OUR RAILWAYS.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 13747, 31 May 1910, Page 7

OUR RAILWAYS.

STATEMENT BY THE HON. J. A MILLAK.

LAST YEAR', RESULTS.

INTERESTING COMPARISON'S

(press association tei.eub.ams.)

DUNEDIN

, May SO

Tho Hon. J. A Millar was entcrtaint*d at a social by his constituents of tho Pnnedin We.«-t electorate tonight- In the course of his address, the Minister said he would state the results of last year's working of the New Zealand Railways in comparison, for their edification, with tho result of the lost year of the administration of tho .Railway Commissioners in New Zealand, together -vitl* tho results of ton years later under Government control. He would first say that the Commissioners bad charged higher rates and had paid lower wages than did the Government —two very important factors. Yet notwithstanding this, and the concessions given on the railways during tho tost ten years, aud the increiso in wages, they could show bettor results than were'previously obtained. For the year ending March 31st, 1910, there were carried on the North Island lines 6.791,000 nassengers, and on the South i Island 5, ii'24 ,000, and on Lake Waka- j tipu 1000. There had been an in-t citfase in season tickets, parcels, horses, j dogs, and in every class of quods ex-1 copt timber. The" revenue from pas-1 sengers in the North Island was 1 £619,302, and in ihe South Island] £448.620. nnd for the Lake Wakatipu j service £2769. the largo increase of passengers in the North Island over ■ the South Island was duo to the fact | that peopb in the North travelled I more and further then was tho case :n | the Sfsutli. • .Season tickets in the i North Island represented £60,000, and \ in the South £39,000; in goods the: North claimed £~52.000. and the South £987,000, making the total revenues £1,614,000 for the North, and £1,628,000 for tho South. The train n.ileoges had been 4,200,626 miles in the North Island, aud 3,598,540 for tho South. Tho rates of interest earned were £4 3s 3d for the North, nnd £3 9s od in the .South, and £9 17s 7d on Lake W'ak'atiou. The averago rate of interest was *£3 15s 9d. which was a record for New Zealand, with the exception of one year, in- the year previous the earnings had been £3 2s 7d, and the increase was therefore 13e 2d per cent, on a capital of £23,500,000. A sum of 13s 2d per cent, might not seem very much, out when they considered it waa on capital of such magnitude, they must adnvt that the Government had done fairly well during the past year. He had no doubt that with careful administration, the same result could be achieved. He did not believe the railways ought t* be used ay a feeder for the Consolidated Fund, and ha did not sco that the Consolidated Fund should be charged one penny for tho railways. If New Zealand could accept the same, prices and pay the same wages as in Australia, he would guarantee our railways would pay 7J par cent, as against 4J per cent, there. He would take practically one of the best years during j the Commissioners' term of office in • Now Zealand (1894), and during it no found that the total revenue from passengers was £378,000. In 1905, und.r the Government regime, it had increased to £680,905, and last year it totalled £1,070,000. The total revenue earned hy the Commissioners in their final year was £1.172,000. In 1905 this had increased to £2,209.000, and last year it stood at £3,249,790. Tho total expenditure in the Commissioners' last year had "been £735,000. In •1905 this stood at £1,492,000, and last year at £2.164,000. The exoendituro per train mile had been 56.69 din 1894. 58.46 d in 1905, and 6_.84d in 1910! He quoted these figures for the reason that it wss always _aid . that" they earned a high rate of interest by starving the railways. The expenditure per cent, of re>verme was 62.70 in 1894. 67.58 in 1905, and last year 66.74. In the previous year, before he had taken ove«r control the figure was 72.19 por cent., co that the reduction last year was 5.45 fiver cent. The amount of stock on order lii«-i yeai* was 14 engin<_, 76 carriages. 12 brake vans, 34 bogie waggons, and 701 four-wheeled wa-ggens. The increased traction power was 289.5841b, j nnd the extra seating accommodation 895 parsons per day. At the present time there wero in hand—because ho I could $°o "ihere was iroins to Ibo ai ! very fair fncroass of business—ten big 1 A locomotives being made by Price Bros-, ton B locomotives: ten wero nearing completion, and ten mbro wero to h* _ut in hand. Tnakin. H tot?l of 40 more looomA-fives .to *r)y ready during the next eighteen months. There wer** also two special loeonotives. 62 bi,<* hoaie vox-sons, 17 brake ■vans, and 1212 fonr-wb*«-ler •waccrons on order now >n the different rf«'lwny worksboris. Tho amount expended iv ■f.bo f' l :l'""»-Y workshops on n<nv machinery last year was £5612, but this ve.ar there -y«v machinery on order totalling £25,000.