OUR TRAMWAYS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 106, 28 January 1908, Page 4

OUR TRAMWAYS.

Sir, —f-On- the;7th ,inst; thero-was reported : m -the. columns., of: The 1 Dominion an inter-■ > : view', with a: Mr.r J. Ames, ; in -which* that-: : - i gentleman was represented as making' certain •statements 1 regarding the charges upon tha-:' : Sydnoy tramways, and .as it : habpenod that . ■ I had just returned' from a'visit- to -that' : .city,, and. had travelled upon ■ the t tramways 1 alluded to by Mr./Ames, 1 1. was::led to tfiai: - • conclusion that ho was mistaken: in . the •m- ' ■ format-on.. which lio-had affordod/jand copso--quently that tho comparison drawn ;with.the.Wellingtoii .tramways was inaccurate..- In -.' order to/bo quite suro as -to the correctness - of myj memory I;', addressed.'an, enquiry"... bo the Superintendent,/and I have tho pleasure tovh'and ! you herewith a copy of i his reply, - which puts quite a different colour upon tho : subject. _ ' , s 1 iwus induced, to tako tho trouble" to obtain • tho above information • because I/hava ■ ' frequently-observed 'that" so :many.;-.New ' • Zealariders return .from visits abroadvWith • the 'most; curious information regarding. the ~ > places and'people they havo seen.i la 1 support of ,'fchisj 1-may ; instance Mr. TownsencP in'. your columns of ;this dat-e, on the samo subject jof tramways,;in;which he is represented ■ in connection with that particular ■ Eubject,-: and-.presumably, m comparison/with i New Zealand, that;,'.'they movo. so' slowly at : : Townsend seems to have overlooked the fact? thatvNow.iZealand was ono; '.of the last places to ; introduco tramways, that all Eurime, America, and evcn r Japan and Korea, hail tramways before New-Zealand; and . as fori moving slowly, T may mention that I recently/resided 'for some, time m -Bournomouth', w:hiclj : is' 108J' miles from London, .'. and :that' I could tTavcl' between that 'place . and London twice each way dailv in two hours and : fiver, being oxactlv 'tho timet , Ithiit. it'take's mo" to gfct, from 1 Paraparaumu . ;tb Wellington—33 nules. y-Taking another-phase of- the same: subject,- ,-.v remarks' aro .frequently made: about "the ignorance". of-New Zealand prevailing in tlio : r old Countryj and;:'assuming that it is so, 1...-■ ani hot surprised'at 'it. ■ I-havo just returned aii extended tour, : during which I ,have ■ 'run againstgood" people from . New Zealind,': and; I ■ have 1 ' teen'ainazed' to hear them discourse ;upon New Zealand and ,tho affairs |of,v that : cbuhtiTr. I could givo •. many illustrations, hut'l will,only trouble vou , with ono 'as 'a -'sample of; the sort' of stuff that New-. . Zealanders ' spread; abroad. I • heard'ono day iii tho smoking-room of .a stea- . :mcr;a^gentlemanywh'ii : have : been sup-, posed. -'io be ■> VeEiinfbrmcdconfideii tl v assert -that-! there - ."was -' -.: a'-, Government ' tax of i per. ceht. on all'Wonpf remitted out ■ ■of New Zealand', and,when; I; .ventured'to ex. ;press a-different opiiiion,h'oj referred' tirmation: to two .-gShtlcm'en: in i business' at .Dunedin,,who>w'ere. piisseiigers,- and(mirabih dictu) neither, of ' these: representative's 1 'oi' New Zealand's commcrco was able to say with '. , certairity .'*that.it was;br was not so. . ■* ' As for; moving, (slowly in the Old Country as compared with.'tNew-Zealand or any : other , place', it is pure'ipons'snse, the old country is '. quito able to hold her own in comparison with any other; and in railways and the management thereof she leads the world, without » , : rival 'within sight; and New' Zealand is about : 30 vears behind.—l s.m.ctc.V " A. S.' ALDKICH. ; " Paraparaumu,.January 25. *. v . . '■ (Ccpv.) , . , ' (Enclosure,) . N.S.W. Government Tramways,Traffic Superintendent's Office, ••••».• . Sydney January 16, 1908. *; A.> S. Aldrich, Esq.;Taraparaumu;. . Dear Sir, —1 am in receipt of your communication of the 7tli ins.t.j enclosing a cutting - from a.Wellington newspaper,- for which I am ': obliged. Tho information convoyed by-lir. J. Ames in regard to th«' : Sydney tramways'is not. correct. The distance from Circular' Quay terminus, jn..the city, to Botany, is 8 ■ miles 30 chains, for-.which a • faro 'of 4d. is ; charged. Tho round journey is, therefore,' i 16J miles, for which a fare of Bd. is charged,' and not Is. as state'd by Mr. Ames. There is a tourist trip from Sydney to La Perouse via the Kensington line, and returning via l Botany, in connection 'with which, cars of a special description are'run, , and a . limited number of passengers carried. -.iA- fare of one shilling (Is.) is charged, aiid tlio -total distance or' the round trip is 22 miles; With gard to our. penny sections, they average nearly two miles in length, some of -them' ■ more. The, distance travelled for 2d. is:—v, Circular • Quay to St;: Peters,-'.miles | Gir- :, cular-Q.uay to,:Enmorp, 4l miles; while in 1 some' instances, passengers can ride nearly 4J miles for 2d. 11 am enclosing herewith-a copy of -the. "Government,Gasette" containing the scale of fares in operation on tho tramways in New South Wales for your information.—Yours faithfully, (Signed) J. J. Ankiushaw, Traffic Superintendent. •

A strange incident'occurred at a house in'. Remiiera, says the "New Zealand Herald,',' when a visit was paid to it by Detectives Miller, Cox, and Scott, for the purport' of. executing a warrtnt 'fur arrest of J. Pearse Baker (lately carrying'on business as an auctioneer at Newmarket), op three charges of false pretcrccfc,'viz., by obtaining money by means oi valueless cheques. Tho landlady, on bein;; applied to, denied that the man wanted was ra her house, and she refused admittance to the .detectives. The latter, however, having good reason for believing that their m?.n was on the pre-, mises, insisted on entering, and eventually / the woman oponed tho'door. On a search being made tnrough the house, Biilct was found secreted under a, mattress in one of the bedrooms. Ho win duly arrestod, and Trill appear before the Court. . A curious argument against the freehold is put forward by Keir Hardie. fle says that where a man owns his own home there is a tendency for wages to come down, because nmployors know that a freenoller io tied to the spot, and cannot readily - movt to other districts. On this principle, sayi the Chi'istchurch "Truth," lie would ha'v< the worker paying rent all his life, 'and remaining a bird of passage, so that he could move about with little inconvenience. IV, does not occur to him that the worker whe, in siuiliciently energetic and thrifty 'to acquire his own homo is likely to bo a firstclass man, certain of employment anywhere. Hut the nixiatle of Socialism who can tali such unmitigated bosh and assert that' it ii better for a man to work for a landlord than for himself simply proves himself an igno- ' rant, unintelligent person, and it is v n mystery how a man of his inferior mental calibre can gull tho workers into regarding him as an able leader and a heaven-sent • political genius.