The Dominion. THURSDAY, APRIL 2, 1908. A RAILWAYS CONTRAST.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 162, 2 April 1908, Page 6

The Dominion. THURSDAY, APRIL 2, 1908. A RAILWAYS CONTRAST.

. i On more than one ground uncommon interest attaches to yesterday's meeting of shareholders of the Welliiig'toii and Mauawatu Railway Company. The year just closed, as the 1 Chairman pointed out, " lias proved ti record one for the volume of business done, and also for the greatest individual increase in any one year." The meeting, moreover, was something in the nature of a valedictory function: there was a kind of "packing up" atmosphere about it. To the Socialist who looks with' a glowering eye upon all private enterprise, the continued success of this admirably managed concern is no doubt highly deplorable, _

llie more so, perhaps, because tliis success, in defiance of his clearest prejudice, has not been achieved at the expense, but to the advantage, of the interests of the country. To everybody else, -however, the occasion will pre-; sent itself as one for felicitation upon a great enterprise admirably carried through, and as the Government has given the necessary notice of intention to acquire the line, it is proper briefly to consider the relation of the Company to the public. It is twenty-eight years since it commenced business, and the history of its progress is the history of the progress of the rich Manawatu district. Year, by year it has been assisting the work" of national development, and it has incidentally earned a handsome reward for its pioneer labours. Pew people will be found to grudge the- contingent benefits that have been reaped by the shareholders. The finances of. the Companyi make a striking commentary upon the methods of the State railways administration. While the State railways , annually fail to make ends meet, even when the revenue is yearly fortified by lan money newly borrowed, the private Company has succeeded for years past in returning a ,useful dividend to shareholders. If it had been conducted on the lines of the State system—if it had annually borrowed money to keep afloat, and had,, nevertheless, annually showed a deficit to be .made good by tlie' shareholders —it would have collapsed in ruin long ago. When the Premier is criticised on the score that, the'.-finances ..of the State railways are unsound, he replies that; the railways are not i;un to make a profit, but to encourage national development:. Generally he adds that he could produce solvency by "a- stroke of the 'pen'..", His suggestion is, of course, that the railways cannot encourage national progress'unless they are. run at a loss/ and that they can only be run at a decent profit by so raising the tariff as to injure the country. The Manawatu Company has demonstrated that a lpge. railway can be run- at a good profit, and yet assist national development, and that dividends can be produced. without preposterous tariffs, or,. any . other# conditions injurious to the public interest. The Company, in fact, is a standing refutation of the Premier's railways theory, as it is a standing refutation of the persistentSocialistic story that private enterprise is tyrannical and a public evil.. It is possible, of course, th.at in taking over the line,' the' Government may take over the traditions of its management; and the legacy of private enterprise may go some way towards assisting State /enterprise in its present unsatisfactory: condition. We should like : to believe that such '/will be the case. The Manawatu line lias paid because it was a line that was required, and, because this fitness was aided by good , management. ' The State railways are, run. at. a loss because bad methods are superimposed upon the defect of inadequacy on the one hand, and superfluity on the other. Lines that are. not required are badly run',' and (lines' that ar6 required are unbuilt. Our railways administration, in short, like ouf public works fund, is* the' best'inodern' instance of the tendency of' politicians^"discussed 'over 1 seventy years ago by Ma'caulay, to use the public works-.-'fund for advertisement and political gain rather than, the public good.' ''It'must not be forgotten that the Manawatu Company; lias had to pay taxes and charges from which the revenue of ;the Railways Department is exempt,'and\that it has had to contend against the powerful competition of the State, and at times against the active ...hostility of the Government. So long as the balancesheets' of the Company remain on re--cord, the Government will find it. difficult to .satisfactorily defend its. 'jailways policy.'