THE RAILWAY BILL

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21759, 16 April 1936, Page 9

THE RAILWAY BILL

10 TBI EDITOR Or TBI I'BESS. Sir,—The largest of our State commercial enterprises is the railway system. For many years its management was under the direct control of the Minister for Railways. For the last five years it has still been under the, Minister, but with a board of five business men appointed by the Government to act as a board of directors of this large undertaking. The present Government has rushed through a bill abolishing this board and reverting to direct political control, on the grounds that the system was wrong. A careful examination of the position makes it most difficult to accept this conclusion or to see the necessity for rushing this measure through the House* without giving the country time to consider it. In the past £10.000,000 was written off the capital amount of the railways as having been lost by the country. Quite possibly, if a valuation of the system was made, the necessity for a further writing down would be revealed. Under the system of political management the railway service lost touch with its customers, its service became unsatisfactory, and there was an alarming increase of costs and drift of business. The system became a plaything of politics; changing Ministers did not make for continuity of policy, and annual losses became a continuous drain on the taxpayer. With the advent of the depression the position was very threatening, and the last Government appointed a board of business directors to control this business undertaking on commercial and non-political principles. The basis of reasoning compelling the change was that a Minister was elected by the people to legislate, not for the purpose of becoming managing director of large commercial undertakings; that U the Government had the power to run certain undertakings as State ventures the people who were responsible for losses had the right to demand that the management should be on accepted commercial principles and be nonpolitical. , , The long history of failure, not only in this but also in other countries, of State ventures run under politics, compels one to submit that these conclusions were entirely correct and that the reversion by the present Government to political control is a retrograde movement not in the interests of the country. , , , Practical proof of this statement can be best given by a realisation of the immense improvement there has been in the service the railways have given of late to their customers, the general public, with whom they are once again in touch. It may be further illustrated by a study of the expense accounts for the periods ending March from 1928 to 1931 under political control and from 1832 to 1935 under a board of directors: — £ 1928 .. 6,685 000 1932 .. 5,671,000 929 6 849,000 1933 .. 5,183,000 1930 .. 7 359,000 1934 .. 5,247,000 1931 .. 6,883,000 1935 .. 5,540,000 —Yours, etc., JET April 13, 1936.