel, ;hj the cost per ton mile of road haulage; is so much greater than that on the. rail, but as a considerable amount 'M such competition is taking place soffits; explanation must be sought, and, w; shown above, "Viator" is following ablind scent. The reason is partly, of

course, that the paying railways are en:, deavouring to shoulder the burden ot unprofitable political lines. Some jw the latter were built in competition, with previously established and quite, effective steamer services, and if tnose. responsible for the management of rail-; ways feel inclined to talk of motor competition as "piracy," it is as well! to remember that the railways committed. far greater acts of piracy than ever motors have done. But such recrinuna;; tions lead to no solution of the difficultyA more fruitful field of inquiry will Defound in the railway tariff list. Large quantities of certain classes of goocis are : carried at unprofitably low rates,.. fixed no doubt as sops to cliques.?i. voters, and an attempt is made to recover the loss by gross other commodities. This, which WJoseph Ward calls the cream of tnc traffic, affords motor haulage its op-; portunity of long-distance competitionIf all political rates were abolished ana goods carried on a basis of cost, uneconomic motor competition would automatically vanish. To attempt to Strang economic competition by any s y sten \? restriction, excessive taxation or otne persecution would, if successful, be more disasl.ous to the country as a wnore than the present loss on the raiwaj enterprise.