SALARIES AND WAGES INCREASED.

Press, Volume XLIX, Issue 14810, 30 October 1913, Page 3

SALARIES AND WAGES INCREASED.

(SPECIAL TO "n_JS P_ES3.") WELLINGTON, October 29. The- Railway Amendment Bill, introduced to-day contains the following provisions:—The following offences for Which imprisonment or line is provided arc added : —The selling or transfer ol tickets by or to unauthorised persons; the selling or transfer of concession tickets to persons not entitled to receive them j using any certificate or order for a conce__iou* ticket without being entitled to do so; making a false declaration in regard to tne issue of a concession ticket; selling within the precincts of a railway or any railway carriage any book of an indecent, vicious, or objectionable character. Tne -Baximum term of inipris.nnieut for any breach oi: these provisions is two montlis. and the maximum fine i>lo. A fine, not exceeding £10, is provided if a person neglects, Ueiays, or refuses to proauce his ticket immediately it is called for by tho guard or ticket inspector or the railway official, or who trespasses upon any part or the railway to which the public are not allowed access by law. Another provision is that where a road or street crosses the railway on the level, the Minister must maintain and metal the road and crossing on the railway and for a distance on each side of 33-t outside the centre lino of rails, and the local authority must maintain and metal the nnnroacftes subject to the approval of "the Minister. Similar provisions are made in regard to subways and bridges. In regard to public level crossings, it is proposed that the local authority shall bear the cost of any gates, bells,, or other appliances which the Department may consider it necessary to provide for the protection of rond traffic, and also must bear tho cost of connecting the level crossing into a subway or overhead crossing whenever the Minister considers such change necessary. The Minister is also empowered to provide automatic signals for the protection of people using the railway crossings, but it is expressly provided that tho Minister shall not bo liable for any accident that may oetcur through the temporary failure of any such signal. It is further provieled that any person driving a motor must slacken speed to six miles an hour when within a hundred yards of a crossing and stop before fouling the railway line. He must also keep a vigilant look-out for approaching trains, and n ust not attempt to cross unless the line is clear, and must not pass over the crossing at more than six miles an hour.

Power is given the Minister to orelcr any enquiry by a magistrate and two assessors into any accident resulting in injury to any passengers and to fix the costs of tho enquiry, and to direct by whom they shall be paid. .The Minister is empowered to decide whether or not any such enquiry shall be open to tho Press. Every decision of the Appeal Board must be submitted to the Minjster, who may confirm, modify, or disallow it, and no decision will take effect unless and until tho Minister has signified his approval. Provision is mado for the classification of tho first division as promised by the Minister last year. The effect of the alterations in wages is in -the direction of broadening the lower grades of the first division and improving the position of the junior second division employees. The chief clerk to the General Manager, with a present salary of £800, will have a maximum of £1000. Similar salaries are payable to the Chief Mechanical Engineer, Traffic Manager, and Maintenance Engineer, representing £100 advance on.the maximum.

The first division salaries are increased as follow-.--Third grade, minimum, by £15 to £485; fourth grade, £20 to £440. with a maximum of £475; fifth by £15, with a maximum of £425; sixth by £15, with a maximum of £370; seventh by £1, with a maximum of £315; eighth by £10, with a maximum of £260. The greatest variation is shown in the .ninth grade. Nine subdivisions aro introduced with salaries ranging from £125 to £220; tenth grade salaries from £70 to £110. The improvements in the second division wages willenablo junieir porterß to rise to 8s a day, an increase in the minimum by Gd. Similar concessions aro granted to junior labourers in the locomotive branch and junior surfacemen,