RAILWAY REFORM.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 412, 22 January 1909, Page 4

RAILWAY REFORM.

| The Hon. J. A. Miliar does not appearto havo been directly responsible s foi\ the circular in which-the General i Manager of; Railways has<;•reprimanded, i the officials at tho Addirigton Workshops. E But there is little doubt the circular l reflects the new state of mind created in i tho Manager by the arrival qf a Minister f for.Railways who has boen at sorno pains t to warn the public and tho'pprvice that i he intends to correct tho abuses in . the t railway :,Bystem. The men atlthe worki shops are loud in their indignant rc- ) puliation of tho charges of lWfing that - are brought against them, butltho. public 3 will 'riot be satisfied, 'until it', is per--5 suadqd- to. a. contrary view by ithe clear- • net arid strongest evidence, that so cw t tlous a / man as Ma. Rokavnb had not a

good reason for issuing his circular. It is absurd to suppose'that Me, Konayne, in whom caution has hardened into a vice,'; would:' accept, the unveri- , fiod word of an irresponsible -trav-' eller 'in ■a . matter of .this^Eort-..■; Even if it could bo assumed that the i Gonoral Manager has made baseless charges against'the methods in vogue.in tho workshop concerned—an assumption that the public will not bo induced to mako by tho over-protestation of the men—the incident is eviddnco of a stirring in the dry bones of the Depart-, ment. The hope is encouraged that Mr. , Millar does not intend to play with his portfolio. In replying to' the deputation which recently advocated the extension of the suburban traffic on the Manawatu line, the Minister showed pretty plainly, that his intentions are- as good as the performance of his predecessors has . been bad; ho has already applied, tho pruning knife on some of the southern sections of the railways; and he has announced his'intentibn of making a personal investigation of tho ■whole system. -.' • .' .;•. If Mis. Millar's performance fulfils the. promise that his present activities hold out, the country will be under a heavy obligation to him. . The task before hiin is a heavy one. 'At the present time, the railways are being.run at a dead loss to tho country of at least £100,000 a year ;■ the actual loss is probably a great deal more than that. The revenue growsf but the expenditure grows always more rapidly, and the result is that each year the excess of revenue oVer expenditure, even when the revenue has been relieved by the utilisation of loan' money to pay for work ■ that should, be defrayed out of revenue, is insufficient to pay the' interest on. capital,. .Sib Joseph Ward has been accustomed to argile that the railways should not be asked : to make a profit; he talks of fho "3 per cent.. policy" of the Government as if the possession of a determination ( to lose money is a sufficient reply to the charge 'that money is lost. ■ He has striven -to.misrepresent the criticisms levelled, at,the railways administration .asi 'being' a. demand for higher fares and freights, and; Jiaß boldly asked his critics to tell him where money can be saved.', The memorandum of the General Manager of; Railways is a sufficient answer to. the Prime Minister .on this point. ,The wastes at tho workshops, is typical of the waste that exists everywhere•. in- the service,, .downeven to the waste; of oil on- the., engines.' One by one the Prime Minister's., defences of tEo management of the railways are being broken down. Whether.: Mr. can contrive to rescue the -railways from use'-as'.a vote-catching ma-, chine, we cannot say. Unless ho can: furnish, strong evidence, thathe is able to remove the existing abuses, -the country : will demand that' the 'control. of the; system, shall be: removed from all '.risk, .of political manipulation by boing placed in independent hands. ~ ; ■'.'■ :/:.'..